Pistachio Macaroon Cake

Here it is the recipe!!! This cake is for me since I was young, the Grail of baking!!! You have to know that if I cook, it was to be able to make this cake one day. I searched for a long time for the recipe, but of course it doesn’t exist! So I had to do more research on this topic. I’ve learned a lot in the last two years and if I have one piece of advice it’s to never let a failed bakery get you down. You always have to start over. And one day it works!

So here is the result of my research. It is the exact copy of the same cake from the patissier on rue Royale! Quite long to make, but to die for!

The recipe will undoubtedly seem perilous. It is not actually difficult, but it is a combination of several recipes. It is necessary to start in the morning to consume it the following evening .

I would like to start this recipe by showing the inside of the cake. Just to have an idea of what awaits us if we take the trouble to make this cake! A rich, melt-in-your-mouth, soft, crisp interior with so much different flavor that the palate is ready to explode. Anyway, it’s good…

Recipe for “Pistachio Macaroon Cake” for 10 people:

1-A basic recipe for

macaroons

colored in pistachio green + lemon yellow

2-Praline laminated:

-100g of

praline

-100g of

hazelnut paste

-20g of butter
-50g of milk chocolate
-45g of feuillantine (crushed crêpes dentelles)

3-Custard made with:
-140g of whole milk
  -10g of whole milk powder
  -35g of egg yolks
  -35g of sugar
  -5g of flour
  -15g of butter
-a pinch of vanilla powder

4-Butter cream made with:
4-1 Custard:
    -90g of whole milk
   -70g of egg yolks
    -90g of sugar
4-2 Italian meringue (but 175g of the whole meringue, see recipe)
    -125g of sugar
    -35g of water
   -65g of egg whites
4-3 Sweet butter
   -375g of butter in ointment

Pistachio mousseline cream:

-160g of

homemade pistachio paste

-160g of pastry cream (see 3)
-540g of butter cream (see 4)

5-Pistachio mirror
-220g of ivory couverture (or white chocolate)
    -100g of liquid full cream
    -200g of neutral fondant
    -50g of
homemade pistachio paste!

Ouf!!!!

After that if I still have readers then I’m happy! I don’t hide the fact that this recipe takes a long time to prepare, especially since you have to make the pistachio and hazelnut paste and the praline! Plus of course a complete recipe for macaroons! But I promise that the result is really worth it! If you organize yourself well, you can spend an afternoon making this wonderful cake, but devour it the next day! It is important to know that the famous pastry chef of the rue royale never gave his recipe, but count on me to find his trace! So here it is, the result is identical to the pastry that I don’t mention, but that we all know! So let’s put on some music, and get some peace and quiet in the kitchen. After all, when you love to cook, time is not a problem and it goes by very quickly!

I would like to point out that my pistachio mirror recipe only works with homemade pistachio paste, which is more pasty than store-bought, which is often much more liquid! I do not guarantee the success of this cake with a liquid batter, because the whole texture will be modified! Therefore, it is necessary to adjust. But the best is to make your own pistachio paste!

Recipe 1:

Start with the recipe for
macaroons
The only difference is that we will need two circles.

One 20cm diameter by 4.5cm high circle, and another 18cm circle of any height (we just need the diameter).

Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper as specified in the recipe. On two of them, draw with a pencil the inside of the 18cm circle in the middle of the plates. So two circles, but only one per plate, so on two plates… I explain… sorry!

Start in the center of a circle with the tip of the pastry bag with an 8mm tip. Start at the center and spiral to the edge of the circle drawn, but no further.

It doesn’t matter if the layout is not pretty, these macaroon plates will be inside the cake! You can see on the picture that I shook! The center had started nicely but with a camera around my neck, it is not obvious!

After making these two plates, continue with all the remaining dough to make normal macaroons, i.e. a 2-3cm ball. With the remaining dough, you will be able to make about 25 macaroon shells. Try to make them all the same size, as usual!

Bake for 14 minutes at 145°C for the small shells and 16 minutes for the plates.

Continue with the recipe 2, .

Put the butter and milk chocolate in a bowl, then melt in the microwave for 1 minute, check, mix and melt again for 30s if necessary.

Add the praline and hazelnut paste and mix well.

Then add the crushed crêpes dentelles.

Mix, the flaky praline is finished.

Take the 18cm circle, the same one with which you traced the large macaroons. Place the circle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Pour the equivalent of two tablespoons of praline into the circle, then crush with a spoon. The result should be a very thin slab of praline.

