How to make a delicious passion fruit and vanilla pastry cream filling for giant raspberry macarons. A handy recipe for using up 3 egg yolks.
Pastries and Classic Macarons in Paris
Picking one or two pastries or macarons in patisseries isn't that easy. Can you blame me?
I have seen the proof just what a dilemma it can be, as I've witnessed such eager testers on my previous chocolate and pastry tours around Saint-Germain in Paris. What a responsibility it can be to choose a wide enough variety of fabulous samples without them all floating off into a sugar coma in one sitting!
One of the lighter popular classics is a giant pink macaron garnished with pastry cream and surrounded with fresh raspberries.
What's more, it's gluten-free.
French Raspberry Macarons
Pierre Hermé, dubbed by Vogue Magazine as the Picasso of Pastry, christened the most famous of giant raspberry macarons the Ispahan, named after a tender, fragrant Iranian rose.
The giant pink macaron is filled with a rose and lychee cream and finished off with beautiful fresh raspberries. So many pastry shops in Paris have drawn on his inspiration with their own take on it.
For more filling recipes, see this raspberry macaron filling with rose.
See more on the story of the Ispahan with raspberries and rose in this recipe for mini macaron trifles.
Raspberry and Passion Fruit Macaron
As you can imagine, such Parisian pâtisserie temptations are a constant source of exciting inspiration. For this dessert classic I replaced the lychee and rose with a zingy passion fruit filling, adding that extra acidic touch to the raspberries.
Truth be told, I ran out of passion fruits as I thought two would be enough. But after tasting the cream, I felt it needed another passion fruit for that extra fruity punch. So instead I added some extra passion fruit purée as an emergency back-up. I use an excellent passion fruit purée from Monin.
Speaking of passion fruit, have you tried the passion fruit and lemon meringue tartlet recipe from Teatime in Paris yet? My lovely friend, Christina, of Christina's Cucina has made a sample recipe!
Passion Fruit Cream Filling for Giant Macarons
I used the basic macaron recipe in Teatime in Paris adding a pinch of deep raspberry pink powdered colouring (if using Mad About Macarons, use the measurements specified in the Annex of the book, under "Egg White Reference Chart" based on 100g egg whites). This will make 12 large macarons.
The filling is based on a classic pastry cream (recipe also in "Teatime in Paris") but I've adapted it here based on the liquid of the passion fruit.
Don't forget that macaron shells can be frozen, so it's easy to prepare them in advance and defrost them the day of a dinner party. The rest is easy to put together.
Passion Fruit and Raspberry Macaron Filling
Ingredients
- 250 ml (9fl oz/ 1 cup) whole milk
- 1 vanilla pod/bean seeds scraped out (or ½ teaspoon powdered vanilla or extract)
- 3 egg yolks organic
- 50 g (2oz/¼ cup) sugar
- 30 g (1.25oz/ 2 tbsp) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 3 passion fruits (the equivalent of 4 tablespoon once seeds removed)
- 2 punnets fresh raspberries
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, gently heat the milk with the vanilla pod then scrape out the seeds and add to the milk.Meanwhile, using a balloon whisk, mix the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until creamy, then whisk in the cornflour until smooth. When the milk is hot (but not boiling), add half of the hot milk to the beaten egg yolk mixture. Whisk vigorously then quickly add the mix to the rest of the milk in the saucepan while whisking continuously.
- Continue to whisk over the heat until the mixture thickens. Cover with cling film so that no skin forms on the surface. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes then chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Strain the juice using a sieve to remove the passion fruit seeds.
- Whisk in the juice of the strained passion fruits into the pastry cream and chill until closer to serving time.
- Spoon or pipe out the filling into the middle of 6 giant macaron shells and arrange about 8-10 raspberries (according to size) on the outside and finish off by topping with a macaron shell.
Notes
Christine
Hello
For a dinner party, can I fill the macarons the day and leave them overnight in the fridge?
Passion fruit and raspberry and macarons, magic combo 🙂
Thank you
Jill Colonna
Hi Christine,
I'd suggest you make each item the day before if it suits you better, then fill them the day itself or at least nearer the time. This dessert version has a lighter filling and more like patisserie than the traditional French small macarons, and so it's better served slightly fresher. If you like this dessert, then there is a whole chapter on recipes like this in my first book, Mad About Macarons!
Enrique
Hello: this recipe is similar to ispahan macaron of Pierre herme.
Jill Colonna
Similar but completely different, Enrique! Ispahan is raspberry, litchi and rose and Pierre Hermé uses Italian meringue for his macaron shells, while I use the French method 😉
Christina @ Christina's Cucina
I missed this post! Thank you for the shout-out, Jill! Your passion fruit cream creations are gorgeous, and now that I know what passion fruit tastes like, I can imagine how lovely they are to eat, too!
There's not enough time in the day to make everything I want to make! 🙁
Kim - Liv Life
Ahhh yes! I'm passionate about passion fruit!! I saw this image floating through my fb feed, but didn't catch the flavor. Pure perfection!!
Jill Colonna
Thank you, Kim. I love it's natural play of sweet with acidity, and added to lemon or raspberry is just heaven.
Thomasina
Thank you for reminding me Jill that macaron shells can be frozen. I am going to try your passion fruit cream filling next time I make macarons.
Jill Colonna
So glad to hear, Thomasina. It's a real treat to hear when you make the recipes x
Liz
Wow, another exquisite tea time treat! I'm SO glad I have your latest cookbook. Off to check out Christina's post.
Jill Colonna
You'll love Christina's post. She's done a beautiful job with the recipe and her photos are stunning, Liz. Thanks for popping in.
Juliette
That looks amazing! I have followed a few of your recipes from your blog and they all turned out fabulous! I have recently discovered you do chocolate walks in Paris and have been wanting to be part of one. Where can I register? You have really inspired me to cook/bake - thank you so much!
Jill Colonna
So happy to hear that, Juliette. Thank you! For the chocolate and pastry walks just follow this link to Context Paris and there are plenty of wonderful docents who will take you around the incredible choice of chocolate and pastry shops, providing some history, insights and baking techniques during the tour. Let me know how you get on!