Fruit & Nuts offers a complete course on cooking with fruit from world-renowned culinary school FERRANDI Paris.
Recipes are organised by category-from citrus to tropical-with both sweet and savoury dishes to incorporate fruit into each course.
Starting with advice on how to equip your kitchen, the book covers everything from mousses to marmalades, and from tajines to candies. This recipe for sweet, citrus-flavoured Calissons from FERRANDI Paris, the French School of Culinary Arts-dubbed the “Harvard of gastronomy” is one of many fantastic recipes in its ultimate reference on cooking with fruit, Fruit & Nuts.
Makes about 20
WHAT YOU NEED
For the Calisson base
¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/3 cups almond flour
2tsp orange blossom water
60g candied orange
15g candied lemon
60g candied melon
20cm square of rice paper
For the Royal icing
3 ¼tsp egg white (about ½ white)
Generous 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more as needed
Scant ½ tsp lemon juice
To decorate
Small pieces of edible silver leaf
WHAT TO DO
PREPARING THE BASE (3days ahead)
Place the confectioners’ sugar, almond flour, and orange blossom water in a saucepan.
Cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring to make a paste. Transfer to the food processor and add the candied orange, lemon, and melon.
Process on high speed until the mixture is smooth and sticky.
Pour over the rice paper and roll into a 1cm) layer—grease your rolling pin with a little neutral oil, if necessary, to prevent sticking.
Let rest in a dry place at room temperature for 72 hours.
PREPARING THE ROYAL ICING
Lightly whisk the egg white in a bowl until frothy.
Sift in the confectioners’ sugar and whisk until smooth, then whisk in the lemon juice.
The icing should be creamy with a spreadable but not runny consistency.
If necessary, whisk in a little more confectioners’ sugar.
Use immediately or press plastic wrap over the surface of the icing to prevent crusting.
ICING AND DECORATING THE CALISSONS
Using an offset spatula, spread a thin layer of royal icing over the base and let set for 1–2 minutes (but no longer, as the icing dries quickly and it will harden too much for it to be cut without cracking).
Using a chef’s knife dipped in hot water, cut into diamond shapes with 3cm sides.
The base will be sticky in the centre, so wipe the knife clean and re-dip it between each cut.
Top each diamond with a small piece of silver leaf.
CHEFS’ NOTES
As the base mixture is very sticky, lightly oiling your rolling pin makes it easier to roll it into an even layer.
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