Here’s a dessert I’d been wanting to make for quite a while. A large macaron, which I wanted heart-shaped, with raspberries and a vanilla diplomat cream (a perfect recipe for Valentine’s Day).
We had friends over for Sunday lunch, so it was the perfect opportunity to try this dessert, which was a huge success! 🙂 The vanilla and tonka bean cream went beautifully with the tangy raspberries.
And for those of you wondering, a diplomat cream is a variation of pastry cream. You add gelatine and whipped cream to it (cream whipped like a chantilly but without any added sugar). This diplomat cream is also called “tutti frutti cream” because it’s perfect with fruit-based desserts! In fact, I had a lot of cream left over (I’ve given you the right proportions in the recipe) and I then made a strawberry tart with it.
Ingredients & preparation
3 components · Full recipe
Shells
Ingredients
- 70 g (2.5 oz) egg whites
- 140 g (4.9 oz) icing sugar
- 80 g (2.8 oz) ground almonds
- 20 g (0.7 oz) caster sugar
- strawberry red food colouring
Preparation
1
Blitz the icing sugar and ground almonds together, then sift the mixture.
2
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the caster sugar in 2 stages and whisking at maximum speed to achieve the “bird’s beak” consistency. Add a touch of strawberry red food colouring and mix a little more. I use powder food colouring and add just the tip of a knife.
3
Gradually fold in the almond/icing sugar mixture using a rubber spatula. The batter should be shiny, smooth and fall back in a ribbon. Once the right consistency is reached, transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle. Don’t hesitate to use a large glass to prop up your piping bag — that way you can use both hands.
4
Pipe heart shapes onto a sheet of parchment paper. To get even macarons, you can use a heart-shaped template which you slide underneath your sheet of parchment paper. Leave to form a skin for about 20 minutes.
5
Bake at 120°C / 250°F for approximately 25 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave to cool before lifting the shells off the parchment. The shells are done when they come off very easily.
Step by step
Not quite comfortable with macaron shells yet? I’ve put together two full step-by-step picture guides to help you get it right every time:
Vanilla Diplomat Cream
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) milk
- 1 vanilla pod
- 40 g (1.4 oz) egg yolks
- 50 g (1.8 oz) sugar
- 25 g (0.9 oz) cornstarch
- 3 g (0.1 oz) gelatine (1.5 sheets)
- 100 g (3.5 oz) full-fat double cream
- a little grated tonka bean (use sparingly)
Preparation
1
Soak the gelatine sheets in very cold water.
2
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.
3
Add the cornstarch and mix.
4
Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla seeds and pod and the grated tonka bean in a large saucepan. Pour three-quarters of the milk in a thin stream into the bowl through a sieve, whisking continuously, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk.
5
Whisk over medium heat until the cream thickens, for about 3 minutes.
6
Transfer to a bowl, then add the squeezed gelatine and mix.
7
Cover with cling film pressed directly onto the surface and leave to cool.
8
When the crème pâtissière is thoroughly cold, remove from the fridge and whisk until smooth. Whip the full-fat double cream to soft peaks and fold into the crème pâtissière in 3 additions.
9
Transfer the cream to a piping bag without a nozzle. Keep in the fridge. You can prepare the crème pâtissière the evening before and finish the diplomat cream the next day.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) fresh raspberries
Preparation
1
Arrange the raspberries around the edges of the macaron.
2
Pipe a generous ball of diplomat cream in the centre. Sandwich with a second macaron shell.
3
Refrigerate for at least 24 hours until ready to serve.
Gallery
