Combine the icing sugar, powdered almonds and chopped pistachios. Beat the egg whites, then add the granulated sugar in three parts, mixing each time. Beat until you obtain a meringue that is quite malleable. Put the pistachio paste into a stainless-steel mixing bowl. Soften it by incorporating a small amount of beaten egg whites, using a whisk. Working by hand, combine the powdered ingredients with the softened pistachio paste. Do not beat, but fold in delicately. Use immediately.

Grease your ring (20 cm in diameter, 2 cm high) with well-creamed butter. Place on a baking tray lined with silicone paper. Line the inside of the ring with a strip of silicone paper (2 cm high). Using a pastry bag fitted with a smooth piping tip (No. 10 nozzle), fill the ring with dacquoise, starting in the centre and forming a spiral.  Place balls of dacquoise, side by side, around the ring. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios, then icing sugar. Bake in a ventilated oven at 170°C for 30 to 35 minutes. Leave the evacuation trap of the oven open to prevent the dacquoise from swelling and collapsing right away due to the steam concentrated in the oven. The baked cake, if pressed lightly, should spring back at once; it should be delicately tender.

Put the half of a vanilla bean in milk and boil. Let it steep for 20 minutes, then strain. Sift the flour and cornstarch together. In a stainless-steel mixing bowl, mix the egg yolks with the cornstarch, flour and sugar. Add milk to this mixture and pour into a saucepan. Bring the pastry cream to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring vigorously with a whisk, then add the butter. Remove to a pan lined with cling film. Let cool in the refrigerator.

Put the second-mentioned quantity of sugar in water and heat to 118°C. Beat the egg whites with the first-mentioned quantity of sugar until they form soft peaks. Pour the heated sugar in a trickle over the beaten egg whites. Keep beating to cool.

Combine the egg yolks with the sugar. Boil the milk and pour over this mixture. Pour into a saucepan and heat like a crème anglaise (light egg-custard cream) to 85°C (or until a spoon dipped into the mixture comes out coated with sauce). Pour into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with an egg beater attachment. Beat at high speed to cool.

NB: Be careful – This preparation tends to stick to the saucepan during cooking and scorch.

Put the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with an egg beater attachment. Beat until frothy. Add the crème anglaise and beat. Incorporate the Italian meringue by hand. Use immediately.

Using a whisk, beat the pastry cream until smooth. Put the butter cream in a stainless-steel mixing bowl; beat until frothy with a whisk, without heating it. Add the pistachio paste then the pastry cream and beat for a few moments.

Use a pastry bag fitted with a No. 10 tip to garnish the centre of the dacquoise with pistachio mousseline cream. Top with fresh raspberries or strawberry halves. With a pastry brush, delicately coat with a thin layer of strawberry or raspberry jam. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Refrigerate until serving. Serve on same day.

Barsac, Sauternes, Matcha green tea from Japan.