Apricot, Rosemary, Peach and Vanilla Entremet

Place the softened butter and icing sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Add the ground almonds, vanilla powder and fleur de sel and mix again.

Add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula this time (it will be easier than with the mixer).

Finish with the flour and mix in the stand mixer until you obtain a smooth ball of dough. Do not overwork the dough. Bring the dough together into a ball without insisting.

Wrap the dough in cling film in a flattened rectangle shape. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Roll the dough out to 2–3 mm thickness with a rolling pin and cut out 8 pastry circles of 6.5–7 cm (2.8 in) diameter. Refrigerate overnight or freeze for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.

Arrange the pastry circles on a Silpain mat (which gives a nice crosshatch pattern to the pastry), itself placed on a perforated baking sheet. Place another Silpain mat on top, then another perforated baking sheet (with a weight) to prevent the pastry from rising or distorting during baking.

Bake for about 25 minutes (keep a close eye on baking time, as it also depends on the thickness and evenness of the pastry).

Leave to cool on a wire rack and set aside.

Ideally, make the glaze the day before (or ahead of time) and reheat in the microwave when needed.

Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.

In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar and glucose and heat to 103°C / 217°F.

Meanwhile, place the white chocolate broken into pieces, the unsweetened condensed milk, the rehydrated gelatine and the orange colouring in a tall jug.

Once the water/sugar/glucose mixture reaches 103°C / 217°F, pour it into the jug then blend with a hand blender to smooth the glaze, being careful not to incorporate air, which would create unsightly bubbles.

If needed, strain through a fine sieve, cover with cling film pressed onto the surface and set aside in the fridge.

Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.

Wash the apricots and peel the peaches. Remove the stones then cut the fruit into large pieces.

In a saucepan, combine the peaches, apricots, honey, lemon juice, brown sugar, the split and scraped half vanilla pod and the washed rosemary sprig. Cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, to obtain a compote-like texture (this took me about ten minutes).

Remove the vanilla pod and the rosemary sprig.

Off the heat, add the rehydrated gelatine and mix.

Pour the compote into an insert mould (a demi-sphere mould, for example), cover with cling film, leave to cool slightly then freeze. Keep a small portion of the compote for the final decoration.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.

Mix together the dry ingredients (icing sugar, ground almonds, flour and salt) along with the very finely chopped rosemary.

Add the egg whites to the dry ingredients and whisk vigorously.

Add the olive oil and mix well.

Pour the batter into a 20 cm (7.9 in) diameter ring.

Bake for about 15 minutes. The biscuit is cooked when it is golden brown.

Remove the ring then leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once the biscuit is completely cold, cut out 8 small circles of 5 cm (2 in) diameter. Set aside.

Rehydrate the gelatine in the water.

Make a ganache: melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie until it just starts to melt.

Heat the cream with the vanilla seeds and pod. Leave to infuse for about ten minutes, covered.

Reheat the cream then, off the heat, add the well-drained gelatine.

Pour the cream over the white chocolate in 3 additions, emulsifying each time. The chocolate should be smooth and glossy.

Whip the cream but do not over-whip — it should be light and foamy.

Once the ganache has cooled to 30°C / 86°F, gently fold in the whipped cream. Set aside until assembly.

Fill the Stone moulds with vanilla mousse to three-quarters full. Use a small spoon to push the mousse up against the sides of the mould for a clean assembly and to fill all the gaps. Freeze for 5 minutes if needed to allow the mousse to set slightly.

Press a compote insert in and gently push down to bring up the mousse.

Add a very small amount of vanilla mousse to cover the compote insert, then finish with the olive oil and rosemary biscuit.

Smooth with a small spatula, cover with cling film and freeze overnight.

As mentioned at the start of the recipe, you should have already made a cold infusion to prepare this chantilly.

Remove the rosemary leaves and place the cream and mascarpone in the bowl of the stand mixer. Begin whisking at low speed so the mascarpone blends well with the cream, then increase the speed. Once the cream starts to firm up a little, add the icing sugar.

Check the consistency of your cream from time to time by stopping the mixer and looking at the texture. It is ready when it is completely set. Be careful not to over-whip to avoid a grainy chantilly.

Place the chantilly in a piping bag fitted with a 14–16 mm plain nozzle and set aside in the fridge until assembly.

Reheat the mirror glaze to around 30°C / 86°F.

Remove the entremets from the freezer and unmould.

Place the frozen entremets on a wire rack set over a plate or tray to catch the excess glaze.

Carefully pour the mirror glaze to cover the entremets completely. Gently tap the rack.

Using a small offset spatula, carefully place each entremet on a sweet pastry disc, making sure to centre it.

Pipe a ball of rosemary chantilly in the very centre, then hollow out a small well in the middle using a melon baller that has been pre-warmed (under very hot water) and pipe a little compote inside.

Leave to defrost in the refrigerator. Allow approximately 2 hours for defrosting. Find the glaze and decoration of this delightful dessert on video on my Instagram account by clicking on the image below.