This is how Pierre Hermé describes his mythical macaron, the ispahan: “Much more than a cake, it is pure happiness. From the very first bite, the marvelous awakens. Under the soft and crunchy shell of a rosy macaron, an irresistible combination of tastes fuses.
The subtle combination of sweet rose cream and the floral note of lychee magnified by the vivacity of a fresh raspberry. The heady and the acidulous intermingle to awaken a myriad of sensations on the palate. The perfect match of the isfahan flavor”.
What is ispahan?
An icon of modern French pastry, ispahan is a subtle combination of rose, raspberry and lychee. Consisting of a crunchy Parisian macaron that combines raspberry, with a perfect balance of sweet and tart, with the smoothness of a rose petal cream, all supported by the delicate floral flavor of lychee.
Isfahan, finally, is traditionally decorated with one or a few scarlet rose petals.
Who is Pierre Hermé?
Pierre Hermé is the undisputed father of the ispahan.
Born on November 20, 1961 in Colmar, Alsace, Pierre Hermé is a famous French pastry chef. Only son of the pastry chef Georges Hermé in Colmar, Pierre Hermé is the worthy heir of 4 generations of Alsatian bakers and pastry chefs.
Spending a lot of time with his parents behind the scenes of the family bakery, at the age of 8, little Pierre already knew that he wanted to become a pastry chef.
With his BEPC in his pocket, at the age of 14, he applied for a job offer from the Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace at Gaston Lenôtre (1920 – 2009), the famous French pastry chef, and was immediately accepted. He quickly distinguished himself and spent several years at Lenôtre.
Indeed, for 6 years, he first learned alongside Gaston Lenôtre, and at the age of 19, he became his sous-chef and head pastry chef at the Lenôtre branch on Avenue Victor-Hugo in Paris.
Considering Gaston Lenôtre as his mentor, Pierre Hermé believes that he owes the origin of his know-how to him and he still refers to him today: “The acquired knowledge is like classical studies: learning, mastering the technique, thanks to Gaston Lenôtre I learned what is the quality of products, attention to detail, rigor and sense of organization,” he says.
Foreign assignments followed, for example, in 1983 at the New Carlton Hotel in Brussels alongside pastry chef Wittamer, then in 1984 at the InterContinental Hotel in Luxembourg, where he was head pastry chef, managing a group of 35 pastry chefs.
In 1985, he became head pastry chef of the Parisian delicatessen Fauchon. He worked at Fauchon for eleven years, from 1985 to 1996, where he created, among other things, the famous triangular and tower-shaped chocolate cake “La Cerise sur le Gâteau”, composed of 4 different textures: a hazelnut dacquoise, hazelnut flaky praline, thin sheets of milk chocolate, ganache and milk chocolate Chantilly cream.
In 1997, he joined the Ladurée confectionery group as a consultant. He collaborated with Ladurée as vice-president and head pastry chef of the restaurant, tea room and pastry shop on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, before founding the following year, in 1998, the Maison Pierre Hermé Paris with his partner Charles Znaty.
The first Pierre Hermé Paris boutique opened in Tokyo the same year, followed in 2001 by the Parisian pastry shop located at 72 rue Bonaparte in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district. At the end of 2004, a second boutique opened in Paris, at 185 rue de Vaugirard.
The name of Pierre Hermé, creator of Maison Pierre Hermé, is also associated with the great art of confectionery. The “Picasso of confectionery”, as he was called by the fashion magazine Vogue, revolutionized the field of confectionery, creating new tastes and indescribable shapes, combining products that were at first incompatible. In baking, he uses sugar, like salt, as a seasoning to enhance flavors.
Thus, the rose is associated with almonds and raspberries, the avocado with chocolate, the tomato with vanilla, the milk chocolate with ginger. “I invite people into my world of tastes, sensations and pleasures,” Pierre Hermé has often said.
Indeed, Pierre Hermé is not only a professional, a specialist and a fine connoisseur of the trade, he is also a true pioneer in the field of taste. He manages to cook classic French desserts like no one else has ever dared to do. His own creations are astonishing, thought out to the last detail, bold and revolutionary combinations of completely different flavors, products and ingredients that are not typical of confectionery, such as balsamic vinegar, parmesan, olives, corn.
Pierre Hermé represents the convergence of opposites, bitter, acidic, spicy and fruity tastes, for a combination of different temperatures, colors, textures, aromas.
The macaron is one of the pastry chef’s favorite products.
Pierre Hermé is considered the innovator of the macaron, which he always found too sweet at the beginning. In the 1980s, he tried new recipes with lime, pistachios, salted butter caramel cream or mandarins.
His new idea is to heat sugar syrup, like Italian meringues, which gives the macarons greater stability. From then on, the macaron became the most popular pastry in France.
The ispahan is one of his most famous creations.
Borrowing its name from the capital of the ancient Persian empire under the Safavids, a few hundred kilometers south of Tehran, Isfahan is a real trip for the taste buds. Reminiscent of the Middle Eastern sky at dawn with its rosy colors, Pierre Hermé pays tribute to the Isfahan rose variety and the Iranian city of Isfahan.
Hermé invented this macaron for a reception featuring the biography of the Shah of Iran’s widow, Farah Pahlavi, the third and last wife of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, from 1959 to 1980. Pierre Hermé spent several weeks experimenting with the optimal combination of ingredients.
In 2005, Hermé initiated macaron Day on March 20, the beginning of spring on the calendar, celebrated by many pastry shops in France.
