Trompe-l'œil Macarons

Hello food lovers!

We have already explored the art of trompe-l'œil with our lemon and apricot recipes.

This time, we wanted to move away from traditional fruits and fell in love with a superb macaron-shaped mold.

These creations consist of a chocolate shell, a light raspberry mousse, a soft Joconde sponge and a creamy vanilla ganache.

This dessert will amaze your guests, with the appearance of a real macaron and the refined flavours of an entremet.

Let's get started with the recipe!

To make 4 macarons you will need:

Joconde Sponge

- 1 egg

- 40gr icing sugar

- 10gr butter

- 40gr almond flour

- 15gr flour

- 1 egg white

- 10gr sugar

Chocolate Shell

- 300gr white chocolate

- 30gr rapeseed oil

- Colour Mill pink

Raspberry Mousse

- 1.5 gelatine sheets

- 65gr whipping cream

- 80gr raspberry purée

- 8gr sugar

Vanilla Ganache

- 1gr powdered gelatine

- 5gr water

- 30gr white chocolate

- 37gr whipping cream

- 18gr whole milk

- 1 vanilla pod

We will start with the Joconde sponge so it has time to cool before using it.

Joconde Sponge

First, in a large bowl, crack 1 egg and add 40gr of icing sugar. Whisk the egg and icing sugar at maximum speed for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt 10gr of butter in the microwave and set aside for a moment.

Mix 40gr of almond flour with 15gr of flour.

Preheat your oven to 180°C, fan-assisted.

Once the egg/sugar mixture is well whipped, fold in the flour/almond flour mixture gently using a spatula. Once the batter is smooth and homogeneous, set it aside for a moment.

In a jug, whisk 1 egg white and 10gr of sugar to obtain a firm, glossy meringue.

Gently fold the meringue into the previous mixture. Finally, add the melted butter and mix with a spatula, taking care not to deflate the batter.

On a perforated baking tray, place a small sponge mat to get an even sponge.

Grease it with a release spray so nothing sticks when unmolding.

Pour the Joconde sponge batter onto the mat and spread it evenly with an offset spatula.

Bake for 10 minutes in the middle of the preheated oven.

After 10 minutes, the sponge is baked. Turn it out directly onto a sheet of baking paper, then remove the mat. Let it cool completely.

Then cut out 8 rounds of 5 cm using a cookie cutter.

If you make the sponge in advance, wrap it (once cooled) in cling film. It will keep for 2 days at room temperature.

This sponge also freezes very well for up to 2 months.

Let's move on to the next step: the chocolate shells. Don't panic, it's easy to do! ;-)

Chocolate Shell

Start by melting 300gr of white chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute at 600Watt. Mix well.

If it is not completely melted, place it back in the microwave for 10 seconds. The chocolate should be between 40°C and 45°C. Check its temperature with a thermometer.

Personally, for this type of preparation I always use an infrared thermometer.

Once the chocolate is at the right temperature, pour it into a jug and add 30gr of rapeseed oil.

To give it a lovely raspberry colour, colour the mixture with a few drops of Colour Mill pink.

It is essential to use oil-based food colouring when working with chocolate.

Never use gel colouring as it will cause the chocolate to seize and become unusable.

Blend everything for one minute and adjust the colour to achieve the desired shade.

For this recipe we chose to use this new product from Silikomart: the "Macarons 110" mold. I think it's a super cool idea for making individual entremets.

This kit includes a mold for the shells and a mold for the inserts.

Take the one for the shells and distribute the coloured chocolate into the 8 cavities.

With a brush, spread the chocolate over the edges of the cavities.

Turn the mold upside down onto a rack. Don't forget to place a tray underneath to catch the dripping chocolate.

Let the chocolate drip for about 5 minutes. This will give you an ultra-thin chocolate shell.

After 5 minutes, remove the excess chocolate with a small offset spatula. Slide the mold onto a perforated tray and place everything in the freezer while you prepare the mousse.

You will have a little coloured chocolate left over. You can store it for a month in a well-sealed container for your next creations. I advise against reducing the amount, as it would make it more difficult to achieve a nice final result.

We can now make the raspberry mousse which will fill the shells.

Raspberry Mousse

Start by soaking 1.5 gelatine sheets in a jug of cold water.

In a large bowl, whip 65gr of whipping cream to obtain a firm whipped cream, but not too stiff so it can be easily folded in later. Set it aside in the fridge for a moment.

In a bowl, mix 80gr of raspberry purée and 8gr of sugar. Pour 10gr of this mixture into a small saucepan.

Add the squeezed gelatine. Over medium heat, melt it into the purée.

Pour this mixture into the remaining raspberry purée and sugar mixture, then mix well.

Then add the whipped cream. To obtain a smooth mousse, fold it in in three additions.

Start by gently mixing with a whisk then finish with a spatula.

You now have a beautiful raspberry mousse. Transfer it into a piping bag. Use a jug to fill it neatly.

Take the mold out of the freezer and pipe the raspberry mousse into it.

Add a disc of Joconde sponge, pressing gently so the mousse rises up the sides.

Remove the excess mousse and place everything in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Finally, we will make the vanilla ganache which will sit between two raspberry mousse shells.

Vanilla Ganache

Start by weighing 1gr of powdered gelatine into 5gr of cold water. Mix and let rest for 5 minutes.

Use a precision spoon scale to be accurate with the measurements.

Melt 30gr of white chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds at 600Watt. The chocolate won't be completely melted, but that's fine. Set aside.

In a saucepan, pour 18gr of whole milk and 37gr of whipping cream.

Add 1 vanilla pod split lengthways.

Bring everything to the boil.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and scrape the vanilla pod. Add the vanilla seeds to the milk/cream mixture.

Add the gelatine and mix well until it has melted.

Pour the previous preparation over the chocolate in 3 additions to obtain a smooth ganache.

Fill 4 cavities of the insert mold with the ganache.

Place everything in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Once all the elements are well set, start by unmolding the raspberry mousse shells. Do it gently so as not to damage them.

Then unmold the inserts.

Place one insert per macaron shell, then cover with another mousse shell.

And there you have it, beautiful trompe-l'œil macarons.

They can be stored in a box in the fridge for up to 2 days.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Have a lovely Sunday, food lovers.

Sophie

P.S.: All the equipment used can be found at the bottom of the recipe.