Château de Chenonceau

As a tribute to Catherine de Medici who introduced macarons to France in 1533, I have created a dessert based on bombe Alaska but with a French twist.  Inserted in the centre is a delicate pink macaron surrounded by lemon madeira cake, lemon buttercream, splashes of Cointreau, gourmet chocolate & coffee ice-cream.  Luscious Italian Meringue, the same used for making macaron, is delicately piped over the frozen base which is later laced with Brandy and ignited.




Château de Chenonceau is an extremely rich and luxurious dessert - befitting for Catherine - an Italian woman who became Queen of France.


For my lovely readers that don't have the luxury of time (because we're too busy making macaron), I've included store bought ingredients so that you can create an amazing dessert for a dinner party in less than a few hours. 


Remember, when making macarons always store a few in the freezer so that you have some on hand to make this dessert - your guests will love you!


CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU
INGREDIENTS FOR THE BASE
500 g gourmet chocolate ice-cream (preferably with bittersweet chocolate chips)
500 g gourmet coffee ice-cream (preferably with coffee bean chips)
1 pink macaron (I used fairy floss)
1 lemon madeira cake (with lemon buttercream)
2 tblspn Cointreau (to splash over the lemon madeira cake base)
3 tblspn Brandy (to ignite)




Unfortunately, I could only get a bar but it worked fine



INGREDIENTS FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE
300 g Caster Sugar
75 g water
120 g Egg Whites


INGREDIENTS FOR THE RASPBERRY COULIS
1 punnet raspberries
2 tblspn icing sugar
1 tbsp lime juice


DECORATION
1 punnet blackberries
rose petals


MAKE THE BASE
1.  Line a small pudding bowl or stainless steel bowl with cling film.




2. Scoop the coffee ice-cream into the bowl and smooth the base and sides until the bowl is lined.  Place in the freezer.


You have to work fast here as the ice-cream melts extremely quickly3. When firm, remove from the freezer.  Using a glass roughly the same size as the pudding bowl, cut a thin layer of lemon madeira cake (including some of the lemon buttercream) to fit the base.  Gently place the  macaron on top of the cake and return to the freezer for about 5 -10 minutes.


Although, I took a photo with the macaron on its side I actually laid it flatWhen ready, scoop the chocolate ice-cream around the macaron and over the top until the bowl is completely full. Try to get the ice-cream surface relatively smooth and even.  If you want it to look perfect you can dip a knife in hot water and smooth it over.




The lemon buttercream on the cake was yummy so I left it on.  If you have a round cake it makes this part of the process much easier but nonetheless the bar worked fine4. Cut either a round or slices of lemon madeira cake to cover the base and drizzle with Cointreau.  Freeze until rock hard.  


MAKE THE RASPBERRY COULIS
1.  Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until you have a sauce.  Pour into a small jug and chill until ready for use.


MAKE THE ITALIAN MERINGUE
1.  Pour the egg whites into a Kitchen Aid mixer and insert the whisk attachment.  Bring the caster sugar and water to the boil in a small saucepan.


2.  When the sugar syrup reaches 115°C start whisking your egg whites into soft peaks. 




The whisk should look like a bird's beakASSEMBLE CHÂTEAU DE CHENONCEAU
1.  Remove the frozen base from the pudding bowl by gently pulling and removing the cling wrap.  Set on a serving plate.




2.  Pipe the Italian Meringue onto the frozen base.






3.  You can either put Château de Chenonceau back in the freezer until you are ready to serve or serve it now.  If serving now, use the kitchen torch to cook the meringue then pour Brandy over the top and ignite.




4.  Extinguish the flame and decorate with blackberries, rose petals and the raspberry coulis - bon appetit.
Notice how Château de Chenonceau is  studded with a pink macaron (jewel) in the centre