Vacherin rhubarbe verte by Maxime Frédéric

Pastry chef at Plénitude - Cheval Blanc Paris (5 toques), creator of the Plein Cœur bakery and Gault&Millau Best Pastry Chef of the Year 2022, Maxime Frédéric imagines precise desserts, always inspired by the seasons. This recipe for rhubarb vacherin, taken from his book Plein Cœur published by Editions de La Martinière, showcases rhubarb in all its forms: in sorbet, compote, poached, in sauce... Discover the ingredients and preparation steps to make the simple watermelon, rhubarb harissa, fromage frais, tagetes oil.

• Serves 6
• Preparation time: 2 hours
• Cooking time: 7 hours
• Rest: 1 night
• Maceration: 2 hours

Ingredients for Maxime Frédéric's green rhubarb vacherin

For the rhubarb sorbet

• 600 g Valentine rhubarb
• 9 cl beaumes-de-venise wine
• 1 Madagascar vanilla pod
• 90 g organic cane sugar
• 150 g inulin (natural thickener)
• 90 g curd cheese (40%)
• 90 g raw cream

For the meringue

• 7 egg whites
• 200 g organic cane sugar
• 180 g powdered sugar

For the whipped cream

• 200 g full-fat liquid cream
• 50 g cottage cheese 40% fat

For the rhubarb compote

• 200 g Mira green rhubarb
• 5 g organic cane sugar

For the rhubarb poaching syrup

• 500 g Valentine rhubarb
• 15 cl water
• 100 g lavender honey
• 1 Madagascar vanilla pod

For the poached rhubarb

• 200 g Valentine rhubarb

For the rhubarb sauce

• 20 g lavender honey
• 1 cl strawberry juice
• 2 cl Beaumes-de-Venise wine
• 2 g cornstarch

Preparation steps for Maxime Frédéric's green rhubarb vacherin

1. Rhubarb sorbet: Peel and juice the rhubarb. In a saucepan, heat 28 cl of juice to 40°C with the wine and scraped vanilla. Blend. Add the inulin and sugar. Bring to the boil. Chinoise, then leave to cool. Mix with fromage blanc and crème crue. Blend. Leave to stand overnight. Blend again, then turbinate. Mold into 2 cm-high frames. Set aside in the freezer for 30 minutes, then cut into 6 calisson shapes, each 7 cm long, using a cookie cutter. Set aside in the freezer.
2. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with half the sugar. Once they have started to rise, pour in the remaining sugar, then the sifted powdered sugar. Mix well. Shape into quenelles weighing around 65 g, and bake for 3 hours in a fan-assisted oven at 60°C. Scoop out the inside of each meringue from underneath. Remove as much meringue as possible to obtain a thin shell. Put back in the oven on a rack for 30 minutes to finish drying.
3. Chantilly: Mix the two ingredients with a whisk. Place in a small siphon and gas with a single cartridge. Set aside.
4. Compotée rhubarbe verte: Peel and cut the rhubarb into 1 cm sections. Macerate with sugar for 2 hours at room temperature. Simmer in a saucepan for around 1 hour, until the rhubarb is nicely stewed.
5. Rhubarb poaching syrup: Peel and cut rhubarb into 1 cm sections. Mix them with the water in a pouncer. Cook in a bain-marie over low heat for 3 hours. They should be completely juiced. Heat 33 cl of this juice (reserve the remaining juice) with the honey and scraped vanilla. Blend and chinoisee the syrup.
6. Poached rhubarb: Heat 25 cl of syrup to 90°C. Add the rhubarb, cut into 1 cm pieces. Poach for at least 15 minutes, until the rhubarb has melted. drain, reserving the syrup. Leave to cool.
7. Rhubarb sauce: Heat 10 cl of the poaching syrup with the honey and stir. Pour in strawberry juice, 22 cl rhubarb extraction juice and wine. Add the cornstarch, bring to the boil, whisking constantly, and cool.
8. Finishing: Place the meringue with the opening facing upwards. drain the poached rhubarb pieces and pat dry on kitchen paper. In a shallow dish, spread a base of rhubarb sauce. Top the meringue with chantilly to cover the entire inside in a thin layer. Top with dried poached rhubarb, and add a touch of compote on top of the poached rhubarb. Place a quenelle of sorbet in the meringue, top up with chantilly to close. Turn the meringue over and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Place on the plate with the sauce.