English – Page 21 – Les délices 31

Chocolate bar galette

Chocolate bar galette made with

– homemade puff pastry,
– and chocolate frangipane cream.

Equipment used

– Baking tray

– Greaseproof paper

– 1 cutter

– 1 rectangular pastry frame

– 1 bean

– Rolling pin

– 1 pastry brush

– Silikomart Chocolate Bar Log Decorating Mat

Ingredients

Puff pastry (the day before)
✔375g flour
✔6.5g salt
✔185g tempered water
✔125g melted butter
✔185g tourage butter

Pastry cream
✔100ml milk
✔1 egg
✔15g sugar
✔10g cornflour
✔Vanilla powder or liquid
✔3 capfuls rum

Almond cream (the day before)
✔100g almond powder
✔65g icing sugar
✔65g softened butter
✔1 egg
✔60g melted milk chocolate
✔3 capfuls of rum

Frangipane cream
✔almond cream
✔120g custard cream

The recipe

Serves 6

Puff pastry (the day before)
✔375g flour
✔6.5g salt
✔185g tempered water
✔125g melted butter
✔185g tourage butter

Pour the flour, salt, water and melted butter into the food processor bowl and mix the ingredients. If you don’t have a food processor, you can knead the dough by hand. Shape the dough into a ball and score with a knife in the shape of a cross.

Cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, place your tourage butter (or conventional butter) in greaseproof paper, folding the sheet into a square about 15 to 16 cm square. Flatten with a rolling pin to achieve an even thickness.

Roll out the dough into a cross shape on a floured work surface. Place the butter in the centre.

Fold the 4 sides of the pastry into the centre. Then roll out the pastry lengthways. Trim the ends if necessary to make a nice rectangle.

Rotate the pastry a quarter turn and fold the pastry in three, the right side towards the middle and then the left side. Roll out the pastry lengthways and fold in three again, first the right side and then the left. Two rounds have now been completed. Use a cutter to cut the pastry on both sides at the fold.

Shrink-wrap your pastry and chill for at least 1 hour.

Make 2 more rounds in the same way. Cut the pastry with a cutter. Shrink-wrap the pastry and chill overnight.

Make two more rounds to obtain a thinner puff pastry.

Additional tips:

– Don’t knead your tempera for too long

– Make sure your rectangles are even before folding.

– Remember to line your dough well between each turn to avoid a crust forming.

– To cut your pastry, it must be cold.

– Use a very sharp blade, such as a cutter or scalpel, to cut your pastry, otherwise you risk crushing your puff pastry.

Pastry cream (the day before)
✔100ml milk
✔1 egg
✔15g sugar
✔10g cornflour
✔Vanilla powder or liquid
✔3 capfuls rum

Heat the milk and vanilla in a saucepan. In a bowl, mix the egg, sugar and cornflour. Pour the hot milk over the mixture and return to the saucepan until thickened. Turn off the heat and add the rum. Pour into a bowl, strain and set aside in a cool place.

Almond cream (the day before)
✔100g almond powder
✔65g icing sugar
✔65g softened butter
✔1 egg
✔60g melted milk chocolate
✔3 capfuls of rum

Mix all the ingredients together. For the almond powder, you can use whole blanched almonds that you can blend into a powder, but don’t blend too finely to retain a little crunch.

Frangipane cream
✔almond cream
✔120g pastry cream

Mix the almond cream and the crème pâtissière (about 120g) previously loosened a little with a spatula. Line a rectangle of baking paper with the cream. Place a bean on top and freeze overnight.

The next day, cut your pastry into two equal parts and roll out each part of your puff pastry into a rectangle.

Place your frozen frangipane cream in the middle of one of the rectangles. Brush water all around the frangipane cream. Cover with the second rectangle of puff pastry. Press all around with your thumb to separate the pastry. Using a rectangular pastry frame and a cutter, cut out the pastry (use a cutter or scalpel rather than a knife to cut the pastry and avoid crushing the leaves). Turn the dough out onto a baking tray and place a silikomart mat on top.

Brush egg yolk/cream over the top only (be careful not to apply egg yolk to the edges) then chill for at least 10 minutes to allow the yolk to dry. Brush with egg yolk again and leave to dry.

Prick the pastry around your decoration so that the air escapes during baking.

Bake at 180°C for 20 min then lower the temperature to 165°C for 40 min. I placed 4.5 cm high entremet circles at the 4 ends of my baking tray and placed a wire rack over them.

