Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins Dessert Recipe

This Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins dessert recipe is simple, but bursting with amazing flavors, these are sure to create a memorable dessert for your family.

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If you are even slightly familiar with who Dorie Greenspan is, you might think that her name and easy recipes don’t go together. After all, many call her a culinary guru, is a James Beard Award Winner, is a New York Times bestseller cookbook author, and wrote one of Julie Child’s cookbooks.

With just those accomplishments (I could list even more), I don’t associate her with “easy recipes”. I think sophisticated, fancy, ooo-la-la recipes. I think of complicated recipes that a simple home cook, like me, might find intimidating.

Sure, there is recipes by Dorie Greenspan that are that. Probably a lot of them. But, she has a way of sharing recipes in her cookbooks, and on her blog, that makes me feel — no, they make me KNOW — that even I can re-create them. When you read her instructions, there are subtle details added that are just the things a home cook needs to know, without being too wordy or bulky. I devour her words and I actually get them, and I understand them. And they are far from intimidating.

Today I’m sharing a recipe with you that comes from her newest cookbook, Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere. It features a recipe for Pistachio and Berry Gratins — an incredibly easy dessert recipe that is so impressive, your guests will think YOU are the culinary guru. Seriously, it’s that good.

The original recipe calls for fresh blueberries or mixed fresh berries, but since the fall crop of raspberries are in season now, I opted to use beautiful Driscoll’s Raspberries. I picked up mine at Whole Foods, but I’ve also seen Driscoll’s at many other grocery stores as well (find out where to buy them here).

If you’ve heard the word “gratin” before, it was probably for potatoes au gratin or other vegetable gratins. While those are heavenly, this recipe isn’t a savory version, but rather a dessert gratin. Did you know sweet gratins existed? I didn’t.  Now that I’ve been enlightened to this new world, I’m already thinking of all sorts of other fruit gratins I can make. I see endless possibilities.

For the Pistachio and Raspberry Gratin recipe, you’ll begin by making a Pistachio Cream, which is the topping for the fruit and made with finely ground pistachios. My grocery store sells shelled pistachios in bulk, so I recommend looking for those at your grocery store. Or perhaps if they don’t them in bulk, they will sell them in a bagged already shelled? If not, you’ll need to remove the shells from your pistachios, which I think is an excellent job for the kids.

The ground pistachios are blended into a butter and sugar mixture, as well as a few other ingredients, to make the Pistachio Cream. It’s then placed in the refrigerator for about an hour.

When it’s time to assemble your Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins, you’ll take your Driscoll’s raspberries and place them in a bowl. Just look at these beauties…they are begging to be part of this dessert! A bit of sugar and lemon zest is gently tossed with them, and after 5-10 minutes with occasional stirring, a small amount of juice will form in the bottom of your bowl. Juicy deliciousness.

The raspberries are divided between 6 small dishes, such as ramekins or creme brulee dishes. Give your chilled pistachio cream one final mixing and spread it on top of the raspberries as evenly as possible. Finally, a bit of chopped pistachios is sprinkled on top.

After baking in the oven, your Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins come out of the oven, all hot and bubbly. Dorie talks in her cookbook about it possibly bubbling over (a good thing), but my ramekins were a bit large than needed, so I didn’t have this delightful mess. But even still, the pistachio cream has browned and has created a lightly crisp topping for my beautiful Driscoll’s raspberries.

Needless to say, this dessert is simply divine! My family sat in silence as we savored each bite of our warm gratins. We didn’t add any additional toppings, but, if you wish, you could top with some whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I’ve included the recipe below for making Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins. Make them for your family and I guarantee that it will be a memorable dessert. I’m also sure that Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere is a cookbook that you have to have in your collection.

Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins

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• Author: Brandie Valenzuela

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Description

This Pistachio and Raspberry Gratins dessert recipe is simple, but bursting with amazing flavors, these are sure to create a memorable dessert for your family.

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Ingredients

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• 2/12 cups fresh raspberries
• 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 recipe Pistachio Cream (see below)
• Pistachios (optional, shelled and coarsely chopped for topping)

Pistachio Cream

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup ground pistachios
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extra

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Instructions

1. Prepare Pistachio Cream: In a food processor bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat butter until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for 1-2 minutes more. Add the ground pistachios, flour, and cornstarch and beat until the mixture is smooth once again. Drop in the egg and beat for a minute or so, until it is thoroughly incorporated. Beat in the vanilla. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface and refrigerate for an hour.
2. Center a rack in the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly butter six custard cups or other dishes that can hold 6-8 ounces and place them on the baking sheet.
3. Place the berries in a medium bowl and finely grate the zest of the lemon over them. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, mix everything together and let sit, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, until a little syrup has developed. Stir and taste the berries. If you want them sweeter, add more sugar.
4. Divide the fruit evenly among the cups. Spoon an equal amount of pistachio cream over each portion of fruit and use the back of a spoon to smooth it as evenly as you can over the berries. Scatter over the chopped pistachios, if you are using them.
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the gratins are golden and the fruit is bubbling. The pistachio cream may have sunk into the fruit and it might have run over the rims of the cup, but that’s fine. Transfer the gratins, still on the baking sheet, to a cooling rack and let cool until they are warm and reach room temperature before serving.

• Category: Dessert
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

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For more information on Driscoll’s berries, including even more berry-filled recipes, visit them at http://www.driscolls.com/