English - Les délices 31

Pear and hazelnut choux

Pear and hazelnut choux composed of

– a cabbage,
– hazelnut cracker,
– hazelnut ganache,
– a pear in syrup,
– homemade praline.

Material used

– Silikomart micro-perforated baking mat

– piping bags

For 4 choux

Hazelnut praline
100g hazelnuts
50g powdered sugar

Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake at 150°C for 15 minutes. In a saucepan, pour the caster sugar and make a caramel. Pour onto a sheet of baking paper and leave to cool. Place the hazelnuts, without their skins, and the caramel cut into pieces in the bowl of a blender and blend until you have a praline.

Hazelnut ganache
100g of liquid cream
100g white chocolate
50g hazelnut praline
100g of cold liquid cream

In a saucepan, pour and heat the 100g of liquid cream. In a bowl, pour the white chocolate and melt it a little in the microwave. Gradually pour the hot cream over the white chocolate while stirring to obtain a smooth mixture. Add the 50g of hazelnut praline and stir again. Finally, add the 100g of cold liquid cream. Mix, wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.

Pears in syrup
4 pears
Powdered sugar
Liquid vanilla

Peel the pears and remove the middle of the pear with a peeler. Cook the pears in a pan of water with caster sugar and liquid vanilla for 1.5 to 2 hours. Drain the pears, leave to cool slightly and then place in the fridge until assembly.

Hazelnut cracker
40g butter
20g flour
20g hazelnut powder
40g brown sugar

Mix all the ingredients, spread between two sheets of paper, place in the freezer for a few minutes and then cut out circles the size of your choux.

Choux pastry
60g water
60g milk
70g flour
55g butter
salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
2 or 3 eggs (depending on size)

Heat the water, milk, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan.
Add the flour all at once and mix well to dry out the dough for 2 to 3 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a bowl and add the beaten eggs gradually, mixing well between each addition.
Poach the choux on a baking tray covered with a micro perforated baking mat, leaving some choux pastry. Bake at 180°C for 40 to 45 minutes (time may vary depending on the oven). Leave to cool on a wire rack. Make a hole under each choux.

Assembly
Take the hazelnut ganache from the fridge and beat it with an electric mixer. Fill a piping bag with it and fill the choux. I used about 50 g of ganache per choux. Cut out the base of the pear and insert homemade praline into the centre of the pear. Place the pear on the choux. Use the remaining hazelnut ganache to decorate your pear.

I added hazelnuts cut in half and small gold leaves.

Chestnut entremet

Chestnut Entremet composed of

– a creamy chestnut insert,
– chestnut cream,
– chestnut mousse,
– a brown biscuit;
– a dark chocolate mirror icing.

Material used

– Chestnut silikomart mould
– Ancel 210 bloom gelatine

Ingredients

Creamy chestnut insert
✔1 leaf gelatine 2g
✔100 ml cream
✔1 egg yolk
✔15g caster sugar
✔80g chestnut cream
✔Chestnut cream

Chesnut biscuit
✔40g butter
✔40g chestnut cream
✔1 pinch of salt
✔20g caster sugar
✔2 yolks
✔15g cream
✔40g flour
✔1 spoonful of yeast
+
✔50g egg whites
✔30g sugar

Chestnut mousse
✔140g chestnut cream
✔100g liquid cream
✔3g gelatine

Dark chocolate icing
✔45g sugar
✔45g glucose
✔25 ml water
✔45 g dark chocolate
✔30 ml unsweetened condensed milk or cream
✔2 x 2g gelatine leaves

The recipe

For 6 desserts

Creamy chestnut insert
✔1 leaf gelatine 2g
✔100 ml cream
✔1 egg yolk
✔15g caster sugar
✔80g chestnut cream
✔Chestnut cream

In a bowl, mix the egg yolk with the sugar until slightly white. In a saucepan, bring 100 ml of cream to the boil, remove from heat and pour the hot cream over the previous mixture. Return to the saucepan and cook over a low heat until 82ºC. Remove from the heat and add the wrung-out gelatine. Pour the hot cream over the chestnut cream and mix. Pour into the bottom of the silikomart mould to a height of 1 cm to 1.5 cm and place in the freezer. 15-20 minutes later, remove from the freezer and apply a layer of chestnut cream to the top. Smooth the surface with the back of a teaspoon and return to the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Chesnut biscuit
✔40g butter
✔40g chestnut cream
✔1 pinch of salt
✔20g caster sugar
✔2 yolks
✔15g cream
✔40g flour
✔1 spoonful of yeast
+
✔50g egg whites
✔30g sugar

In a salad bowl, work the butter into a creamy mixture. Add the chestnut cream, salt and caster sugar. Mix well. Then add the two yolks and the cream. You can mix with an electric mixer. Finally add the sifted flour and yeast. Mix well.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer, gradually adding the caster sugar. Add a small amount of the egg whites to the previous mixture, stirring to loosen. Add the remaining egg whites and stir gently with a paddle so that they do not fall back. Pour onto a baking tray covered with baking paper and bake at 180°C for 10 to 12 minutes. Leave to cool. Cut out using the cookie cutter supplied with the chestnut Silikomart mould.

Chestnut mousse
✔140g chestnut cream
✔100g liquid cream
✔3g gelatine

Heat 30g of cream in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and add the softened and wrung-out gelatine. Pour over the chestnut cream and mix. Whip the other half of the cold cream with an electric mixer. Gently fold it into the previous mixture.

Assembly
Melted white chocolate

In the silikomart mould, brush a little white chocolate with a small amount of melted dark chocolate in the hollow of the chestnut. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes to harden.

Place some chestnut mousse in the bottom of each mould. Then place the frozen insert, add a little more mousse and finish with the biscuit previously soaked with a syrup (water, sugar and rum brought to the boil in a small saucepan). Place in the freezer overnight.

Dark chocolate icing
✔45 g sugar
✔45 g glucose
✔25 ml water
✔45 g dark chocolate
✔30 ml unsweetened condensed milk or cream
✔2 x 2g gelatine leaves

In a saucepan, heat the sugar, water and glucose. Off the heat, add the wrung out and softened gelatine. Pour this mixture over the melted chocolate. Stir well. Add the condensed milk. Use a hand blender to blend the mixture. If there are too many air bubbles, you can strain the mixture. Remove the cake from the freezer. Stick a wooden spike underneath. Tilt the chestnut so that no icing is applied to the white chocolate. Cover the surface of the cake with the glaze, which has been reduced to 35/36°C. Place it on a rack and then proceed to glaze the other cakes. Then place them in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours to defrost.