As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, turn it over. Brush your galette with a mixture of water and sugar (brought to the boil in a small saucepan) to give it more shine and put it back in the oven for a few minutes.

Pistachio and orange blossom entremet

Pistachio and orange blossom entremet made with

– a pistachio biscuit,
– a pistachio crisp,
– a pistachio praline insert,
– an orange blossom mousse,
– and a green velvet spray.

Material used

– Silikomart Essenziale 80 mould

– Silikomart X15 petits fours mould

– Ancel 210 Bloom gelatine (gold quality)

– Green velvet spray

Ingredients

Pistachio praline (the day before)
100g unsalted pistachios
50g caster sugar

Pistachio biscuit (the day before)
35 g pistachio powder
1 egg
1 egg white
35 g sugar
10 g butter
7 g flour

Pistachio praline crisp
25g pistachio praline
30g white chocolate
30g crêpes dentelles

Orange blossom mousse
50g liquid cream
50g white chocolate
100g cold liquid cream
16g orange blossom
2g gelatine

The recipe

For 5 desserts

Pistachio praline (the day before)
100g unsalted pistachios
50g caster sugar

Place the pistachios on a baking tray and bake at 150°C for 15 minutes. Pour the caster sugar into a saucepan and make a caramel. Pour onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave to cool. Place the pistachios and chopped caramel in the bowl of a blender and blend until you have a praline.

Pour the praline into the Silikomart petits fours X15 cavities insert mould 3/4 full and place in the freezer.

Pistachio biscuit (the day before)
35 g pistachio powder
1/2 egg
1 egg white
35 g sugar
10 g butter
7 g flour

Make a hazelnut butter. In a saucepan, melt the butter until it takes on a nice colour and a nutty smell. Set aside. In a bowl, mix the whole egg with the icing sugar. Add the pistachio powder (I mixed 35g of unsalted pistachios), flour and melted butter. Mix well. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites with the caster sugar. Gently fold into the mixture using a pastry blender. Pour the biscuit dough onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake the biscuit for 10 to 12 minutes at 180°C. Remove the biscuit from the oven and leave to cool before peeling off the paper and cutting out the biscuit using a cookie cutter.

Orange blossom mousse
50g liquid cream
50g white chocolate
100g cold liquid cream
16g orange blossom
2g gelatine

Place the sheet of gelatine in a bowl of cold water. In a small saucepan, heat the 50g single cream. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine, melted white chocolate and orange blossom. Mix well and set aside. Whip the cold cream with an electric mixer. Pour in the previous mixture when its temperature is < 40°C and stir gently.

Assembly

Fill the Silikomart Essenziale 80 mould halfway with the orange blossom mousse, using a spoon to smooth the edges. Place the pistachio praline insert. Add a little pistachio mousse and finish with the pistachio biscuit.

Pistachio praline crisp
25g pistachio praline
30g white chocolate
30g crêpes dentelles

Mix the praline, melted white chocolate and crumbled crêpes dentelles. Spread between two sheets of greaseproof paper and freeze for a few minutes. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the diameter of your dessert. Place a disc of crumble on each dessert. Set aside. Place in the freezer overnight.

The next day, remove the cakes from the moulds and immediately apply the green velvet spray. Chill for at least 3 hours.

I decorated with pieces of white chocolate and chopped pistachios. Temper some white chocolate, spread it out on a sheet of guitar paper and sprinkle some chopped pistachios over the top.

Kouglof

Kouglof

An Alsatian brioche with a distinctive appearance due to its mould, which gives it a high, fluted shape with a hollow in the middle.

Materials used

– 22cm Kouglof mould

– Brush

– Food processor

– Griddle

Ingredients

Kouglof
✔140 g milk
✔15 g baker’s yeast
✔375 g flour
✔8 g fine salt
✔75 g caster sugar
✔2 eggs
✔110 g softened butter
✔90 g currants

Cooking time
170°C
45 to 50 minutes

Syrup
✔125g water
✔170g caster sugar
✔10g orange blossom water
✔20g alcohol

The recipe

Kouglof
✔140 g milk
✔15 g baker’s yeast
✔375 g flour
✔8 g fine salt
✔75 g caster sugar
✔2 eggs
✔110 g softened butter
✔90 g currants

Place the sultanas in a bowl of hot water with a little rum to soften them.

Mix the warmed milk and fresh yeast in the bowl of a food processor. Add the eggs, flour, sugar and salt. Blend the dough for 15 minutes.

