Push the boat out... : Entrées

Macaroon dough

(part 1)

• 150g ground almonds
• 100g icing sugar
• 60g whipped egg white

(part 2)

• 60g whipped egg white
• 250g granulated sugar
• 75g water
• Camemebert cream
• Half a ripe Isigny Sainte-Mère Camembert, cut into four pieces
• Half a litre of liquid cream
• 200g Isigny AOP butter
• One bay leaf
• One sprig of thyme
• Freshly ground pepper
• Thinly shaved slices of winter truffle (Tuber Melanosporum)

Macaroons

In one bowl, lightly fold the ground almond, icing sugar into 60g of whipped egg white.

Then make an Italian meringue with the other 60g whipped egg whites. Boil up 75g of water with 250g of granulated sugar: use a sugar thermometer and boil the mixture to 120 degrees C. Pour it over the egg whites and keep beating until it cools. When the Italian meringue has cooled off, stop the egg whisk and fold the meringue gently, a small bit at a time, with the first ground almond mixture.

With a forcing bag, pipe out small macaroons. Leave them 20 minutes to form a skin and put them in a hot oven at 170°C for seven minutes.

The Camembert cream

Put all the ingredients except the butter in a pan and bring to the boil. Blend. Put the mixture through a sieve and add the butter in little pieces, before putting aside to cool.

If this part is done in advance, the truffle has time to develop its full potential. To decorate the macaroons, take one macaroon, pipe a little Camembert cream on it, place a shaving of truffle, followed by a bit more Camembert cream and a second macaroon.

Serve as a plate of dainty aperitif mouthfuls.