Apple, quince and hazelnut cake composed of
– a hazelnut biscuit,
– a praline crunch,
– an apple and quince compote,
– a vanilla mousse,
– a quince jelly.
Material used
– Rectangular pastry frame 20X10cm
– Ancel 210 Bloom gelatin (gold quality)
Ingredients
Preparation of the quince
✔1 quince
Hazelnut biscuit
✔65 g hazelnut powder
✔1 egg
✔2 egg whites
✔65 g icing sugar
✔20 g butter
✔15 g flour
✔15 g caster sugar
Praline crisp
✔hazelnut praline
✔milk chocolate
✔crêpes dentelles
Apple and quince compote
✔applesauce (cooked apples, mixed)
✔quince compote (previously cooked and mixed quince)
✔caster sugar
✔gelatine
Vanilla mousse
✔full cream
✔white chocolate
✔gelatine
✔whipped cream
✔1 vanilla pod
✔icing sugar
Quince jelly
✔quince cooking juice
✔caster sugar
✔gelatine
The recipe
Preparation of quince
✔1 quince
Cut your quince into pieces, keeping the seeds and skin. Pour into a saucepan and cover with water. Cook for 1h30 to 2h00 on low/medium heat. At the end of the cooking time, strain the juice and keep it for making your jelly. Keep the quince pieces for the quince compote. I put them through a manual purée press to remove the seeds and skins.
Hazelnut biscuit
✔65 g hazelnut powder
✔1 egg
✔2 egg whites
✔65 g icing sugar
✔20 g butter
✔15 g flour
✔15 g caster sugar
Make a hazelnut butter. In a saucepan, melt the butter until it takes on a nice colour and a hazelnut smell. Set aside. In a bowl, mix the whole egg with the icing sugar. Add the hazelnut powder, flour and melted butter. Mix well. In another bowl, beat the egg whites with the powdered sugar. Incorporate a third of the egg whites and mix to loosen the mixture, then gently fold the rest into the mixture with a pastry blender. Pour the biscuit dough onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake the biscuit for 8 to 10 minutes at 180°C. Remove the biscuit from the oven and allow it to cool before peeling it off the paper and cutting out a rectangle measuring 20X10cm. Place the biscuit on a plate inside your rectangular frame.
Praline crisp
✔hazelnut praline
✔milk chocolate
✔crêpes dentelles
Mix the praline, the melted chocolate and the crêpes dentelles. Spread it on the hazelnut biscuit and put in the freezer.
Apple and quince compote
✔applesauce (cooked apples, mixed)
✔quince compote (previously cooked and mixed quince)
✔caster sugar
✔gelatine
In a bowl of cold water, place the gelatine leaves. In a saucepan, heat the apple and quince compote with the caster sugar. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine, wrung out and softened. Mix well. Pour over the hazelnut biscuit. Place in the freezer.
Vanilla mousse
✔full cream
✔white chocolate
✔gelatine
✔whipped cream
✔1 vanilla pod
✔icing sugar
In a bowl of cold water, place the gelatine leaves. In a saucepan, heat the 100g of liquid cream with the vanilla pod previously split in half and scraped out. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse for at least 20 minutes. Heat the cream a little more, then take it off the heat and add the gelatine, wrung out. Pour over the melted white chocolate. Mix and set aside. Whip the cold cream with an electric mixer and gradually add the icing sugar. Pour over the previous mixture and stir gently. Pour inside your rectangular frame over the compote and place in the freezer overnight.
Quince jelly
✔quince cooking juice
✔caster sugar
✔gelatine
Soften the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water. In a saucepan, pour the quince cooking juice, powdered sugar and then bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine. Leave to cool (< 40°C) then pour over the frozen cake.
Leave in the fridge until the jelly sets. Carefully remove the frame and cut 0.5 cm off each side of the cake, so that the layers are well defined. Cut into individual slices and thaw in the fridge.
I decorated the cake with pieces of quince paste made with the remaining quince compote. Cook the quince compote in a saucepan for 18 to 20 minutes, weighing it beforehand. Add the same amount of sugar (for example 100g quince compote and 100g caster sugar). Stir regularly throughout the cooking process. Pour into a frame, having previously wrapped it in film, and leave to dry. The next day I cut out squares of quince paste and covered them with caster sugar.