Fragility
Five years ago, when I was on my annual vacation in France, I purchased one of my favorite French magazines, Marie Claire Idées. Its pages are full of ideas for baking and cooking, sewing and craft projects. It gives me a good sense of the current trends in French society and helps me to brush up on my French. Though it is my mother tongue, since I don’t use it daily, it can get rusty. So reading current magazines and novels helps me to brush up on vocabulary and usage.
While leafing through this specific magazine, a dessert caught my eye. Called Fragilité (Fragility), its pistachio butter cream sandwiched between two layers of meringue looked amazing. I had noticed a trend toward everything pistachio in the French bakeries that year and decided to make this dessert at my bakery upon my return.
Over the years, I had been making Misérable, an almond meringue cake layered with coffee butter cream that my Belgian friend, Annie, taught me how to make. Once you have tasted it, you will be miserable until you have some more… So I tweaked the recipe and turned it into Fragility. Once I took that first bite, I understood the meaning. Chewy and smooth textures interlace with nutty, buttery flavors. I could feel myself floating, fragile, ready to cry. When you take your first bite, you will know what I mean. Most likely, you will say “Aaaahhhh” and let those flavors sit in your mouth. It’s that good!
Here is the recipe.
Fragility
There are three main steps in this recipe. I suggest that you start by making the butter cream. Then, make the pistachio paste. Last, make the meringue.
Butter Cream (Crème au Beurre):
1 1/3 c. white sugar
4 large egg yolks (save the egg whites for the meringue below)
1/3 c. water
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
2 c. pistachio paste
Put sugar and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture takes on a lemon color. Slowly whisk in the water and vanilla. On a medium flame, gently whisk the mixture until small bubbles appear around the edges (temperature 165°-170°). Quickly remove from flame and immediately pour into a glass bowl. Let cool completely until it reaches room temperature. While it is cooling, make the pistachio paste and meringue.
With a beater, beat the room temperature egg mixture with the butter. Once the butter is incorporated, add the pistachio paste and beat until creamy. This might take 5 minutes or so. It usually first looks curdled then becomes creamy.
Pistachio Paste:
2 c. roasted pistachios, ground
2 c. confectioners sugar
1 egg white or more as needed
Mix all of the ingredients with your hands in a bowl, kneading into a tender paste.
Almond Meringue:
7 egg whites
1/3 c. white sugar
1 c. plus 2 T. ground almonds
1 rounded c. white sugar
1/4 c. white flour
Beat egg whites, adding sugar by the tablespoon, until they form soft peaks. In another bowl, mix ground almonds, sugar and flour together. Then gently fold egg whites into almond mixture until incorporated.
Cover a large baking sheet with sides with parchment paper. Pour the meringue onto it and smooth, if needed. Bake at 375° for about 30 minutes, until set and starting to turn brown. Then, remove from the oven, turn out of pan onto a cooling rack and remove parchment paper. Let cool completely. While it is cooling, finish the butter cream.
Cut the meringue out into circles. I sometimes use cookie cutters for fun shapes. Slather a thick layer of butter cream between two circles of meringue. Smooth the edges. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Keep in the fridge until fifteen minutes or so before serving so the cream can soften a little. Enjoy!
