Japanese Patisserie: Exploring the beautiful and delicious fusion of East meets West

INTRODUCTION

As a wee boy growing up in Scotland, I was lucky enough to always be surrounded by fresh produce and great home cooking. From sitting eating home-grown raw rhubarb in my uncle Harry’s back garden (with a little pot of sugar to dip it in, of course), to my nana’s apple crumbles and my mother’s clootie dumpling, my awareness of and interest in good food was sparked at a young age.

I left school at the age of 17 and was fortunate enough to begin my career in Cameron House, a stunning 5-star hotel on the banks of Loch Lomond. After 6 months in the main kitchen, I moved into the pastry kitchen and my love and passion for pâtisserie began. I went on to work in some great kitchens all over Scotland, and eventually moved to London in 2000.

At 24 years-old I was given the opportunity by Gary Rhodes to become Head Pastry Chef at his Michelin-starred Rhodes in the Square restaurant. Apart from a short 18-month spell in Australia, I have spent the majority of my career in London. A particular highlight was my time as Head Pastry Chef of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where I had 4 very hard but happy years under the guidance of Lisa Phillips and David Nichols.

Having a family spurred me on to take my career in a slightly new direction. I am now loving working for Marks & Spencer, where my food-focused brain is being used in a different but exciting and more strategic way to research and oversee the development of new products.

This book has been a joy to work on. My professional career has taken me to some of the best kitchens in the UK and around the world, and I have always had a particular appreciation for East Asian and South-East Asian cooking. The precision and attention to detail of Japanese culture has always fascinated me, but I think I truly fell in love with Japanese cuisine after I visited the country almost 3 years ago on a mission to scout out new ideas for M&S. The celebration of seasonality and genuine care and attention to detail in everything from the preparation of the food to the service and considerate nature of the Japanese people absolutely blew my mind. I have been obsessed with Japan and experimenting with Japanese ingredients in my cooking ever since.

The thing that really impressed me about Japan and Tokyo, specifically, was the stunning fusion of traditional Japanese flavours with the French pâtisserie-style recipes, which gives simply beautiful and delicious results. This book has been an outlet for combining my lifelong passion for classic French pâtisserie with my new passion for contemporary Japanese flavours. I have also woven in some other exotic ingredients that just worked beautifully together and were commonplace in many of the Japanese menus that I saw when I was over there.

I am very proud of this book and I truly hope you enjoy the recipes, I have tried to work these magical flavours into formats that won’t be too unfamiliar. Please experiment and allow them to inspire you to create your own culinary adventures.

James Campbell

SPECIALIST INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT

I have compiled a list of some of the more unusual ingredients and equipment used throughout this book to help you get started. This list includes Japanese ingredients as well as a few high-end pâtisserie ingredients. Some of these are widely available in stores, others can be found online or in specialist Japanese stores. There are some great tips on my list of suppliers (page 176) and don’t forget to check out the flavour wheel on page 11, which gives you a quick flavour profile for unfamiliar ingredients.

FRUITS

YUZU: a perfumed citrus fruit, the flavour is a mixture of lemon, lime and grapefruit. I use yuzu purée or juice for many recipes, which is easy to find when the whole fruits are not in season.

KUMQUAT: originally from China, the kumquat is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking. The small, bitter citrus fruits need to be cooked slowly to break down their tough skins. Their flavour is stunning when cooked properly.

KINKAN: a type of kumquat commonly used in Japan.

MOMO FRUIT: a type of Japanese peach, quite similar to its European cousin, with similar properties but a hybrid of both white and yellow peaches.

SUDACHI FRUIT: similar in look and smell to a lime but much more sour, commonly used in both sweet and savoury dishes in Japan.

SPICES & FLAVOURINGS

CHERRY BLOSSOM: also called sakura, the famous short-lived cherry blossom season ‘Hanami’ (meaning viewing of the flowers) is celebrated by the Japanese. An indication of how much seasonality is valued in Japan. You can buy whole salt-cured cherry blossoms that need careful cleaning, stalks removing and then soaking in sweetened water to draw out the salt. You can also find freeze-dried cherry blossom flakes and cherry blossom essence online.

TONKA BEANS: from a flowering tree in the pea family tonka beans have a complex heavily perfumed flavour, with notes of vanilla, cherry, almonds and a slightly spicy quality. They are often used as a vanilla replacement, and work very well with raspberry and milk chocolate. In very large doses (100 times more than what is used here) they can be toxic, so are illegal in some countries).

MATCHA POWDER: a Japanese tea powder which features a lot throughout this book. It is similar in taste and appearance to standard green tea, but the process of making it is more refined. Only the best leaves are used. It is high in antioxidants and gives a beautiful colour and flavour; a great versatile ingredient that goes well with many sweet flavours.

SAKE: a Japanese rice wine made from rice that has been polished to remove the bran, it is then fermented to make a clear alcoholic drink. There are two basic types of sake: Futsu-shu, the ordinary or standard version and Tokutei meisho-shu, the premium version. Much like choosing a cooking wine, I would go for the latter for these recipes. I also occasionally use a sparkling sake.

PINK PEPPERCORNS: widely available in most stores, these are mildly spiced but very perfumed, therefore ideal in bakes and desserts. They work exceptionally well with perfumed citrus flavours such as passion fruit or yuzu fruit.

SANSHO PEPPER: desipte its name, sansho pepper is actually more of an earthy, tangy spice with a hint of lemon. Closely related to Sichuan pepper. The best sansho is green in colour.

TAHINI: a paste made from toasted ground sesame seeds, tahini is now widely available in most stores. Much like peanut butter it has a rich, nutty flavour which pairs very well with chocolate. This is also widely used in Middle Eastern cooking too.

