Spring is well and truly here and it feels so good! So it’s time to share with you a summery recipe that had been patiently waiting. I made it 2 years ago; it was an order for one of my colleagues at school. She wanted raspberries and, for the rest, she trusted me completely. Raspberry pairs very well with pistachio, as is well known. So I took up the idea of the pistachio and raspberry tart I’d already made, and I decided to add a little layer of vanilla diplomat cream for more indulgence.
It’s a dessert that went down very well. It’s super fresh and fruity, but also super soft and indulgent thanks to the vanilla cream. For pistachio lovers, be aware that the pistachio flavour is fairly discreet, since only the sponge is pistachio. If you really love it, you can make this dessert with a pistachio diplomat cream. In any case, it’s a dessert I highly recommend, especially with the return of fine weather 🙂
Ingredients & Instructions
5 components · Full recipe
Shortbread
Ingredients
- 130 g (4.6 oz) softened butter
- 50 g (1.8 oz) icing sugar
- 1 g (0 oz) fleur de sel
- 120 g (4.2 oz) flour
Instructions
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.
2
Sift the icing sugar and flour.
3
Mix the softened butter with the icing sugar, fleur de sel and flour.
4
Pipe the dough into a 24×17 cm (6.7 in) frame to a thickness of 5 mm.
5
Bake at 160°C / 325°F for approximately 12 minutes.
Pistachio sponge
Ingredients
- 35 g (1.2 oz) pistachio powder
- 35 g (1.2 oz) light brown sugar
- 15 g (0.5 oz) egg whites
- 15 g (0.5 oz) egg yolks
- 10 g (0.4 oz) icing sugar
- 0.5 g (0 oz) salt
- 45 g (1.6 oz) butter
- 25 g (0.9 oz) flour
- 1 g (0 oz) baking powder
- 55 g (1.9 oz) egg whites
- 10 g (0.4 oz) light brown sugar
Instructions
1
Meanwhile, melt the butter in the microwave.
2
In a bowl, combine the pistachio powder, light brown sugar, 15 g (0.5 oz) of egg whites, egg yolks, icing sugar and salt.
3
Add the melted butter and mix.
4
Whip the 55 g (1.9 oz) of egg whites, gradually adding the 10 g (0.4 oz) of light brown sugar.
5
Fold the whipped whites into the first mixture using a spatula.
6
Finally, fold in the sifted baking powder and flour.
7
Spread this mixture over the pre-baked shortbread and bake at 160°C / 325°F for 15–18 minutes (keep an eye on it as ovens vary).
8
Leave to cool on a wire rack (you can keep the frame on — just run a knife all around the edge to release the sponge from it).
Raspberry jam
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) raspberry purée
- 20 g (0.7 oz) caster sugar
- 2.5 g (0.1 oz) NH pectin
Instructions
1
Gently warm the raspberry purée in a saucepan.
2
Mix the pectin with the sugar, then add to the raspberry purée. Bring to a boil.
3
Remove from heat, press cling film directly onto the surface, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
4
Note: always mix the sugar and pectin together beforehand to avoid lumps forming in the fruit purée.
Vanilla diplomat cream
Ingredients
- 375 g (13.2 oz) milk
- 60 g (2.1 oz) egg yolks
- 90 g (3.2 oz) sugar
- 37 g (1.3 oz) cornstarch
- 1 vanilla pod
- 4.5 g (0.2 oz) gelatine
- 150 g (5.3 oz) full-fat whipping cream
Instructions
1
Soak the gelatine leaves in very cold water.
2
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is pale.
3
Add the cornstarch and mix.
4
Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla seeds and pod in a large saucepan. Pour three-quarters of the hot milk into the bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
5
Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens, about 3 minutes.
6
Transfer to a bowl, add the squeezed-out gelatine and mix well.
7
Press cling film directly onto the surface and allow to cool slightly before refrigerating (ideally, make the pastry cream the evening before — the next day you only need to smooth it and fold in the whipped cream).
8
Once the pastry cream is fully chilled, remove from the fridge and whisk until smooth. Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold it into the pastry cream in 3 additions.
9
Transfer the cream to a piping bag fitted with a 16 mm fluted tip. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 2 punnets of raspberries
- zest of 1 lime
Instructions
1
Remove the raspberry jam from the fridge and whisk briefly to loosen.
2
Spread the raspberry jam in an even layer over the pistachio sponge using a small spatula. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
3
Pipe the diplomat cream over the entire surface of the jam, then smooth with a spatula. Aim for a thickness of about 1 cm (0.4 in); you should have a little cream left for the final decoration (if not, don’t worry).
4
Arrange the raspberries over the cream. If you have any cream left, pipe a few small domes here and there.
5
Dust with icing sugar, then zest a lime over the top.
6
Refrigerate until serving.
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