Giant Macaron

Ingredients

For the pastry cream • 3 ½ ounces (100 ml) milk • ½ vanilla pod • 2 egg yolks • 1.8 ounces (50 g) sugar • ½ teaspoon all-purpose flour • ½ teaspoon corn starch

For the light kirsch cream • 200 g (7 oz) pastry cream

• 1 tablespoon kirsch brandy • 2 gelatin sheets, softened in water • 3 ½ ounces (100 g) whipping cream

For the macaron • 2.8 ounces (80 g) powdered sugar • 2. 8 ounces (80 g) ground almonds

• 3 ounces (90 g) egg whites • 2.8 ounces ( 80 g) refined sugar • Red food color

For plating • 32 raspberries • 4 scoops of raspberry sorbet • 8 spearmint leaves • 12 blueberries

Directions

Pastry cream Boil milk with the vanilla pod cut in two. Beat yolks with sugar, flour, and corn starch. Add a dash of hot milk to the yolk mixture and return to the saucepan. Keep stirring continuously until it is a thick cream with no lumps. Cool.

Light kirsch cream Whip pastry cream and heat to 86 °F (30°C). Add kirsch, melt gelatin and add it to the mixture. Fold in the whipping cream.

Giant macaron Preheat oven to 275 °F (140 °C). Sift powdered sugar and ground almonds. Beat egg whites with sugar until stiff peaks are formed. Gently blend both mixtures until a soft consistency is obtained. Add some red color to get a pale pink color. On a tray with parchment paper, form eight circles, about 3 inches (8 cm) each, with the macaron mixture. Bake for 18 minutes.

To Serve Using a pastry sleeve, fill the base of the macaron with the light cream, place the raspberries on top with some more light cream. Cover the second macaron. Decorate with the raspberries, blueberries, and spearmint leaves. Serve with a scoop of raspberry sorbet on the side.

YIELD 4 servings

PREP TIME 1 hour

BAKE TIME 30 minutes

DIFFICULTY intermediate