Chocolate Mousse and Dacquoise Entremet

Chocolate Mousse and Dacquoise Entremet

Hazelnut Dacquoise

70 g ground hazelnut

70 g icing sugar

60 g flour

3 egg whites

Preheat oven to 100C, line baking sheet. Draw two 21 cm diameter circle, set aside.

Finely grind the hazelnut with the icing sugar. Set aside.

To make meringue, place egg whites in a large bowl, beat on a medium speed until frothy. Gradually add sugar, little at a time.Turn the speed high until it become thick and glossy. Do not over-beat. Gently fold the hazelnut and sugar mixture until just combined.

Attach a plain tip to a piping bag, pipe the meringue into a spiral starting at the centre of each circle. Bake for 1 hour, after 1 hour, turn off the oven and let the meringue cool in the oven with door slightly open for at least another hour.

*Make this one day ahead

Chocolate Mousse with pâte à bombe

3 egg yolks

45 g sugar

35 g water

300 g heavy cream

150 g dark chocolate

Directions:

Bring sugar and water to boil (118 d Celsius). Place the yolks in a mixing bowl and whip for several minutes until it turn paler and frothy. Pour the hot syrup into the yolks mixture and whip at the same time. Keep whipping until the pâte à bombe cooled down.

While the motor running for the pâte à bombe, whip the cold cream to soft peak and melt the chocolate (bain marie or microwave). Add the warm chocolate to the pâte à bombe and stir it slowly until well mix. Incorporate 1/3 whipped cream with the pâte à bombe. Whisk until smooth and do the same with the remaining cream.

Praline Chocolate Mousse (prepare this one day ahead)

Praline Paste

35 g raw skinned hazelnut

30 g sugar

 Dark Chocolate Mousse 

25 g dark chocolate, break to pieces

1 egg yolk

1 tsp sugar

125 ml heavy cream

For the praline:

Prepare  baking tray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large pan, sprinkle the sugar evenly. Heat the pan on low-medium heat. Stir until sugar start to dissolve and bring it to boil. Bring up the heat, once the bubble are forming, and the colour of the sugar start to darken, add the hazelnut. Be careful at this stage as it can burn easily and you can bin it. Quickly swirl the hazelnut and coat evenly. Remove from heat and pour the mixture into the prepared tray.

Leave to cool completely. Break the mixture to large chunk and finely crush until it reaches a paste using food processor.

For the mousse:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, be extra careful as the chocolate can easily burn. Beat the egg yolk, sugar and 1 tbsp of water in a heat proof bowl over a simmering water until hot and fluffy. Add the praline paste and melted chocolate, whisk until the mixture reaches a smooth and creamy texture. Allow to cool to room temperature. Whip the cream until stiff and fold in the chocolate mixture. Pour the mousse into a small entremet ring (10 cm). Freeze it overnight.

Shiny Chocolate Glaze (prepare this glaze once the entremet fully chilled)

200 ml heavy cream

1 cup dark chocolate, break to pieces

6 tbsp corn syrup

Bring the cream to boiling point, remove from heat. Add chocolate. Stir until the mixture until thicken. Add the corn syrup and stir until smooth and shiny. Let the mixture slightly cool.

To assemble the entremet:

 Line a entremet ring (15 cm) with acetate/rhodoid or plastic wrap around the ring and parchment paper at the bottom. Or you can use springform pan (about the same size).

Remove the praline chocolate mousse from the freezer and remove from the entremet ring.

Place the dacquoise at the bottom of the entremet ring. Pipe some of the chocolate mousse over and around the dacquoise.

Place the frozen praline mousse on top the chocolate mousse. Press lightly and pour another layer of the mousse. Place another dacquoise disc and pour the remaining mousse until it reaches the top of the entremet ring. Smooth the top of the mousse. Chill it for few hours or until it set. Place the entremet in the freezer 20 minutes before glazing.

Glaze the entremet:

Remove the entremet from the freezer.Warm the sides of the ring using flame and slide the entremet out. Place the entremet on a smaller bowl flipped upside down on a wire rack, place a large baking sheet under the wire rack.

Pour the warm glaze over the frozen entremet until it fully covered. With an offset spatula, push the excess glaze to the side. The excess glaze will fall to the baking sheet. Lift the entremet from the wire rack and remove the excess glaze from the bottom of the entremet. Place the glazed entremet in the fridge until ready to eat.

* Finish the decoration with few candied hazelnut on top of the entremet.

Recipe from here : Candied Hazelnuts