A chocolate recipe, it’s been a while! I went back to school last week to introduce the baby to my colleagues. It was also a chance to be there to celebrate my headteacher’s 60th birthday. Of course, I took charge of the cakes.
I brought an Ispahan-flavoured tart (which I’ll publish next week) and this chocolate and fleur de sel entremets, topped with a vanilla and tonka bean chantilly.
Ok, we agree, it’s not super light, it’s actually super indulgent and a small slice is more than enough (unless you’re a big chocolate fanatic, but that’s your problem :P).
For this recipe, I took inspiration from the recipe by Morgane Traffort of Cake ta life, made during my entremets course in July 2018. That chocolate and fleur de sel entremets was to die for. I made a few changes: no pâte sucrée (but you can make one, as a base) because there’s no time with the kids to look after, I had to double the quantities of chocolate crémeux (here, the layer is ultra thin as a result) and I added a chantilly for even more indulgence.
If you’re a real chocolate fan, this entremets is made for you. You can use only dark chocolate or do as I did here, that is, add a little milk chocolate to soften it a bit (I’m not a dark chocolate addict). It goes without saying that if you want something with real flavour, go for a quality chocolate. I now use Cacao Barry, Inaya for the dark chocolate and Alunga for the milk chocolate (a little more affordable than Valrhona).
Ingredients & Method
5 components · Complete recipe
Chocolate Brownie
Ingredients
- 170 g (6 oz) butter
- 105 g (3.7 oz) dark chocolate
- 3 eggs
- 150 g (5.3 oz) sugar
- 90 g (3.2 oz) flour
- a pinch of fleur de sel
Method
1
Preheat your oven to 170°C / 340°F.
2
Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in the microwave with the butter.
3
In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar with the eggs.
4
Gently fold in the melted chocolate and butter mixture, then the flour, sifted in. Add the fleur de sel and whisk lightly.
5
Pour into a lightly greased 17×24 cm (9.4 in) frame.
Chocolate Cremeux
Ingredients
- 44 g (1.6 oz) egg yolks
- 12 g (0.4 oz) sugar
- 300 g (10.6 oz) full-fat whipping cream
- 120 g (4.2 oz) dark chocolate
- 2.5 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine
- 15 g (0.5 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Melt the chocolate in the microwave and set aside.
3
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar.
4
In a saucepan, heat the cream and bring to a gentle simmer.
5
Pour the hot cream over the yolk/sugar mixture, then return everything to the saucepan.
6
Heat to 82°C / 180°F, stirring constantly. The cream will thicken. This is like making a crème anglaise — be careful not to exceed this temperature. If you don't have a thermometer, here's chef Michalak's trick: whisk the mixture quickly then stop. If the 'swirl' stops immediately, the cream is at the right temperature.
7
Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine.
8
Pour the cream over the melted chocolate in 3 stages, creating an emulsion. Blend with a hand blender to homogenise the cremeux.
Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 60 g (2.1 oz) milk
- 90 g (3.2 oz) full-fat whipping cream
- 80 g (2.8 oz) glucose
- 120 g (4.2 oz) dark chocolate
- 50 g (1.8 oz) milk chocolate
- 4 g (0.1 oz) gelatine (2 sheets)
- 24 g (0.8 oz) water (to rehydrate the gelatine)
- 230 g (8.1 oz) full-fat whipping cream
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Make a ganache: melt the chocolate in a bain-marie until it just begins to melt.
3
In a saucepan, heat the milk, cream and glucose, then off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine.
4
Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate in 3 stages, emulsifying each time. The chocolate should be smooth and shiny.
5
Whip the full-fat cream but don't over-whip — it should be mousse-like.
6
When the ganache has cooled to 40°C / 104°F, gently fold in the whipped cream.
7
Pour the chocolate mousse over the chocolate cremeux and smooth with a large offset spatula.
8
Cover with cling film in contact and return to the freezer overnight.
9
The next day, remove the frame (you can warm the edges with a hair dryer).
Vanilla Tonka Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) full-fat whipping cream
- 30 g (1.1 oz) mascarpone
- 1 to 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1/4 grated tonka bean
- half a vanilla pod
Method
1
Place the mixing bowl and electric whisk attachments in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
2
Pour the cream and mascarpone into the bowl and start whisking at medium speed, then as the cream begins to firm up, increase the speed.
3
Add the icing sugar, vanilla and grated tonka bean when the cream is almost fully whipped.
Assembly of the Chocolate Fleur de Sel Entremet with Vanilla Tonka Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Pipe balls of whipped cream onto the brownie, trying to be as even as possible.
2
Dust with a little unsweetened cocoa powder.
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