Walnut Praliné
Ingredients
- 230g walnut halves
- 150g powdered sugar
Method
- Chop walnuts coarsely
- In a nonstick pan, add the walnuts and powdered sugar
- Cook stirring until caramelized
- Let cool completely on a silicon baking mat
- Save 80g for the biscuit
- Turn on an empty food processor, and pour the caramelized walnuts in
- Process until it forms a paste
Crème Diplômate
Ingredients
- 300ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 egg yolks (save whites for the biscuit)
- 60g brown sugar
- 20g corn starch
- 6g (3) gelatin sheets
- 220g (7oz) cream cheese
- 300g walnut praliné
- 2⁄3 cup whipping cream
Method
- In a medium pot, heat the milk and vanilla
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar, and corn starch
- Temper the egg yolk mixture with 1⁄3 of the hot milk
- Add it all back into the pot and bring it to a boil
- Cook for 2 minutes (whisking the whole time) until thickened
- Turn off the heat and mix in the gelatine and cream cheese
- Transfer to a quarter sheet pan lined with plastic wrap
- Cover in contact with plastic and refrigerate until completely cold
- When ready, whisk the chilled custard with the walnut praline
- Make some chantilly cream and fold that into the custard to lighten it
Biscuit Succès
Ingredients
- 80g almond meal
- 80g powdered sugar
- 30ml milk
- 4 egg whites (room temp)
- 1g (1⁄2 tsp) cream of tartar
- 120g granulated sugar
- 80g walnut praliné
Method
- Add the powdered sugar and almond meal to a food processor and process for a minute
- Transfer to a medium mixing bowl
- Add milk to the mixing bowl and mix together
- Process the walnut praline until just coarsely chopped
- With a stand mixer, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar together until it forms stiff peaks
- Add 1⁄3 of the meringue to the mixing bowl and mix
- Fold in the rest of the meringue and the caramelized walnuts
- Fold until it flows like lava (like macaron batter)
- Transfer to a piping bag
- Draw a stencil on parchment paper for 2 discs using an ~8” pot lid
- Add some oil to a baking sheet and put the pencil side down on top
- Spray top with canola oil to stop the meringue from sticking
- Pipe 2 discs using an #808 (large, open circle) piping tip
- Bake at 260°F for 70 mins
- Turn off the oven and leave it to dry for another 30 minutes
- Cool completely
Final Assembly
- Line a foam cake board with wax paper or aluminum foil
- Place a biscuit with the flat side down and pipe 12 large dollops of walnut creme diplomat around the edge
- Pipe more dollops to fill the center
- Coat the non-flat side of the other biscuit with a thin layer of creme
- Top with toasted sliced almonds
- Place it on top of the cake and refrigerate for 6 hours to overnight
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving
References