Add the softened butter, cut into pieces. Mix again until the butter is completely incorporated.

Finally, add the drained raisins. Pour the dough into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill overnight.

The next day, place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a regular ring with a hole in the centre and place in the buttered kouglof mould with a whole almond in each groove at the bottom. I used a 22cm diameter steel mould in my recipe.

Leave the pastry to rise until it reaches the edges (at least 5 hours for me) near a source of heat. The rising time is long because the pastry has just come out of the fridge.

Bake at 170°C for approximately 50 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a wire rack.

Syrup
✔125g water
✔170g caster sugar
✔10g orange blossom water
✔20g alcohol

While the Kouglof is cooking, pour the water and sugar into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has completely melted. Remove from the heat and add the orange blossom and alcohol (I used orange alcohol here). Mix well.

Once the kouglof has been removed from the mould, place it on a rack over a hollow container and brush generously with the syrup, not forgetting the base. You should use almost all the syrup, collecting any that has run into the container under the rack.

Sprinkle with icing sugar just before serving or use moisture-resistant codineige. Wrap in cling film to preserve it and prevent it from drying out.

Chestnut cube entremet

Chestnut cube entremet

– meringue,
– chestnut cream insert ,
– chestnut cream,
– chestnut mousse,
– mirror icing,
– dark chocolate decorations.

Materiel utilisé

– Silikomart mould 8 cubes

– Silikomart mould 15 cubes

– Ancel 210 bloom gelatin

– Chestnut XiaoShenlu mould

Ingredients

Meringue
25g egg
25g sugar
25g powdered sugar

Brown cream
1 yolk
65g chestnut cream
100g liquid cream
1.5g gelatin

Chestnut mousse
50g liquid cream
150g chestnut cream
200g single cream
4.5g gelatine

Mirror glaze
✔70g water
✔110g sugar
✔20g glucose syrup
✔70g liquid cream
✔100g white chocolate
✔4 gelatin leaves (8g)
✔40g chestnut cream

Assembly
Chocolate square

The recipe

For 6 entremets

Meringue
25g egg
25g sugar
25g powdered sugar

Beat egg whites with an electric mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar, then powdered sugar. Poach the meringue on a baking tray lined with baking paper. I poached two sizes of ide meringue, the same size as the silikomart 8 and 15 cavities molds. Place in a 90°C fan-assisted oven for two hours, then turn off the oven and leave the meringue to dry for a further 1 hour.

Poach a little chestnut cream onto the larger meringue cookies. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Chestnut creamy
1 yolk
65g chestnut cream
100g liquid cream
1.5g gelatine

In a bowl, mix the egg yolk with the sugar until slightly white. In a saucepan, bring 100ml of cream to the boil, remove from heat and pour the hot cream over the previous mixture. Return to the pan and cook over low heat until 82ºC. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine. Pour the hot cream over the chestnut cream and stir. Pour into 15-cavity silikomart mold halfway up and place in freezer. Allow to set for 15 minutes in the freezer, then add the smaller meringue on top. Return to freezer until ready to assemble.

Chestnut mousse
50g liquid cream
150g chestnut cream
200g single cream
4.5g gelatine

Place the gelatine leaves in a large bowl of cold water. In a saucepan, heat the 50g crème liquide and the crème de marron. Mix well. Remove from heat and add the wrung-out, softened gelatine. Set aside. Whip the 200g chilled cream with an electric mixer. Add the chilled cream to the previous mixture and mix gently.

Assembly

Fill the silikomart cube x8 mold with chestnut mousse, then add the chestnut cream insert with the smaller meringue. Add a little more chestnut mousse and finish with the larger meringue. Freeze overnight.

Mirror glaze
✔70g water
✔110g sugar
✔20g glucose syrup
✔70g liquid cream
✔100g white chocolate
✔4 gelatin leaves (8g)
✔40g chestnut cream

Soften the gelatine in a container filled with cold water. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave. In a saucepan, heat water, sugar, glucose. Remove from heat and add the gelatine. Mix well. Pour over melted white chocolate and chestnut cream. Add liquid cream. Mix to blend well. Strain on contact and chill.

The next day, bring the glaze to around 35°C and pour over the still-frozen cubes.

I made dark chocolate chestnuts using the XiaoShenlu mold found on Amazon, and chocolate squares (with tempered dark chocolate) using a chocolate decorating sheet found on Meilleurduchef.com.

