Caramel and raspberry entremets

The thing I love most in baking is that there is so much to learn and that you can come-up with and bake something new almost every day. Last year I discovered my love for chocolate and I was making anything and everything from chocolate. I made a lot of pralines, chocolate bars, chocolate bowls and other chocolate decorations. This year I tried making entremets and I absolutely fell in love with making this small cake like desserts. Each one is special and can be made in many different variations and combinations.

The first entremet I made was chocolate passion and it was definitely a learning experience. It consisted of three components and a glaze. I was very happy with the end result and it tasted great. This time I wanted to make it even more special with more components and more textures. I searched for inspiration and as always I came across brilliant recipes from dailydelicious blog page. The recipes served as my inspiration and a guide line since I have absolutely no professional experience at making desserts.

The main flavor of this entremet is the caramel mousse (hence the name), the second component is a raspberry cream or gel which gives a lovely tangy flavor and cuts through the richness of the mousse. The third component is a crunchy hazelnut disc made from milk chocolate (not too much chocolate, otherwise it is hard as a hockey puck, it happened to me the first time), hazelnuts, hazelnut praline paste and something called paillete feuilletine.

Paillete feuilletine are like crushed thin crepes which are crunchy and flaky. The good thing is that they stay crunchy if treated right. Do not mix it with moist creams like pastry cream, butter cream or similar cremes because it will go soggy. I absolutely love the flavor and the texture and I will try to incorporate it in more of my desserts in the future.

The forth layer is a basic sweet pastry crust for the bottom of the entremet. The whole dessert it then assembled and the finishing touch in the end is the glaze. For the glaze I bought a cold mirror glaze and I added some food coloring in the glaze, mixed and spread it on the dessert. The glaze gave a nice shine to the entremet and it also protects it from drying out in the fridge.

I needed three days to make this dessert and it was totally worth it. I especially loved the caramel mousse, it was fluffy and full of flavor.
I realize that the recipe is long and seems complicated. If you do not feel like making the whole dessert you can always just make one or two elements and it will still be delicious.

Caramel and raspberry entremet

(Makes about 6)

Time:

Preparation: 2 hours

Cooking: 45min

Baking: 30min

Setting: several hours and overnight

For the pillete feuilletine:

• 35g room temperature butter
• 35g icing sugar
• 35g egg whites (1 large egg)
• 35g all-purpose flour

For the hazelnut praline paste:

• 120g hazelnuts
• 100g white granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For the crunchy praline layer( praline feuilletine):

• 15g milk chocolate
• 63 hazelnut praline paste
• 10g butter
• 15g chopped roasted hazelnuts
• 32g paillete feuilletine

For the raspberry cream:

• 140g frozen raspberries
• 20g white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4g gelatin sheets (2 sheets)

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

• 180g all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 100g cubed cold butter
• 10g white granulated sugar
• 35g milk

For the caramel mousse:

• 135g whipping cream

-For creme caramele

• 4g gelatin sheets (2 sheets)
• 125g whipping cream
• 1/4 vanilla paste or vanilla seeds
• 43g white granulated sugar
• 25g corn syrup or inverted sugar

-For Pate a bombe (base for the mousse)

• 15g sugar
• 10g water
• 30g egg yolk (2 small egg yolks)

For the glaze(optional):

• 2 tablespoons cold mirror glaze
• brown food coloring (optional)

Making the pillete feuilletine:

Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). 

In a bowl of your electric or hand held mixer cream the butter with the sugar. Add the egg whites and beat until homogeneous.

 Finally add the flour and stir to combine.

 With the help of a spatula or palette knife, spread the dough very thinly over a silicon baking mat or parchment paper. 

Place in the oven and bake until brown and crispy, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a minute then crush it into small pieces. Leave to cool down completely before storing in an air tight container.   

Making the hazelnut praline paste:

Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and roast at 180°C (356°F) until brown, 5-10 minutes. Place the hot hazelnuts on a dish towel and rub until the skins are removed.
Save 15g of  toasted hazelnuts for later.

Prepare a baking sheet with a parchment paper or silpat. 

Heat the sugar in a small sauce pan until it gets dark amber then add the roasted hazelnuts. Stir the hazelnuts until completely covered in caramel. Pour the extremely hot hazelnuts and caramel on the prepared baking dish and set aside to cool completely.

Break the hazelnut praline in small chunks and place in a food processor.

Process the praline until it starts to get wet, the oils from the hazelnuts will start to leak and the praline will became a paste. Add a tablespoon of oil and keep blitzing until you have a paste.

Making crunchy praline layer (praline feuilletine):

Melt the milk chocolate and mix with hazelnut praline paste, add the butter.

Add chopped toasted hazelnuts (the ones you saved) and pillete feuilletine. Mix gently and press into round molds, freeze until ready to use.

Making the raspberry creme:

Place gelatin into a bowl of cold water and set aside. Place the frozen raspberries in a small pot and cook over low heat until boiling. Blend the raspberries with a stick blender until smooth. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a different pot, add the sugar and lemon juice and bring back to the boil. Take of the heat and stir in the soaked and squeezed gelatin sheets. 

Pour the creme into silicon molds and freeze until firm. Several hours or overnight.

Making the sweet shortcrust pastry:

Put the flour, salt, sugar in a bowl of your electric or hand held mixer with a paddle attachment and add the cubed butter. Mix until the dough resembles bread crumbs.

Add the egg yolk with the milk and mix until the dough comes together. Scrape the dough to a floured surface and knead the dough with your hands until smooth and homogeneous. Press the dough into a flat round disc, wrap with plastic foil and set in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Roll the pastry to 3mm thick and place on a baking pan. Prick the dough with a fork then refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F). Line the pastry with parchment paper and pour in baking beads or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the paper and weights and bake for 8 minutes or until golden. Take it out of the oven and cut into desired shape when hot (it is easier). Let the pastry cool until separating into shapes.

Making the caramel mousse:

-Make the caramel sauce

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water and set aside.

Put 125g of whipping cream and vanilla paste in a sauce pan and heat until hot, set aside.

Put the sugar and corn syrup in a small sauce pan, place on medium heat and shake occasionally so that the sugar caramelizes evenly. When the sugar is dark amber add the hot cream (be careful the mixture will bubble up) and sir over low heat until smooth. Take off the heat and add the gelatin sheets, mix and set aside.

 - Make pate a bombe

Put the sugar and water in a sauce pan over medium heat and stir until it boils.

When the syrup reaches 100°C (212°F) start beating the egg yolks in a bowl of your electric mixer. When the syrup reaches 115°C (239°F) slowly pour it over the egg yolks while constantly whisking. Continue to beat the mixture until completely cold.

Pour the pate a bombe into the caramel sauce and stir to combine. Let it cool completely.

To finish the mousse, whip the cream (135g) until soft peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the cream into the caramel mixture. Pour the mixture back in the whipping cream and fold to combine.

To assemble:

Pipe the caramel mouse up to 1/3 of the silicon mold. Place the frozen raspberry cream and crunchy praline layer into the mousse. Top with the rest of the mousse and place the shortcrust pastry over the mousse. Cover with plastic foil and freeze for several hours or overnight.

In a small bowl mix the mirror glaze and brown food coloring.

Unmold the entremet and with the help of the palette knife spread over the glaze until the mousse is fully covered. 

Leave at room temperature or set in the fridge to thaw.

Garnish with tempered chocolate and other decorations of your choice before serving.