Blog

Graham Cracker
Creamy method, with butter, sugar and spices. Add dry ingredients in multiple additions, scraping well in-between. Sheet thin (2-3mm), bake at 335F, 8-12 mins.
Divide dough into two batches: process one hot, cool the other portion to process cold.

Graham cracker hazelnut cookie paste
Blend cookie dough in robotcoupe when pulled from oven, add Valrhona hazelnut paste. Blend as a smooth paste.

Cinnamon marshmallow
Cook sugar, water, glucose to 121C. Add gelatin, pour over French meringue (soft peak) for a cooked Italian meringue. Let cool, work warm dropping into a lightly greased ¼ sheetpan. Let set, then cut into small cubes.

Reconstituted marshmallow cookie crunch
Add cooled graham cracker to bowl in kitchen aid with paddle, mix on low setting to break up cookie into small chunks. Separately mix melted chocolate and cookie paste, add to broken up cookie. Once you have a chunky mix, add lightly torched marshmallows. Do not overmix.
Place between two parchment sheets, sheet to 4/5mm on sheeter. Cut with cake circle 16.2cm.

Moist hazelnut cake
In robotcoupe, combine hazelnut flour, sugar and eggs. Blend, then stream in melted butter.
Carefully fold with French meringue (whites + sugar, whisked to medium peak). Pour into 16.2cm cake ring placed on silpat, at 140g per ring. Bakeoff 4 rings (2 will be used per entremets). When slightly cooled, place the reconstituted cookie crunch disc on top of the cake. Press down lightly. Freeze.

Banana orange passion gelee
Heat purees and juice with trimoline and three quarters of sugar. Once at 40C, whisk in remainder of sugar mixed with pectin NH. Cook on low to medium heat for 4-5 minutes. Take off heat. Pull ring with cake and crunch from freezer, flip over so crunch becomes the base. Then place 120g of small diced banana lightly tossed with passion puree, distributing more or less across the surface of cake. Then pour 120g of the banana gelee on over this. Make sure it is spread evenly. Cool down slightly in fridge, then place the other hazelnut cake on top, pressing down. Return to freezer.

Smoked Azelia Chocolate Mousse
Smoke liquid cream and chocolates using a Polyscience smoking gun, using Applewood chips.
Let infuse for minimum one hour.
Make a bombe, pouring sugar & water cooked to 121C over ribbon stage whipped eggs & yolks.
When slightly cooled, add bloomed gelatin.
Mix with smoked chocolate (mid to high 30s Celsius), then fold in with the whipped cream, in multiple additions.

Hazelnut milk chocolate glaze
Bring sugar, glucose and water to boil. Add bloomed gelatin and condensed milk, then pour over chocolate. Carefully burr mix, strain through chinois. Use at 30 Celsius.

Passion chocolate decoration
Mix both, temper chocolates (tabling method) and use at 28 Celsius. Spread a 4oz ladle of chocolate on a ¼ sheetpan sized acetate, let set, then cutout differently sized banana graphics (large and medium, hand drawn). Flip over onto parchment, place on flat ¼ tray, and leave to crystallize with tray weighing it down. Once set, peel acetate, then using a dry brush, apply golden luster dust.

Procedure to build entremets (last steps):

1. On a flat sheetpan lined with acetate, place 2 x 18cm entremets rings lined with acetate.
2. Pull the 16.2cm entremet ring inserts filled with crunch, gelee and cake out from freezer.
Remove from ring, and place the 16.2cm insert with the crunch at the base in center of 18cm entremets. At the topmost edge, use a 7cm cutter, and cut off the top edge of the round insert (creating a crescent). Rinse the 7cm cutter, dry off, then lightly grease and place an acetate strip on the outside of the 7cm ring. Place where you previously cut into the entremets insert.
3. Pour 450g of mousse inside each 18cm ring, then carefully smooth over.
4. Freeze, unmold, carefully removing the 7cm cutter first.
5. Warm chocolate glaze to 30 Celsius in microwave or waterbath, then glaze cake over a glazing rack placed atop a plastic wrapped sheetpan. Pour glaze, then use spatula to carefully remove excess glaze. Let sit for a few minutes to drip as the glaze sets, then remove from glazing rack, cleaning the bottom edges with a small offset spatula.
6. Blow golden luster dust onto cake using compressed air spray and a small amount of luster.
7. Place on platter. Decorate with broken bits of reconstituted cookie crunch towards bottom of cake. Place passion chocolate décor on top, both large and medium sized pieces, keeping the same flow as the crescent cake.