Frangipane galette

Frangipane galette composed of

– homemade puff pastry,
– frangipane cream,

Equipment used

– Baking tray

– Greaseproof paper

– 1 cutter

– 1 pastry or dessert ring

– 1 bean

– Rolling pin

– 1 pastry brush

Ingredients

Puff pastry (the day before)
✔375g flour
✔6.5g salt
✔185g tempered water
✔125g melted butter
✔185g tourage or PDO butter

Pastry cream
✔100ml milk
✔1 egg
✔15g sugar
✔10g cornflour
✔Vanilla powder
✔3 stoppers of rum

Almond cream
✔100g almond powder
✔65g icing sugar
✔65g softened butter
✔1 egg
✔3 stoppers of rum

Frangipane cream
✔almond cream
✔140g custard cream
✔30g chopped almonds

The recipe

Serves 6

Puff pastry (the day before)
✔375g flour
✔6.5g salt
✔185g tempered water
✔125g melted butter
✔185g tourage or PDO butter

Pour the flour, salt, water and melted butter into the bowl of a food processor and mix the ingredients. Make a ball and score with a knife to form a cross.

Roll out the dough into a cross shape on a floured work surface. Place the butter in the centre.

Fold the 4 sides of the pastry into the centre. Then roll out the pastry lengthways. Trim the ends if necessary to make a nice rectangle.

Shrink-wrap your pastry and chill for at least 1 hour.

Make 2 more rounds in the same way. Cut the pastry with a cutter. Shrink-wrap the pastry and chill overnight.

Make two more rounds to obtain a thinner puff pastry.

Pastry cream (the day before)
100ml milk
1 egg
15g sugar
10g cornflour
Vanilla powder
3 capfuls rum

Heat the milk in a saucepan. In a bowl, mix the egg, sugar and cornflour. Pour the hot milk over the mixture and return to the saucepan until thickened. Turn off the heat and add the rum. Pour into a bowl, strain and set aside in a cool place.

Almond cream (the day before)
100g almond powder
65g icing sugar
65g softened butter
1 egg
3 capfuls of rum

Mix all the ingredients together.

Frangipane cream
✔almond cream
✔140g custard cream
✔30g chopped almonds

Mix the almond cream and the pastry cream (about 140g) previously loosened a little with a spatula. I added some chopped almonds to add a little crunch. Line a circle with the cream on greaseproof paper. You can use a pastry ring. Place a bean on top and freeze overnight.

The next day, cut your pastry into two equal parts and roll out each part of your puff pastry into a square.

Place your frozen frangipane cream in the middle of one of the squares. Brush water all around the frangipane cream. Cover with the second square of puff pastry. Press all around with your thumb to separate the pastry. Using a pastry ring or pastry cutter, cut out the pastry (use a cutter or scalpel rather than a knife to cut the pastry and avoid crushing the leaves). Turn out onto a baking tray.

Brush egg yolk/cream over the top only (be careful not to apply egg yolk to the edges) then chill for at least 10 minutes to allow the yolk to dry. Brush with more egg yolk, leave to dry and decorate with the back of a knife as desired.

Prick the pastry around your decoration so that the air escapes during baking.

Bake at 180°C for 20 min, then lower the temperature to 165°C for 40 min. I placed 4.5 cm high entremet circles at the 4 ends of my baking tray and placed a wire rack over them.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush your galette with a mixture of water and sugar (brought to the boil in a small saucepan) to give it more shine.

Hazelnut coffee entremet

Hazelnut coffee entremet

– a hazelnut cream,
– a coffee mousse
– a hazelnut praline crunch,
– velvety caramel spray.

Material used

– Silikomart snowflake mould X6

– Silikomart petits fours mould x15

– Ancel 210 Bloom gelatine (gold quality)

– Baking paper

Ingredients

Hazelnut praline cream
✔30g single cream
✔35g hazelnut praline
✔1 egg yolk
✔1g gelatine

Coffee mousse
✔3g gelatine
✔120g single cream 30% fat
✔2 egg yolks
✔30g sugar
✔80g milk
✔Coffee extract

Praline crisp
✔20g milk chocolate
✔35g hazelnut praline
✔20g crêpes dentelles

Velvet caramel spray

The recipe

Hazelnut praline cream
✔30g single cream
✔35g hazelnut praline
✔1 egg yolk
✔1g gelatine

Place the gelatine sheet in a bowl of cold water. In a saucepan, heat the cream and hazelnut praline. In a bowl, mix the yolk and sugar. Pour over the hot cream/praline mixture and return to the saucepan. Cook like a custard, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the wrung-out gelatine. Fill the silikomart petits fours x15 mould 3/4 full and place in the freezer.

