I’ve just rediscovered a recipe I made months ago now. You can still find a few red berries on our market stalls, so I’m sharing it with you today. It’s a dessert I spotted in Sébastien Bouillet’s book: a cheesecake entremets made up of an almond sponge, a speculoos crunchy layer, a red berry insert and a cheesecake mousse, all covered with a multitude of red berries. Well, the extra red berries are my own little touch, it’s much more indulgent that way!
My colleagues really enjoyed it; I don’t like cheesecake so I didn’t eat any. For some, the speculoos layer was perhaps a little too thick. If you’re not too keen, you can reduce the quantities or, why not, make a white chocolate crunchy layer instead? As for the mousse, it holds but remains fragile, a little too much for my liking. If I made it again, I think I’d use 6g of gelatine instead of 5.
In any case, let your cravings do the talking 🙂
Ingredients & preparation
5 components · Full recipe
Almond Sponge (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 40g (1.4 oz) icing sugar
- 50g (1.8 oz) ground almonds
- 10g (0.4 oz) plain flour
- 60g (2.1 oz) egg whites
- 15g (0.5 oz) caster sugar
Preparation
1
Preheat oven to 210°C / 410°F.
2
Mix the ground almonds, icing sugar and sifted flour together in a bowl.
3
Beat the egg whites with the sugar in a stand mixer to a meringue — it is ready when you get a bird’s beak peak when you lift the whisk.
4
Gradually pour the dry ingredients in a thin stream over the beaten egg whites, folding in gently with a spatula.
5
Pour the batter onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or a silpat.
6
Lower the oven temperature to 170°C / 340°F and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Once baked, leave to cool, then cut out 2 discs of 18 cm (7.1 in) diameter.
Speculoos Crunch (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 50g (1.8 oz) gianduja (dark or milk hazelnut)
- 100g (3.5 oz) speculoos biscuits
- 35g (1.2 oz) praline
Preparation
1
Melt the gianduja in the microwave and mix with the praline.
2
Crush the speculoos biscuits and fold the crumbs into the praline-gianduja mixture.
3
Spread the mixture over the base of an 18 cm (7.1 in) ring set on a sheet of baking paper. Place an almond sponge disc on top and refrigerate.
Red Berry Insert (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 120g (4.2 oz) raspberry purée or frozen red fruits
- 40g (1.4 oz) fresh raspberries
- 30g (1.1 oz) caster sugar
- 5g (0.2 oz) pectin
- 5ml (0.2 fl oz) lemon juice
Preparation
1
Mix the sugar and the pectin together.
2
In a saucepan, heat the raspberry purée or frozen fruits to 40°C / 104°F, then add the sugar-pectin mixture, stirring well.
3
Bring everything to the boil for a good minute, then off the heat, add the lemon juice.
4
Leave the mixture to cool slightly, then pour it into the ring containing the almond sponge and the crunch. Cover with the last almond sponge disc.
5
Freeze overnight.
Cheesecake Mousse
Ingredients
- 180g (6.3 oz) heavy cream
- 14ml (0.5 fl oz) water
- 50g (1.8 oz) caster sugar
- 30g (1.1 oz) egg yolks
- 150g (5.3 oz) Philadelphia cream cheese
- zest of 3 lemons
- 5g (0.2 oz) gelatine leaves
Preparation
1
Soak the gelatine leaves in very cold water.
2
Prepare the syrup: pour the water and sugar into a saucepan and cook to 118°C / 244°F. When the thermometer reads 110°C / 225°F, start beating the yolks in a stand mixer; at 118°C / 244°F, pour the syrup in a thin stream over the yolks and whisk until the mixture has cooled (approximately 5–10 minutes).
3
Mix the Philadelphia with the lemon zest and warm gently to 25–30°C / 86°F to soften.
4
Whip the cream to a light, mousse-like consistency (for this type of recipe, it is important not to whip the cream too stiff — keeping air in it gives a lighter result).
5
In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt the well-drained gelatine (be careful — this is very quick!).
6
In a large bowl, pour in the melted gelatine and add 2 tablespoons of Philadelphia. Mix carefully, then continue adding the rest of the Philadelphia, stirring as you go.
7
Gently fold in the pâte à bombe followed by the whipped cream using a spatula. Set aside.
8
The pâte à bombe is a mixture of egg yolks over which a sugar syrup cooked to 118°C / 244°F is poured (the same technique as Italian meringue).
Assembly
Ingredients
- strawberries
- raspberries
- a lime
- blackberries
- blueberries
Preparation
1
Place a strip of acetate film inside a 20 cm (7.9 in) ring and first place the frozen crunch-sponge-insert-sponge disc right in the centre.
2
Pour the cheesecake mousse up to the top of the ring. Smooth with an offset spatula and place the entremet in the freezer overnight.
3
The next day, remove the ring, peel away the acetate strip and decorate as you wish. I arranged fresh red berries and zested a lime over the top.
4
Place on a serving dish and leave to defrost in the fridge. Allow approximately 5 to 6 hours for defrosting.
5
Here is a photo of the entremet cut open. The quality isn’t great as it was taken on my phone, but it gives you an idea of the inside.
Gallery
