Recipe of the month

Féminine

Pistachio crème pâtissière

  • Milk 500 g
  • Pistachio paste 50 g
  • Egg yolks 130 g
  • Caster sugar 200 g
  • Custard powder 25 g
  • Flour 25 g

Infuse the pistachio paste into the milk. Boil and mix the egg yolks, sugar, custard powder and flour. Boil for 1 minute.


Butter cream

  • Egg yolks 125 g
  • Caster sugar 65 g
  • Butter 750 g
  • Water 20 g

Cook the water and the sugar to 121°C and pour onto the whipped egg yolks. At 50°C place the butter cut into cubes and leave to whip for 10 minutes.


Pistachio mousseline

Mix the butter cream with the pistachio crème pâtissière.


Joconde sponge

  • Eggs 200 g
  • Caster sugar 150 g
  • Almond powder 150 g
  • Flour 40 g
  • Egg whites 130 g
  • Caster sugar 30 g
  • Melted butter 30 g

Whip the eggs with the 150 g sugar. Once whipped, place the batter into a bowl and whip the egg whites and the 30 g sugar. Fold in the premixed almond powder and flour into the meringue, finishing with the whipped egg mixture and fold in the melted butter. Spread onto 40 x 60 cm trays and bake at 170°C for 12 minutes.


Strawberry insert

Strawberry Sauce

  • Strawberry puree 400 g
  • Caster sugar 40 g
  • Corn starch 16 g
  • Neutral glaze 50 g
  • Pectin NH 4 g

Heat the puree and add the sugar mixed with the pectin. Boil and add the starch. Boil for 1 minute and finish by adding the neutral glaze.


Strawberries

  • Strawberry brunoise 200 g
  • Strawberry sauce 500 g

Mix together the brunoise and strawberry sauce. Pour into 1 cm high frames and blast freeze. Place the joconde sponge onto each side of the strawberry insert.


Red glaze

  • Cream 130 g
  • Neutral glaze 150 g
  • Water 985 g
  • Gelatin 21 g
  • Caster sugar 230 g
  • Glucose 230 g
  • Cocoa butter 55 g
  • Red water based colorant 3 g

Heat the cream, neutral glaze, glucose and the sugar. Melt the cocoa butter, soak the gelatin in water. Mix together at 50°C and finish with the colorant.


Shortbread

  • Butter 120 g
  • Salt 2 g
  • Almond powder 30 g
  • Icing sugar 80 g
  • Eggs 50 g
  • Flour 225 g

Rub together the butter, salt, Icing sugar, almond powder and flour. Add the eggs. Roll out rectangles of 4 cm by 20 cm. Bake at 160°C for 8 minutes.


Finishing of the fraisier

To make the mousseline cream, mix the butter cream and the crème pâtissière. It needs to be runny enough to be able to go into all of the corners of the mold. Cut a strawberry insert 16 cm x 2 cm. Place 2/3 into the mold and cover with mousseline cream, blast freeze. Glaze with the red glaze and finish with chopped pistachios on top of the fraisier.


Chocolate hand bag

Melt 1 kg of white chocolate. Temper and spread the chocolate 5 mm thick and cut 2 rectangles 15 cm x 28 cm. Cut rectangles 28 cm x 6 cm. Cut 2 different sizes with dough cutters. After the chocolate has crystallised stick them all together.


Modeling chocolate

  • Dark chocolate 300 g
  • Glucose 200 g

Melt the chocolate and add the glucose to create a dough. Roll 1 cm diameter stems, 10 cm long. Brush with ruby powder and stick onto two 2 cm discs, brushed in ruby powder. Stick the strap onto the hand bag and then stick a disc onto the sides of the strap.


Decoration

Finish with gold leaf onto the fraisier.

Recipe given by

Dominique Costa Chef Pâtissier & Chenouf Reda Sous-Chef Pâtissier, Grand Hôtel, Café de la Paix, Paris

The idea?

To honor women offering them a fraisier in a fashionable style.


The shape?

The uniqie shape of a handbag.


The flavours?

To keep the flavours of the fraisier keeping in a feminine setting.


The technical step?

Making the chocolate decoration for the finishing of the hand bag with the details in modeling chocolate.


Careful

When finishing off the fraisier, take special care when assembling the chocolate decoration.

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