Praline crisp
✔20g milk chocolate
✔35g hazelnut praline
✔20g crêpes dentelles

Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave. Add the crumbled crêpes dentelles and hazelnut praline. Mix gently. Roll out between two sheets of baking paper and place in the freezer. Remove from the freezer and cut out with a pastry cutter to the diameter of your cavities. Place in the freezer until ready to assemble.

Coffee mousse
✔3g gelatine
✔120g single cream 30% fat
✔2 egg yolks
✔30g caster sugar
✔80g milk
✔Coffee extract

Soften the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water. In a saucepan, heat the milk with the coffee extract. In a bowl, mix the yolks with the caster sugar. Pour the hot milk over the yolks and return the mixture to the saucepan. Heat to between 82 and 83°C. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine, wrung out and softened. Mix well. Set aside. Whip the cold cream with an electric mixer. Gently fold in the cooled mixture.

Assembly

Fill the silikomart flocon mould with coffee mousse, pushing it up to the edges. Add the frozen praline cream insert. Add a little mousse and finish with the praline crunch. Place in the freezer overnight.

Unmould the frozen entremets and immediately apply the velvet caramel spray. I found it on Meilleurduchef.com

I put a little edible gold leaf on top. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours until the cake has defrosted.

Gingerbread

Gingerbread

Materials used

– Silicone cake mould

– Silicone spatula

– Whisk

Ingredients

✔100g milk
✔6g star anise
✔80g flour
✔80g rye flour
✔25g cornstarch
✔10g baking powder
✔40g vergeoise
✔6g cinnamon powder
✔3g 4-spice powder
✔120g orange marmalade
✔120g flower honey
✔40g glucose
✔2 eggs

The recipe

Pour the milk and 6g of star anise into a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, mix the flours, cornflour, baking powder, salt, sugar (vergeoise), 4-spice mix and cinnamon.

Add the orange marmalade, the honey microwaved for a few seconds, the glucose and the melted butter.

Finally, add the 2 whole eggs and the filtered milk.

Butter a cake tin and pour the mixture into it.

Bake at 160°C for 50 minutes. The tip of the knife should come out dry.

After 20 minutes, quickly add sugar pearls and bits of candied orange peel to the top.

Wrap it in plastic film to preserve it and prevent it from drying out.

Brioche of kings

Brioche of kings

A soft brioche, traditionally served at Epiphany, which shares the limelight with its cousin the frangipane or Parisian galette.

Equipment used

– Baking tray

– Baking paper

– 1 brush

– 1 bean

Ingredients

✔280 grams flour
✔12 grams fresh baker’s yeast
✔40 grams milk
✔50 grams caster sugar
✔120 grams soft butter
✔3g salt
✔2 small eggs
✔25g rum
✔25g orange blossom
✔Orange and lemon rind
+
✔1 egg yolk and a little cream for gilding
✔Sugar pearls

The recipe

For a brioche for 6 people

Warm the milk and stir in the crumbled fresh yeast. Cut the butter into pieces in a small bowl and leave to soften at room temperature.

Add all the ingredients to the bowl of the food processor: the milk with the yeast, flour, sugar, salt, orange blossom, zest of one orange and one lemon and the rum. Blend until all the ingredients are well incorporated (at least 8 minutes).

Then gradually add the soft butter, cut into pieces beforehand.

Continue kneading slowly for 15 minutes.

Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.

On a lightly floured work surface, pour the dough and form a ball, then wrap and chill overnight. The dough may still be sticky but it will firm up in the fridge with the butter, so don’t add too much flour.

The next day, defrost the pastry and shape it into a crown. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Leave the pastry to rise for at least 2 to 3 hours, either in the oven with a large bowl of hot water, or near a heat source.

Gently brush the pastry with a mixture of egg yolk and a little liquid cream.

Sprinkle with sugar pearls.

Bake at 160°C for 15 to 18 minutes, placing the brioche in a cold, unheated oven (so that it continues to rise and is softer and more airy), then turn the oven off for around 10/15 minutes.

Don’t forget to insert a bean underneath before eating.

Pistachio chocolate choux

Pistachio chocolate choux

– choux pastry,
– cocoa cracker,
– chocolate pastry cream,
– pistachio ganache.

