Chocolate & Hazelnut Mousse Entremets

Wow. I have not updated this blog in almost a whole year. Can you believe it? I know I can.
Life just continues to get busier. I'm in my last year of high school now. I started this blog in grade 8. That's a long time ago. For me, at least.

I still bake, don't get me wrong. I actually have a job in the food industry as a pastry chef! Little me would be so proud. I just wish I had the time to sit down and write somewhat of a masterpiece for you to read. The recipe writing I've always found as the  most time consuming. But don't fret, I wouldn't ever cake and pastry flour write a blog post without one! And this one, is a mighty fine one I might add.

Chocolate & Hazelnut Entremets
Makes 5-6, 4" tarts

Almond Tart Shells

90g             butter, softened
70g             icing sugar
1 egg
30g              almonds
pinch           salt
50g              a.p flour
150g            cake and pastry flour

Combine the butter and the icing sugar, beat until smooth. Do not beat rapidly, as incorporating air is not the objective. Add the egg, and beat to combine. Add the almonds, salt and all purpose flour. Lastly, add the cake flour and beat to combine. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
Once chilled, roll out the dough to about 1/8"-1/4" thickness and transfer into lightly greased tart shells. I used round tart rings and lined the baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Chill the tarts for half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Poke holes in the bottom of the shells to prevent air bubbles and continue by blind baking them. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove beans or rice used for blind baking and let the tart shells cool.

Hazelnut Cake

190g              hazelnuts, toasted
70g                sugar
1/4 tsp           salt
280g eggs
75g                butter, softened
60g egg whites
30g                 sugar

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet cake pan with parchment paper. In a food processor, grind the almonds, 70g sugar, salt and eggs. Add the butter and blend until smooth, scraping down the sides when needed. In a separate stainless steel bowl, whip egg whites and 30g of sugar until stiff peaks form. Add the hazelnut mixture to the egg whites and fold together. Spread onto the sheet cake pan and bake for 15 minutes.
Once cooled, cut cake into 5-6, 3" circles set aside.

Chocolate Mousse

1 cup               semi sweet chocolate
4 egg yolks
4 tbsp              coffee
4 egg whites
pinch               cream of tartar
2 tbsp               sugar

Melt chocolate and coffee in a double boiler over medium heat. Once melted, remove from heat and add egg yolks, whisking rapidly as not to cook them. In a stainless steel bowl free of a any grease, whip the egg whites along with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg whites and fold gently until combined.
Divide mousse evenly into silicon dome molds and spread up the sides. Add a round of cake to each dome mold. Top off the molds with more mousse and spread so that it is flat. Freeze overnight.

Hazelnut Praline Mousse

3/4 cup                      heavy cream
1/2 cup                      cream cheese
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp        hazelnut praline paste (here)     
1 tbsp                        brown sugar
1 tsp                          vanilla

Into a medium mixing bowl pour the cream and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Once chilled with a whisk attachment beat until it forms soft peaks. In another medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, praline paste, and brown sugar together. Add the vanilla. Scrape down the sides and add 1/4 of the whipped cream and beat in on low. Now fold in the rest of the whipped cream until fully incorporated. Pour into the cooled prepared crusts (shells should be coated with a thin layer of white chocolate to prevent sogginess) and using an offset spatula smooth the surface so that it's level. Refrigerate until needed for next step.

Chocolate Mirror Glaze

210g                        sugar
75 g                         water
70g                          cocoa powder
115g                        heavy cream
3 tsp                        powdered gelatin
3 tbsp                      cold water

Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it over the cold water in a small bowl. Set aside. Add the sugar, water, cocoa powder and heavy cream to a medium saucepan and set over medium high heat. Bring to a boil and whisk constantly for 2 minutes. Take off the heat and add the bloomed gelatin. Strain the mixture into a heatproof proof measuring cup (something that can be microwaved and can be easily poured from). Take any bubbles off the top and place thermometer in mixture. Let cool until it reaches 95-90 degrees. This is extremely important, it may take up to an hour depending on how hot the glaze is initially.
Once glaze has reached the correct temperature, take chocolate mousse molds out of the freezer, pop them out, and place over wire rack to allow excess glaze to drip off. Mousse must be frozen for glazing. Pour glaze in circular motions over mousse until evenly coated. If there are bubbles pop them quickly, as it sets fast. Let glaze set for 5 minutes.
Carefully place mousse over prepared tarts and sprinkle top with praline. Store in fridge until needed. Enjoy!


This was the most complex dessert I've made in a while. I'm actually kind of impressed with myself. If you try out this recipe be sure to let me know!

Well, I missed this. It was nice to catch up. We should do this again sometime.

Elanne Boake