Ispahan thus marks the birth of a modern pastry shop, placing itself at the heart of a range of luxury products.
Worthy of being often installed alongside great fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel or Dior, Pierre Hermé’s pastries are inspired by the world of fashion, with “launches”, “catwalks”, “seasons”, and “collections”. With a confection that is not lacking in excellence, Pierre Hermé has managed to make his name a pillar of luxury.
Ispahan is inseparable from the Pierre Hermé brand and can be found in more and more of its boutiques around the world. And its triumph continues to assert itself today.
“When people talk to me about my cakes, half the time it’s ispahan,” Pierre Hermé often says.
Since his beginnings, Pierre Hermé, the father of other emblematic pastries such as the 2000feuilles, the plaisir sucré or the carrément chocolat, has not stopped collecting titles and awards. Hermé was named the World’s Best Pastry Chef in 2016 by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. He was also ranked the fourth most influential Frenchman in the world by Vanity Fair.
Daring to mix flavors and textures like no one else, Pierre Hermé has been called “a pastry provocateur” (Food & Wine), “an avant-garde pastry chef and a magician of taste” (Paris-Match), “The Kitchen Emperor” (New York Times) or “The King of Modern Pâtisserie” (The Guardian).
Hermé is the youngest person to be named France’s Pastry Chef of the Year, and is the only pastry chef to have been awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur by Jacques Chirac in May 2007.
This recipe is validated by our culinary expert in French cuisine, Chef Simon. You can find Chef Simon on his website Chef Simon – Le Plaisir de Cuisiner.
Ispahan
Ingredients
For the pink macaron biscuit
- 8 oz. ground almonds
- 2 cups icing sugar
- 6 oz. egg whites , stored for 3 days at room temperature (about 6 egg whites)
- ½ teaspoon carmine red food coloring
- 1¼ cup caster sugar
- ¼ cup mineral water
For the Italian meringue
- 4 oz. egg whites stored for 3 days at room temperature , about 4 egg whites
- 1¼ cup caster sugar
- ⅓ cup mineral water
For the rose petal cream
- ⅖ cup whole fresh milk
- 2½ oz. egg yolks , between 3 and 4 egg yolks
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 16 oz. unsalted pastry butter , 82-84% fat content, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon rose essence
- 1 oz. rose syrup
For the assembly
- 7 oz. canned lychees
- 8 oz. fresh raspberries
- Glucose
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- Kitchen thermometer
- Pastry brush
- Piping bag
- Plain piping tip #10
- Plain piping tip #12
Instructions
Macaron biscuit
- Over a bowl, sift the icing sugar mixed with the almond powder.
- In another bowl, mix the food coloring and half of the egg whites, pour them over the icing sugar and almond mixture, and mix.
- In a saucepan, boil the water and sugar until it reaches a temperature of 245 F (118°C).
- When the syrup reaches 230 F (110°C), start whisking the second half of the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Pour the sugar syrup which has reached 245 F (118°C) over the egg whites.
- Whisk and leave to cool to a temperature of 120 F (50°C) before incorporating them into the icing sugar, almond, egg whites and food coloring mixture while allowing the batter to fall.
- Pour the batter into a piping bag with a plain #12 piping tip.
- Shape 2 (8-inch / 20 cm diameter) discs into a spiral on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat® or parchment paper.
- Leave the discs to crust for at least 30 minutes, at room temperature.
- Preheat the convection oven at 350 F (180°C).
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, opening the oven door very quickly twice during baking.
- Remove from the oven, let cool.
- Set aside.
Italian meringue
- Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a saucepan.
- As soon as it boils, clean the edges of the pan with a damp pastry brush.
- Leave to cook until it reaches a temperature of 240 F (118°C).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they reach soft peaks.
- Drizzle the cooked sugar over the whipped egg whites. Leave to cool while continuing to whisk.
- Only 6 oz / 175 g of this meringue will be used.
Rose petal cream
- Boil the milk.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture whitens.
- Pour over the boiling milk and whisk.
- Transfer this mixture to a non-stick coated saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches a temperature of 185 F (85°C). Be careful, this preparation easily sticks to the bottom of the pan during cooking.
- Transfer this mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer then cool it, whisking at high speed.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater attachment, cream the butter.
- Add the cooled custard and whisk.
- Using a spatula, add the Italian meringue by hand, then the essence and rose syrup.
Assembly
- Cut the lychees into 2 or 3, depending on the size of the fruit and leave to drain overnight in the refrigerator.
- On a large serving platter, place the first pink macaron biscuit upside down.
- Using a piping bag fitted with a plain #10 piping tip, garnish with a spiral of rose petal cream, place the raspberries in a crown following the outside diameter of the pink macaron biscuit so that they are visible, then make 2 other crowns of raspberries inside according to the size of the macaron.
- Place lychees between the crowns, garnish again with rose petal cream and place the second pink macaron biscuit on top; press lightly.
- Decorate the top with 3 fresh raspberries and a few red rose petals enhanced with a drop of glucose, made using a plastic cone or baking paper.
- It is recommended to prepare the Isfahan the day before tasting it so that it is soft.
- Recipe from the book Best-of Pierre Hermé (Éditions Alain Ducasse)
Video
Sources
Wikipedia (FR) – Pierre Herme
Pierre Herme
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Terrorirs de Chefs
Mike is “the devil” of the 196 flavors’ duo. Nicknamed as such by his friends, he is constantly in search of unusual recipes and techniques with impossible to find ingredients. The devil is always pushing the envelope, whether it is with humor or culinary surprises.
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