Materials used

– Micro-perforated baking mat

– Ancel 210 bloom gelatine

– Fluted piping tip

– filling tip

– plain tip

– Pastry bag

Ingredients

Pistachio praline
✔150g pistachios
✔75g caster sugar

Pistachio ganache
✔60g liquid cream
✔60g white chocolate
✔30g pistachio praline
✔120g single cream
✔2g gelatine

Chocolate pastry cream
✔300g milk
✔50g caster sugar
✔2 egg yolks
✔20g cornflour
✔40g milk chocolate

Crackers
✔40g brown sugar
✔40g butter
✔40g flour
✔10g Cocoa powder

Choux pastry
✔60g water
✔60g milk
✔70g flour
✔55g butter
✔Salt
✔1 tablespoon sugar
✔2 or 3 eggs (depending on size)

The recipe

For 6 puffs

Pistachio praline
✔150g pistachios
✔75g caster sugar

Pour the unsalted, shelled pistachios onto a baking tray and place in the oven at 150°C for 15 minutes. Pour the caster sugar into a saucepan and make a caramel. Pour onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave to cool. Place the pistachios and chopped caramel in the bowl of a blender and blend until you have a praline. You’ll have some praline left over for other recipes. It keeps very well in a sealed container. Just make sure you blend it again before use, as the oil will rise to the surface.

Pistachio mounted ganache
✔60g liquid cream
✔60g white chocolate
✔30g pistachio praline
✔120g single cream
✔2g gelatine

Heat 60g of liquid cream with the pistachio praline in a saucepan. Pour off the heat, in three batches, over the chocolate previously melted in the microwave. Pour in the remaining cold cream. Mix, cover with cling film and chill for at least 4 hours.

Crackers
✔40g brown sugar
✔40g butter
✔40g flour
✔10g Cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together, roll out between two sheets of greaseproof paper, place in the freezer for a few minutes then cut out circles the diameter of your choux. Return to the freezer while you prepare your choux.

For the choux pastry
✔60g water
✔60g milk
✔70g flour
✔55g butter
✔salt
✔1 tablespoon 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 stir well to dry out the dough for 2 to 3 minutes.
Then gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each egg.
Poach the puffs on a baking tray covered with a micro-perforated baking mat and place a disc of cracker on each puff. Bake at 170°C for 35 to 40 minutes (time may vary depending on oven). Leave to cool.

You will have a little choux pastry left over with these proportions. I was able to make a few chouquettes with…

Chocolate pastry cream
✔300g milk
✔50g caster sugar
✔2 egg yolks
✔20g cornflour
✔40g milk chocolate

Heat the milk in a saucepan. Mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl. Pour the hot milk over them. Stir. Pour back into the saucepan. Stir until the cream thickens. Add the pistoles of milk chocolate, mix well until the chocolate has completely melted. Set aside in a bowl, filter on contact and chill.

Assembly
Take the crème pâtissière from the fridge. Loosen it a little then fill the cream into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle. Make a small hole under each puff and top with the cream.

Using an electric mixer, whip up the pistachio ganache. Fill a piping bag fitted with a fluted tip and poach this ganache onto your choux head downwards, then use a plain tip and poach this onto your choux.

I decorated with a small chocolate disc and a few unsalted pistachios.

Apple and gingerbread house

Apple and gingerbread house made with

– a gingerbread biscuit,
– an apple compote insert
– diced apples
– a gingerbread mousse,
– white and brown velvet spray.

Materials used

– Silikomart homemade silicone log mould

– Ancel 210 bloom gelatine (gold quality)

– Log insert mould

– Kitchen thermometer

Ingredients

Apple mousse
✔apples
✔caster sugar
✔water
✔cinnamon
✔liquid cream
✔gelatine

Apple insert
✔Apple cubes
✔sugar
✔NH pectin
✔Cinnamon powder

Gingerbread mousse
✔gelatine
✔whole milk
✔30% liquid cream
✔egg yolks
✔sugar
✔30% single cream
✔gingerbread biscuit

Gingerbread
White and brown velvet spray

The recipe

Serves 6 to 8

Complete recipe soon available in my store in the ebook – Bûches 2024.

Assembly

Pour some gingerbread mousse into your Silikomart homemade buche mould. Add the apple insert. Top with gingerbread mousse and finish with the gingerbread slice. Place in the freezer for 24 hours.

The next day, unmould your log mould. Immediately apply the brown velvet spray and then the white velvet spray to the top only. Place in the fridge for at least 7 to 8 hours to defrost.