Recipe for Vegetarian Yuzu-Matcha Tartlets by Félicie Toczé

In her book Japonismes, Félicie Toczé shares a recipe for yuzu-matcha tartlets with pastry cases made from wholegrain rice flour, thus making them entirely gluten free. The healthy eating specialist also offers a recipe for lactose-free cream, in which cow’s milk is replaced with rice or oat milk and butter is substituted with silken tofu. 

Japonismes compiles 50 sweet and savoury vegetarian recipes inspired by Japan, where the use of seasonal produce is encouraged. Thus, the fruits that can be used to adorn the yuzu-matcha tartlets vary from season to season, with apricot, cherry, fig, strawberry, or peach in spring and summer, and mirabelle plum, persimmon, kiwi, lychee, or mandarin in autumn and winter. 

‘Japonisme as I see it is my personal form of expression, drawn from the fertile ground of a cuisine that is traditional, beautiful, healthy and delicious’, Félicie Toczé explains. ‘The aromas, shapes, textures, colours… everything seeks to delight and deeply nourish the senses, body and mind’, continues the author, who learnt the rudiments of Japanese cuisine during multiple visits to the country.

Makes 3 tartlets (10-cm diameter moulds) 

Ingredients

For the cream

100 g silken tofu

25 g yuzu juice (or juice of another citrus fruit)

100 g rice or oat milk

20 g maple syrup (or another sweet and perfumed sweetener)

15 g white almond puree (or cashew puree)

1 generous teaspoon matcha

5 g psyllium

For the pastry cases

65 g wholegrain rice flour

50 g powdered white almonds

10 g kuzu or arrowroot starch

1 pinch salt

2 tbsp whole cane sugar

3 tbsp water

3 tbsp clarified butter at room temperature

For the garnish

Seasonal fruits

Seasonal herbs (agastache, mint, basil, tagetes… those that go well with desserts) 

Method

Cream (to be made the night before)

Mix all the ingredients except for the psyllium. Pour into a bowl and add the psyllium, mixing immediately. Leave to chill overnight.

Pastry cases

In a salad bowl, mix the flour, powdered almonds, sugar, salt, and starch. Add the soft clarified butter and mix in, working the pastry with your fingertips. Add the water and form into a ball.

Divide the pastry into three and roll out each ball with your fingers to place in a greased tartlet mould.

Cook for 15 minutes in the oven, preheated to 175°C.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool before removing from the mould.

Presentation

Place a generous spoonful of cream in the pastry case, then add the chopped fruit.

Dust the dessert plates and the tartlets with matcha. 

Japonismes (2019), a recipe book by Félicie Toczé, is published by Editions Alternatives (not currently available in English). 

Félicie Toczé is a consultant, coach, and cook who supports healthy nutrition. She has written several cookery books, including the first edition of Japonismes, published in 2016, and Riz (‘Rice’), which features all the varieties of this cereal.