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Millefeuille of honey-glazed pineapple and home-made macaroons

Mike Robinson from Great Food Live
Mike Robinson's creamy stack of caramelised fruit and thin almond biscuits makes a scrumptious treat for guests

Millefeuille of honey-glazed pineapple and home-made macaroons

Method

1. To make the macaroons, preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Put the ground almonds, egg white and icing sugar in a food processor and blend for 1-2 minutes until well combined. With the machine still running, add the crème fraîche a spoonful at a time, then add the vanilla extract.

2. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. If necessary, dab a little of the mixture on each of the four corners to help it sit in place. Drop ¾ teaspoons of the mixture in domes onto the sheet, spacing them 2cm apart and staggering the rows to allow plenty of room for expansion. Leave to stand for 10-15 minutes.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/gas 5 and bake the macaroons for 8-11 minutes, propping the door open with a wooden spoon, until the biscuits start to colour. Turn the tray around 4 minutes into baking to ensure they cook evenly.

4. To prepare the filling, cut the pineapple flesh into neat 1cm chunks, and place in a large frying pan, with the butter, over a medium heat. When they start to caramelise, add ½ tablespoon honey - the chunks will glaze instantly. Add the rum and flambé, then set aside.

5. In a mixing bowl, combine the crème fraîche and mascarpone with the rest of the honey. Use this mixture to fill a piping bag.

6. To assemble the dish, take three macaroons and cut them in half horizontally. Lay one macaroon half on a plate, pipe some of the mascarpone cream into it and dot with pineapple. Repeat until you have stacks of three biscuits with two layers of cream and fruit between them for each person.

7. To decorate, dot the rest of the pineapple around the plate and dust the whole dessert lightly with icing sugar.

Cook's notes:
A bakers' trick to remove macaroons from the paper, is to run a little cold water between the baking paper and the tray. Leave the macaroons to cool and they should then be quite easy to remove from the damp paper.