🍋🥜 Lemon Pistachio Desserts – Delicate Mini Citron Look-Alikes
A tangy lemon curd core, nutty pistachio crunch, and light mousse wrapped in a velvet-coated citrus shell.These lemon pistachio desserts combine curd, mousse, and praline in a bright citrus shape with a velvet finish – fresh, tangy, and elegant.These Lemon Pistachio Desserts are little works of edible art – shaped like lemons, bursting with citrus flavor, and balanced by a sweet pistachio crunch. Inside the velvet shell lies a frozen lemon curd core, surrounded by airy lemon mousse and resting on a crisp pistachio dacquoise layered with praline and white chocolate.They're playful, fresh, and sophisticated. If you love citrus-forward desserts and pistachios, you're going to love this one – especially if you enjoy creating desserts that look like miniature fruits.
Ingredients
✳️ Lemon Curd Insert
- 1½ gelatin sheets
- 70 g sugar
- Juice and zest of 4 organic lemons
- 1 egg
- 50 g butter cubed
✳️ Pistachio Dacquoise
- 80 g sugar
- 3 egg whites
- 70 g pistachio flour blanched pistachios, finely blended
- 25 g all-purpose flour
- 30 g powdered sugar
✳️ Pistachio Praline Layer
- 50 g sugar
- 50 g water
- 100 g pistachios peeled
- 80 g white chocolate
✳️ Lemon Mousse
- 2 gelatin sheets
- 100 ml lemon juice
- Seeds of ½ vanilla bean
- 60 g sugar
- 100 g heavy cream
- 100 g Greek yogurt 10%
- Optional: yellow food coloring
✳️ Decoration
- Yellow velvet spray
- Small green lemon stems edible or decorative
Instructions
Lemon Curd Insert
- Soak gelatin in cold water.
- In a saucepan, combine sugar, lemon juice, zest, and egg.
- Cook over medium heat while whisking constantly until it thickens (about 10 minutes).
- Remove from heat, add butter, then gelatin. Stir until smooth.
- Pour into small lemon-shaped silicone molds and freeze until solid.
Pistachio Dacquoise
- Preheat oven to 240°C.
- Whip egg whites, sugar, and vanilla into a soft meringue.
- Fold in pistachio flour and powdered sugar.
- Spread into a thin layer (no more than 1 cm) on parchment paper.
- Bake for 5 minutes. Cool completely.
Pistachio Praline
- Roast pistachios at 240°C for 5–6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil sugar and water to a golden caramel.
- Add roasted pistachios and stir on heat.
- Spread onto parchment and let cool.
- Blend until smooth and fluid (natural oils should release).
- Melt white chocolate and mix into the praline.
- Spread a layer over the pistachio dacquoise.
- Once set, use a small round cutter to cut out 4 bases.
Lemon Mousse
- Soak gelatin in cold water.
- Heat lemon juice, vanilla, and sugar until just below boiling. Melt in gelatin.
- Whip cream to soft peaks and fold in Greek yogurt.
- Add food coloring if desired.
- Fold in the cooled lemon mixture.
- Fill each large lemon silicone mold about 2/3 full with mousse.
- Gently press in the frozen lemon curd insert, then a pistachio base.
- Freeze until completely solid and ready for demolding.
🧩 Decoration & Assembly
- Unmold the frozen desserts.
- Spray with yellow velvet spray according to the product instructions.
- Insert a decorative green lemon stem into the top of each.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
I’m Chef Mimo, a passionate pastry chef with over 17 years of experience in the world of fine desserts. I specialize in French-style entremets, refined cakes, and creative chocolate work. Pastry is not just my profession—it’s my lifelong passion. Through PastryCrafted.com, I love sharing my recipes, techniques, and inspirations with anyone who dreams of mastering the art of pastry. Whether you’re a curious beginner or a seasoned pro, you’re welcome in my sweet world.