Best Strawberry Pistachio Towers Recipes

STRAWBERRY PISTACHIO TART

Steps:

• Place milk in a saucepan. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape beans into milk along with the pods. Heat to a boil stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Meanwhile whip yolks and sugar until thick. Remove vanilla pods from milk as it comes to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and ladle enough of the hot milk into the yolk mixture, stirring well to warm it and make it more liquid. Add this mixture back to the saucepan and stir constantly until it reaches a simmer and is thick. Allow to bubble, stirring for 1 full minute. Pour into a glass or stainless bowl, cover and refrigerate until cold. (May be done a day in advance.)
• Draw a 10-inch diameter circle on paper as a guide. Place parchment baking paper over the guide. Soften almond paste with mixer on low speed. Add egg white and mix thoroughly. Using a pastry bag fitted with a star tube, pipe the macaroon mixture around the circle in rosettes. Prepare almond cake.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix both flours and the 1/2 cup sugar together and set aside. Whip egg whites until they form medium peaks. Add the 3 tablespoons sugar and continue to whip until well incorporated. Adding by thirds, shake in the flour sugar mixture. Fold in until incorporated. Starting at the center, pipe the almond cake batter inside the macaroon rosettes to create a solid base. Bake on lower shelf of oven until base is cooked and rosettes are starting to brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Diplomat Cream and assembly: 2/3 recipe pastry cream 1 cup whipping cream 1-ounce pistachio paste 1 to 1 1/2 pints fresh strawberries Apricot glaze Handful unsalted pistachios
• Whip cream to soft peaks. Stir pastry cream until smooth. Stir pistachio paste into pastry cream then fold in whipped cream. Spread onto cooled tart base inside the macaroon rosette border. Arrange whole or halved strawberries on top. Glaze with apricot glaze using a pastry brush and sprinkle pistachios on top.

STRAWBERRY PISTACHIO MILLE-FEUILLANTINES

Steps:

• Make wafers:
• Preheat oven to 325° F. and spray a heavy or non-stick baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
• Rub off loose skins from pistachios and in a food processor grind nuts with granulated sugar. In a bowl whisk together pistachio mixture, flour, and salt and whisk in whites, butter, and vanilla until combined well. Drop rounded teaspoons batter 5 inches apart onto baking sheet and with back of a spoon spread into 3 1/2- to 4-inch rounds. Bake wafers in middle of oven 8 minutes, or until golden.
• Working quickly, transfer hot wafers with a thin metal spatula to a rack to cool completely. (If wafers become too crisp to remove from baking sheet, return to oven 1 minute, or until heated through and pliable.) Make more wafers with remaining batter in same manner, spraying or re-lining sheet for each batch. Wafers may be made 2 days ahead and kept in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes 16 to 20 wafers.
• Into a chilled bowl scrape seeds of vanilla bean and add cream and granulated sugar. With a whisk or an electric mixer beat mixture until it holds stiff peaks. Whipped cream may be made 2 hours ahead and chilled, covered. Whisk cream briefly before using.
• Just before serving, assemble mille-feuillantines:
• Put a wafer in center of each of 4 plates. Spread about 2 tablespoons whipped cream on each wafer, leaving a 1/4-inch border, and top with half of strawberries. Put another wafer on top of strawberries and top in same manner with remaining cream and strawberries. Dust 4 wafers with confectioners' sugar and put on top of desserts. Garnish each mille-feuillantine with a strawberry and sprinkle plates with pistachios.