A long time ago, I made a haupia pie that was a gorgeous blue color. It was a bit whimsical, with a purple ube crust, a blue haupia(thickened Hawaiian coconut pudding) filling, and these pretty spheres of haupia that were scattered across the top. I wanted to create that, but pairing the coconut with a few other flavors that I love. The first is elderflower. Elderflower, which is typically(and in the case of this recipe) consumed in liquor form, has this fragrant, lychee-like flavor to it. Back in college, I made this coconut-elderflower ice cream that my classmate Demi inhaled. I was actually taken aback by how much she loved that ice cream, and that impression stuck with me – I was validated then and there that coconut-elderflower is an incredible combination. I also wanted to pair those two ingredients with yuzu. Yuzu is a Japanese citrus that kind of tastes like all of the other citruses in one. I love using it in a bunch of different recipes, this one included, since it offers an acidity that plays off the creaminess of the coconut and the sweetness of the elderflower well. One concept I had since high school was a yuzu haupia pie, with the idea of the tart yuzu playing off the creamy-sweet haupia. It was a dessert that I have tweaked on and off for the past 15 years of me baking, and this recipe is an homage to that original idea, but with a few fun twists that show my growth as a pastry cook since then!

For the components, we have a blue elderflower-infused pastry for the tart shell, an elderflower-infused haupia, a haupia mousse, and cubes of yuzu gelee, scattered throughout the top of the dessert. The edges of the tart are finished with a coconut snow, in place of powdered sugar, just to give the dessert a “frosted” look. To simplify things, the haupia mousse is made from the elderflower haupia, but lightened with some whipped cream. The mousse is frozen into little half spheres and used on top as a garnish, along with the yuzu gelee! In terms of difficulty, I would give this recipe a 6/10. The only thing that takes any active precision would be the pastry – any pastry that needs to be flaky and made with butter requires a lot of resting and refrigeration so that it holds its shape and structure during the baking process. I used blue spirulina powder throughout the dessert since it has a milder flavor compared to butterfly pea flower(I did not want the butterfly pea to compete with the elderflower), while still maintaining a vibrant blue color! For the yuzu gelee, since fresh yuzu is hard to come by, I used yujacha(a popular Korean yuzu marmalade) and yuzu juice. The coconut snow is made with melted coconut oil, mixed with tapioca maltodextrin to form a fine powder. If you don’t want to make that, you can also use confectioner’s sugar too, but it will make the dessert a touch sweeter(I would scale down the sugar in the haupia if you want to go that route!).

For the pastry:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp blue spirulina powder
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp elderflower liquor

In a food processor, combine everything besides the liquor, blitzing the ingredients until a fine powder forms. To that, add the liquor, and continue pulsing until the powder comes together to form a dough. Refrigerate the dough for at least 10 minutes. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 1/8-inch thickness, and press into a lined 9-inch tart pan. Weigh down the tart shell with parchment and either dried rice, dried beans, or pie weights. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes. Then remove the parchment and weights and continue for another 10 minutes at the same temperature. Refrigerate the tart shell until cool to the touch.

For the elderflower haupia:
1oz elderflower liquor
2oz cornstarch
14oz coconut milk
2oz granulated sugar
1/4 tsp blue spirulina

In a bowl, mix together the liquor and cornstarch. Add that to a pot with the coconut milk and sugar. Bring to a boil on medium heat while whisking constantly to prevent the mixture from clumping or burning. Pass the mixture through a sieve. Half-fill 8 1-inch silicone half sphere molds with the mixture. Then add in the blue spirulina to the remaining mixture and spread just enough of the haupia over the molds to level them off. Freeze the half spheres of haupia, while reserving the rest for the mousse.

For the yuzu gelee:
1/4 cup yuja marmalade
1tbsp yuzu juice
1 tbsp agar
a pinch of salt

In a pot, heat everything up until the agar is dissolved into the other ingredients. Pour into a shallow container and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Cut the gelee into 1/2-inch cubes.

For the haupia mousse:
Reserved 8oz elderflower haupia, cooled down
1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff

Fold the cream into the reserved haupia to form a mousse.

For the coconut snow:
1 tsp melted coconut oil
2 tbsp tapioca maltodextrin

In a bowl, mix the ingredients together to form a powder.

For assembly:
Spread the mousse into the bottom of the tart shell. Garnish the top with a combination of gelee cubes and the swirled haupia half-spheres to finish. Dust the edges of the tart with the coconut snow to finish.