Peach Melba macaron St Honorè

This beautiful creation is a modern take on a French classic – a Gateau St. Honore is traditionally made with choux pastry and is certainly among the more advanced dishes one might see on the Great British Bake Off… This is a contemporary twist on the classic St. Honore, taking inspiration from Escoffier’s Peach Melba, and adding macarons into the mix.

Macarons are the morsel of the moment but there is an ongoing debate about whether they should be spelt macaron or macaroon. Certainly in France, they only have one ‘o’ and that’s how we spell it at Tante Marie, but there appears to be no definitive answer!

To make enough macaron mixture for this recipe you will need:

350g icing sugar

250g ground almonds

216g egg white

pinch of salt

150g caster sugar

Orange food colouring

This will enable you to make:

1x 9’’ round base

1x 9’’ ring

2x trays macarons shells (approximately 30 shells)

For the jelly;

200ml raspberry puree

200ml peach puree (from tinned white peaches)

(Made by passing raspberries through a sieve, or processing in a food processor then sieving to remove any seeds.)

100ml champagne

150ml liquid glucose

500g granulated sugar

20g pectin powder

15ml lemon juice

For the vanilla crème:

1½ leaves gelatine

1 egg separated

50g caster sugar (split to 35g & 15g)

15g flour

½ tsp vanilla extract

150ml milk

½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped

15g unsalted butter

150ml double cream

To finish;

3 ripe peaches

2 punnets raspberries

400g sugar

1 tbsp liquid glucose

For the macarons:

•  Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3, 160ºC. Line 3 baking trays with silicone paper. On 2 trays draw a circle, 9 inches in diameter. On the third tray draw a series of 3.5cm circles. (These are your templates for piping the macaron mixture.) It is advisable to turn the silicone paper over after you have drawn your templates so that the ink/pencil does not transfer onto your macarons!)
• Place the icing sugar and ground almonds in blender and blitz to a fine powder.
• Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. It should be a very fine lump free mixture.
• Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt add the caster sugar and whisk to a stiff glossy meringue mixture.
• Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue mixture using a spatula to produce a smooth, shiny consistency that leaves a ribbon-like trail.
• Place in a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe onto the prepared baking sheets in 3.5cm (1¼inch) rounds, 1 large 9 inch disc and a 9 inch ring (the ring should be about 3.5cm (1¼ inches) wide.) Bang the trays on the worktop to remove the air bubbles.
• Leave at room temperature for about 15 minutes for the tops to dry slightly. This amount of time will vary depending on the temperature and humidity in the kitchen.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes approximately.

For the jelly:

• Place a plate in the freezer to chill for testing the setting point. Line a 9’’ round tin and a swiss roll tin with silicone paper.
• Place the fruit purees, champagne, liquid glucose and 400g of the sugar in a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring all the time.
• Mix the pectin powder with the remaining 100g sugar.
• Boil the fruit mixture until it reaches 102ºC, stir occasionally so that the mixture doesn’t catch on the base of the pan. You need to be precise with this so we suggest using a digital thermometer.
• When it reaches the correct temperature add the pectin powder and sugar and whisk until dissolved.
• Keep on a high heat and continue to boil.
• To check for setting point: remove from the heat and place a small spoonful of the mixture on the chilled plate. Allow to cool then test the set by pushing a finger through it. If the surface wrinkles the jelly is set enough.
• Whisk in the lemon juice and pass into the prepared tins. Leave to cool and chill in the refrigerator until set.
• For the vanilla crème; soak the gelatine in cold water. Place the egg yolk in a mixing bowl, add 35g of the sugar and the vanilla extract.  Beat until thick until smooth

• Beat in the flour and a little of the milk. Bring the remaining milk to the boil with the vanilla seeds and vanilla pod and pour slowly onto the egg yolks stirring all the time.
• Return to the saucepan and cook over a moderate heat stirring well until the mixture has boiled. Reduce the heat and boil gently for 4-5 minutes stirring continuously.
• Remove from the heat. Remove the gelatine from the cold water and squeeze out the excess moisture. Add the gelatine to the hot custard and mix well. Stir in the butter.
• Whisk the egg whites until they are stiff, add the remaining 15g of sugar and beat again until firm and shiny.
• Stir a large spoonful of this mixture into the custard and fold in the remainder carefully. Leave to cool.
• Whisk the cream and fold into the cold custard.
• To finish; put the macaron base on a serving plate and place the jelly disc on top. Place the macaron circle on top of the jelly. Select enough individual macarons shells to go around the top of the dessert and enough to match them as lids.
• Make a light golden caramel, plunge the base of the pan in cold water to stop cooking. Coat the outside of each of the macaron base shells with caramel and stick them to the macaron ring. Dip the remaining lids and allow to set caramel side up on silicone paper. Set aside.
• Cut circles with a plain cutter large enough to fill the individual macarons with the remaining jelly and place on each of the macarons bases.
• Neatly slice the peaches and place a layer of over the jelly in the centre of the dessert. Reserve one of the sliced peaches for garnish.
• Place ¾ of the vanilla cream in a piping bag with a plain nozzle (or a St. Honore nozzle if you have one) and use to decorate over the peach. Arrange the raspberries and reserved peaches on top.
• Place the remaining vanilla cream in a piping bag with a rosette nozzle and pipe stars on top of the jelly on the macarons. Finish with a caramel coated lid.
• We have decorated ours with spun sugar – this should only be attempted if you have experience in working with caramel, due to the potential for burns when working with caramel at high temperatures.