KOSHIAN: a sweet adzuki bean paste that can be bought pre-made or easily made using the recipe provided on page 19. Also sometimes called tsubuan, it is a very common addition in Japanese desserts. Adzuki in its natural state is a very savoury flavour so the sweetness needs to be balanced carefully.

MISO: a seasoned soya bean fermented paste, this comes in brown, red, yellow or white. I use white miso for nearly all the recipes in this book. Also known as ‘sweet’ or ‘mellow’ miso, it is fermented for the least time and so has the most delicate flavour

HIGH-END PÂTISSERIE

GELATINE: it is important to note that gelatine comes in two sizes: smaller domestic leaves (available in most stores, used by home-cooks) and larger commercial sheets (mostly used by professional chefs). I have provided both options in the recipes but make sure you use the right amount for the type of gelatine you buy.

GELLAN GUM: a vegetable gelling agent that gives structure and also helps viscosity. You will need some scales that can measure in small increments to get the precise quantities needed. It is also usually mixed with a small amount of sugar before being used.

ACIDIC YOGURT POWDER: a bakeable powder that can also be eaten in its natural form, it adds an incredible lactic flavour to desserts.

CITRIC ACID: this is useful for many things, I have used it to stop jelly turning to jam when making a classic pâte de fruit (see page 90).

INVERTED SUGAR: used predominantly as a stabilizer, trimoline is the most common type but liquid glucose can also be substituted if you can’t find it.

PECTIN: a naturally occuring thickening agent when heated with sugar, it is brilliant in jams and jellies.

EQUIPMENT

SILICONE MOULDS: several desserts in this book require the use of silicone moulds, especially in the Large Cakes & Gâteaux chapter (pages 72–101). This will either be a large mould or a smaller ‘insert’ mould that will make the inner layer of a dessert. You don’t have to use exactly the same shape if you can’t find it but be guided by the serving amount and choose one that holds a similar volume. Often, you can use a cake pan or even a small plastic tub instead, if the shape is simillar. Standard shaped silicone moulds are widely available in baking stores but see suppliers (page 176) for information on where to order the specialist shapes I use online. I find www.silikomart.com have a great selection.

ESPUMA GUN: also known as a siphon, I use this to make a micro sponge garnish but it is also a very useful piece of kit to have for making interesting foams and sauces. You will also need a polystyrene cup and microwave for the micro sponges.

SPRAY GUN: a pâtisserie food-grade spray gun is useful if you want to make decorative sprays from scratch. However, you can just as easily use a can of store-bought coloured chocolate velvet spray.

COOK’S BLOWTORCH: Useful for giving a charred finish on a few items throughout the book.

VACK PACK MACHINE: a professional piece of kit, useful for many things and simple to operate. I have included an alternative method if you don’t have one.

FLAVOUR WHEEL

Use this flavour wheel to help you identify the flavour attributes of unfamiliar ingredients. Once you understand the flavours, you can mix and match them to create your own unique combinations. This understanding also comes in handy when certain ingredients are unavailable so that you can correctly choose a substitute with the same basic flavour. For example, using sharp lemons instead of yuzu or a pinch of sea salt instead of miso. Some ingredients with complex flavours fall into up to three categories.

BASIC RECIPES

CHOUX PASTRY

Choux pastry or pâte à choux is a light, airy pastry used in many traditional pâtisserie items from profiteroles/cream puffs, to éclairs, rings for a Paris-brest or even savoury gougères. Unusually for pastry it needs to be cooked over heat which has perhaps given it an unfair reputation as being difficult to master. If you follow these instructions carefully, it is actually fairly simple to put together. It should come out of the oven golden and crisp on the outside, puffed up and almost hollow on the inside, ready to be cooled and then stuffed with a delicious filling.

145 ml/scant ²⁄3 cup whole milk

145 g/scant 1¹⁄4 sticks butter

¹⁄2 teaspoon table salt

¹⁄2 teaspoon caster/superfine sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

145 g/1 cup white/strong bread flour

4 eggs

MAKES APPROX.

500 G/18 OZ.

Combine the milk and butter with 145 ml/scant ²⁄3 cup water in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat and bring to the boil.

Once boiling, immediately stir in the salt, sugar and vanilla extract until combined. Remove the pan from the heat and add the flour all in one go. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until the mixture comes together into a smooth ball of paste that leaves the sides of the pan.

Put the pan back on the heat and let the flour cook out for 5 minutes, stirring to make sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Remove the pan from heat and gradually but firmly beat the eggs into the hot pastry, one by one, until fully combined and the mixture is smooth, soft and glossy. When you lift the spoon up the mixture should drop off when lightly shaken.

Your choux paste is now ready to be transferred to a piping/pastry bag and used. I will normally instruct you to brush with a little beaten egg before baking to give the pastry a glossy shine when baked.

SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY

This rich, sweet pastry is the perfect basic recipe for all the tarts in the tarts chapter (see pages 56–71). Any pastry chef will tell you that the secret to good pastry is to keep everything cold. Cold butter, cold hands and cold work surfaces for rolling out.

270 g/2¹⁄2 sticks butter

180 g/1 cup minus 1¹⁄2 tablespoons caster/granulated sugar

2 UK large/US extra-large eggs

540 g/scant 4¹⁄4 cups plain/all-purpose flour

MAKES ENOUGH FOR 2 LARGE TARTS OR 8 INDIVIDUAL

Put the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream together using a wooden spoon or a hand-held electric whisk. You don’t need to mix for too long, just until well combined.

Add the eggs gradually, one by one, and beat until smooth and completely incorporated. Finally, gently fold in the flour until just combined, being careful not to over-work the dough.

Form the dough into a ball and wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. It is