Lynn Moulton
BLU | Boston

As the Pastry Chef at Jody Adams’ blu in Boston, Lynn Moulton is responsible for designing and executing the restaurant desserts, confections and breads, as well as overseeing the pastries for blu café. Moulton – no relation to Sara Moulton of TV Food Network fame – took her first pastry position at Radius, under then pastry chef Paul Connors. This Sapphire Group alum next worked at blu under Amber Renberg when the restaurant opened. From there she became the pastry chef of Rialto before heading off to France to find new inspiration for her work. Unlike most pastry chefs, her approach to pastry begins with all things sour – tart berries, tangy yogurt and biting citrus are some of her favorite ingredients. From there she builds richness, sweetness and texture. Her approach results in desserts that are supremely balanced and never cloyingly sweet. Lynn also enjoys rethinking traditional ingredient pairings and tweaking them ever so subtly to wake up diners’ palates.

Lemon Tart with Orange Flower Cream and Fresh Citrus
Pastry Chef Lynn Moulton of blu – Boston, MA
Adapted by StarChefs.com

Yield: 24 Servings

Ingredients:

Shortbread:
• 550 grams butter
• 180 grams powdered sugar
• 20 grams hard-boiled yolks, finely crumbled
• 10 grams salt
• 500 grams all-purpose flour
• 100 grams corn starch
  
  Lemon Curd:
• 9 whole eggs
• 325 grams sugar
• 500 milliliters lemon juice
• Zest of 6 lemons
• 340 grams butter, cubed and at room temperature
  
  Mango Leather:
• 530 grams mango cubes
• 220 grams sugar
  
  Orange Flower Cream:
• 225 milliliters heavy cream
• 20 grams sugar
• .2 grams orange flower water
  
  Candied Meyer Lemon Zest:
• 1 Meyer lemon
• 1 cup sugar
  
  Additional Garnish:
• 3-4 types of assorted fresh citrus (blood orange, ruby grapefruit, cara cara navel, Valencia orange, etc.)

Method:

For Shortbread:
Cream butter and powdered sugar together until smooth. Add the cooked yolks. Add the dry ingredients and mix to just barely incorporate. Divide dough into two even portions. Roll each portion out between two sheets of parchment paper to the dimensions of a standard baking sheet. Chill half an hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Remove the top sheet of parchment and bake until deep golden, about 10-15 minutes. Cut shortbread into 3-inch rounds while still hot. Store, once cool, in a well-sealed container.

For Lemon Curd:
Whisk together eggs and sugar, then whisk in lemon juice and zest. Cook in a non-reactive saucepan, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl set over an ice bath. Stir until just slightly cool to the touch. Remove from the ice bath and add the softened butter with an immersion blender. Chill.

For Mango Leather:
Cook the mango in a pan half-filled with water, until the mixture has softened and slightly thickened. Puree it in the blender with the sugar. Spread in an even layer on a silicone mat. Dry at 200°F in a still oven until no longer sticky. The “leather” will firm up as it cools; be careful not to over-dry as it will get too tough. Remove from the silicone mat and cut into 1 millimeter strips long enough to wrap around the circumference of the shortbread disks. Store well wrapped, as the consistency is ruined by humidity and air-drying.

For Orange Flower Cream:
Whip the cream with the sugar and orange flower water, just until it forms a ribbon when dropped from the whisk.

For Candied Meyer Lemon Zest:
Carefully peal the zest from a Meyer lemon with a sharp peeler. Scrape off any clinging pith with a paring knife. Blanch the zest three times in clean water, for 1one minute each time, shocking in an ice bath between blanches. Combine 1one cup sugar and 1 cup water, and bring to a boil. Add the lemon zest and reduce the heat, keeping the syrup at a bare simmer. Once the zest has turned translucent, remove it from the syrup and drain well. Dry the zest on a silicone mat at 200°F until no longer flexible. Allow to cool and then grind to a powder in a spice grinder or blender.

To Assemble and Serve:
Place a disk of the shortbread on a plate. Form the mango leather ribbon into a circle, attaching the two ends with a dab of glucose. Place the ribbon on the shortbread and fill the center with the lemon curd. Spoon a small circle of orange flower cream onto the plate and sprinkle with Meyer lemon zest.

Cut the zest and pith from 3-4 types of fresh citrus and cut supreme segments of each. Place two segments of each citrus for each serving into a small bowl and drizzle with a delicately flavored honey, preferably orange flower or thyme. Lay one segment of each type across the top of the lemon curd, and continue the pattern with one of each in a line on the plate.

Wine Pairing:
Saracco Moscato d'Asti 2004

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