Carefully remove from the pan and place in the freezer. In 20 minutes the praline plate is frozen, leave it on the paper, take the baking sheet and refill it with a new paper and start again to make another praline plate. Do this operation 2 times in all to obtain 2 frozen praline plates. Leave them in the freezer in an airtight box if possible.

Recipe 3:

Put the yolks with a third of the sugar and the whole milk powder. Whisk in the flour.

Heat the milk with the remaining sugar and the vanilla powder in a saucepan over low heat.

When the milk boils, pour it over the yolk/sugar mixture while stirring.

Return to low heat. Never stop mixing.

When the mixture boils, let it cook for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat, let it cool and add the butter.

Transfer the custard to a small bowl and place cling film over the custard. This is to prevent the cream from forming a skin! Allow to cool completely then store in the refrigerator.

Buttercream made with 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3

Recipe 4-1:

Blanch the yolks with one third of sugar.

Heat the milk with the remaining sugar over low heat. When it boils, pour over the yolk/sugar mixture while stirring.

Return to low heat and cook like a custard, i.e. without boiling. You can check by cooking to 85°C while mixing! When the cream is cooked, turn off the heat and let cool. Store in a cool place.

Recipe 4-2:

Make an Italian meringue with the same process as in the macaroon dough.

Heat sugar and water to 117°C.

Pour it over the whites while continuing to whisk at maximum speed.

Continue whisking until meringue is 50°C.

Recipe 4-3:

Whip the soft butter at maximum speed to aerate it.

Assembling the butter cream.

While continuing to whip the butter, drizzle in the custard while continuing to beat.

Even though the custard looks like crap, putting it in butter will set it straight!!!

Take 175g of the total meringue and add it to the butter/custard, lifting it up like a mousse. The buttercream is finished. Store it in a cool place.

Crème mousseline.

Take 540g of the total buttercream.

Whip the butter cream at high speed and add the pistachio paste (160g).

Add the pastry cream (160g on the whole) and continue to whip.

The pistachio mousseline cream is finished.

Final assembly of the cake.

Place the 20cm x 4.5cm entremet circle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Place a first large macaroon plate in the center.

Garnish with a first layer of pistachio mousseline cream, putting it well around the macaroon and on all the inner surface of the circle up to the top. The circle has been “lined”.

Then add a slab of frozen praline.

And place it in the center on the muslin.

Top with a layer of muslin.

Then the other plate of macaroon.

Another layer of cream and then a plate of praline.

Finish with the cream. It doesn’t matter what the cake looks like. So put on a good layer!

Then smooth perfectly with a spatula or a large knife flush with the circle. This time the look is perfect.

We can already see the head of the cake. I recommend that you choose the macaroons that will be around the edge at this time. This way we will know exactly how many we are going to put and the space we will have to leave between them.

Remove the macaroons (of course!), and put them in an airtight box.

Put the plate with the circle in the freezer overnight. It is necessary to freeze it to be able to manipulate it and to pour on the mirror which will freeze with the contact of the frozen muslin.

The next morning:

Recipe5!! We touch the goal!

Put the cream and white chocolate in a bowl and melt in the microwave.

Mix well, add the fondant. Melt again if necessary, then add pistachio paste. Mix well with a hand whisk to incorporate the pistachio paste.

Professionals use a heat gun for the next operation, but a simple hair dryer will do the trick!

Take the cake out of the freezer, remove the paper underneath and place the circle on a rack. Pass the hair dryer around the cake (not on top!!!) slowly. In this way we will melt a very thin layer of cream. Once this is done, slowly peel off the circle by pulling it upwards.

Check the consistency of the pistachio mirror. It should not be hot, just slightly warm. Gently pour it into the center of the cake in one go. Pour starting from the center and spiraling to the edge of the cake.

When the mirror falls back onto the cake, place the rack and pan in the freezer to stop the mirror from falling back.

After 10 minutes, remove the cake. With two large spatulas, reach between the rack and the cake to lift it onto its final dish. The operation is delicate but not so difficult!

Arrange all the macaroons around the cake and two three pistachios on top. the cake is finished!!!! But it is frozen, so place it in the refrigerator for the rest of the day. And here…. There is nothing left to do but to taste it!!!!!

Good luck!!! I can do it, so anyone can do it!!! This is not my job, just a passion!!! And there is much more difficult!