Executive Pastry Chef, Pechanga Resort and Casino, Temecula, CA
Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse, Raspberry Sorbet
My four-year-old son doesn’t like chocolate – he thinks it’s too sweet. But he does love fruit, and his favorite combination is raspberries and peaches. This dessert was inspired by that pairing. I added the flavor of thyme to the raspberry sorbet, which adds an earthy note that blends nicely with the other elements of the dish.
Yield: 12 servings
Poached Peaches
- 12 peaches, medium ripe
- Citric acid and water solution for soaking peaches
- 100 g honey
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
- 50 g water
- 75 g raspberry purée
- Peel, core and wash the peaches and soak them in a cold citric acid-water solution to prevent oxidation; set aside.
- In the meantime, combine the honey, vanilla bean, water and raspberry purée and bring it to a boil. Add the peaches and cook the for about 3- 5 minutes over low heat. Store in the fridge.
Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse
- 100 g heavy cream
- 200 g mascarpone
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
- 28 g confectioners’ sugar
- Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks; set aside.
- In the medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, vanilla bean and confectioners’ sugar and stir it just until it comes together (do not overmix). Fold in the whipped cream. Put into a piping bag fitted with a star pastry tip and set aside for plating.
Candied Almonds
- 175 g egg whites
- 200 g sliced almonds
- 175 g confectioners’ sugar
- Preheat the oven to 325˚F (163˚C).
- Combine the egg whites and sliced almonds, and stir well to make sure all almonds are coated with egg white. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar.
- Spread the coated sliced almonds onto a Silpat-lined sheet pan and bake for about 5 minutes. Stir the almonds and bake for another 5 minutes, until they are a light caramel brown color. Cool, then store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Thyme Raspberry Sorbet
- 244 g water
- 290 g granulated sugar, divided
- 20 g trimoline
- 70 g glucose syrup
- 3 g stabilizer for sorbet
- 10 g granulated sugar
- 7 g thyme leaves
- 1000 g raspberry purée
- Combine the stabilizer with 10 g of the sugar and set aside.
- To make a sorbet syrup, combine the water, 280 g of the sugar, the trimoline and glucose in a medium pan, bring to a boil, then stir in stabilizer sugar mix. Add fresh thyme and infuse the syrup for about 1 hour.
- Strain the syrup and stir in raspberry puree using a hand blender. Process the sorbet base in an ice cream machine.
Red Macaron Shells
- 261 g almond flour
- 261 g confectioners’ sugar
- 91 g egg whites
- 2 g red food coloring
- 261 g granulated sugar
- 65 g water
- 100 g egg whites
- Preheat the oven at 300˚F (149˚C).
- Combine the almond flour, confectioners’ sugar, egg whites and red food coloring in a Robot Coupe and mix until smooth and well combined. Transfer into a medium-sized bowl, cover with plastic and set aside.
- Combine the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, bring it to a soft ball stage, 215-225˚F (102-107˚C).
- Whip the egg whites until frothy, then pour in hot sugar syrup slowly while continuing to mix until firm peaks form.
- Fold the meringue into the almond mixture a little at the time until all well combined. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip with the macaron mixture. Pipe 1ʺ (2.5 cm) circles on a Silpat and bake them for 14 -16 minutes.
Raspberry Soup
- 500 g raspberry purée
- 150 g water
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 85 g lemon juice
- 1 g lemon zest
- Combine all the ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Set aside.
Assembly
- Fresh raspberries
- Edible flowers
- Micro greens
- Place half of a poached peach in the center of a bowl-shaped plate. Pipe mascarpone mousse on top, and place a macaron shell off to the side.
- Pour some Raspberry Soup around the peach and place a quenelle of Thyme Raspberry Sorbet next to the peach. Scatter with fresh raspberries and candied almonds. Garnish with edible flowers and micro greens.
(This recipe appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)
