Because January isn’t only about galettes des rois, here’s an ultra-indulgent entremets recipe, l’intense carahuète: chocolate, caramel and peanut tartlets — hard to resist so much indulgence! I drew heavily on Julien’s tartlets (les desserts de Julien) to make mine.
When I have a little preparation left over, I like to use individual moulds. Here, these are the leftovers from my Snickers Yule log made at Christmas. I had some chocolate sponge and some caramel left. So I had a ready-made insert. A few days later, I made a chocolate mousse and assembled the dessert, then into the freezer while waiting for an occasion. So it was a few weeks later, during a little meal with friends, that I was able to finish these little tartlets. All I had left to do was make a cocoa pâte sucrée and a mirror glaze. Frankly, it’s very handy having a little entremets in the freezer.
Here, I used the Silikomart Fashion Éclair mould bought from CuisineShop. I haven’t had the chance to use it much, and yet I love it! It makes me want to make individual formats more often ^^
Ingredients & preparation
9 components · Full recipe
Mirror Glaze (can be made in advance)
Ingredients
- 75 g (2.6 oz) water
- 150 g (5.3 oz) caster sugar
- 150 g (5.3 oz) glucose syrup
- 100 g (3.5 oz) sweetened condensed milk
- 150 g (5.3 oz) Valrhona Caraïbe 66% dark chocolate
- 10 g (0.4 oz) gelatin sheets
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatin sheets in a large bowl of cold water.
2
In a saucepan, bring the water, sugar and glucose to the boil.
3
Off the heat, add the condensed milk and the drained and squeezed gelatin. Mix well.
4
Pour over the dark chocolate, chopped or in chips. Leave to melt for 1 minute then mix.
5
Blend with an immersion blender, being careful not to incorporate air. Strain through a fine sieve.
6
Cover with cling film in contact and refrigerate. Use at 30–35°C / 95°F.
Caramel Cremeux (can be made in advance)
Ingredients
- 85 g (3 oz) caster sugar
- 130 g (4.6 oz) whipping cream
- 25 g (0.9 oz) butter
- 2 g (0.1 oz) fleur de sel
- 75 g (2.6 oz) egg yolks
- 3 g (0.1 oz) gelatin sheets
Method
1
Rehydrate the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2
In a saucepan, make a dry caramel with the sugar until it reaches a deep amber colour.
3
Meanwhile, heat the cream. Deglaze the caramel by carefully pouring in the hot cream (the mixture will bubble strongly). Add the butter and fleur de sel. Mix well.
4
In a bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Pour the caramel mixture over the yolks, mixing continuously.
5
Return to the saucepan and cook over gentle heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 82°C / 180°F (like a crème anglaise).
6
Off the heat, add the drained and squeezed gelatin. Mix and blend with an immersion blender.
7
Pour into a tartlet insert mould (or a flat-bottomed container). Cover with cling film in contact and freeze.
Cocoa Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (to start 2 days or 1 day before)
Ingredients
- 130 g (4.6 oz) T55 flour
- 20 g (0.7 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 50 g (1.8 oz) icing sugar
- 15 g (0.5 oz) ground almonds
- a pinch of fleur de sel
- 65 g (2.3 oz) cold butter
- 30 g (1.1 oz) whole egg
Method
1
In a food processor or by hand, mix the flour, cocoa, icing sugar, ground almonds and fleur de sel.
2
Add the cold butter in small cubes and work to a sandy texture (as though making a crumble).
3
Add the beaten egg and mix just until the dough comes together.
4
Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or overnight).
5
Roll out to 2 mm thickness. Line the tartlet rings and freeze for 2 hours (or overnight).
Chocolate Sponge (to make the day before)
Ingredients
- 65 g (2.3 oz) eggs
- 50 g (1.8 oz) caster sugar
- 20 g (0.7 oz) T55 flour
- 10 g (0.4 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 20 g (0.7 oz) ground almonds
- 20 g (0.7 oz) butter
Method
1
Melt the butter and set aside.
2
Whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and doubled in volume.
3
Fold in the sifted flour, cocoa and ground almonds, then the melted butter.
4
Pour onto a baking tray lined with baking paper in a thin layer and bake at 170°C / 340°F fan-assisted for about 10 minutes.
5
Leave to cool, then cut discs slightly smaller than the diameter of your tartlet rings.
Insert Assembly
Ingredients
- the chocolate sponge discs
- the frozen caramel cremeux
- 100 g (3.5 oz) salted caramel peanuts
Method
1
If using insert moulds: place a chocolate sponge disc in each mould. Add a few salted caramel peanuts, then pour the caramel cremeux over them. Freeze.
2
If using a flat mould: spread the caramel cremeux in a thin layer, scatter the peanuts and place the sponge disc on top. Freeze.
Dark Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 220 g (7.8 oz) Valrhona Caraïbe 66% dark chocolate
- 120 g (4.2 oz) whole milk
- 120 g (4.2 oz) whipping cream (hot)
- 340 g (12 oz) very cold whipping cream
Method
1
Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie or microwave.
2
Mix the milk and hot cream together, then pour in three additions over the melted chocolate, mixing vigorously each time.
3
Blend with an immersion blender. Set aside to cool to about 40°C / 104°F.
4
Whip the cold cream to soft peaks. Gently fold it into the chocolate mixture in two or three additions. Use immediately.
Entremet Assembly
Ingredients
- the dark chocolate mousse
- the frozen inserts
- the tartlet moulds
Method
1
Pour some dark chocolate mousse into the bottom of each tartlet mould, filling about one third.
2
Place the frozen insert (caramel cremeux side down) into the centre of each mould, pressing lightly.
3
Fill with the remaining mousse to just below the rim.
4
Smooth the surface with a small spatula. Freeze for at least 8 hours (overnight).
Baking the Cocoa Sweet Shortcrust Pastry for L’Intense Carahuète
Ingredients
- the chilled tartlet cases
- 1 egg yolk + 2 g (0.1 oz) cream (for egg wash)
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F fan-assisted.
2
Blind bake the tartlet cases for 15 minutes. Remove the weights, brush with egg wash and bake again for 5 minutes at 160°C / 325°F.
3
Leave to cool on a wire rack. Smooth any imperfections with a Microplane grater.
Decoration of the Chocolate, Caramel and Peanut Tartlets
Ingredients
- the mirror glaze (at approx. 30–35°C / 95°F)
- the baked tartlet cases
- the frozen entremets
- salted caramel peanuts (for decoration)
- gold leaf (optional)
Method
1
Unmould the frozen entremets onto a wire rack. Pour the mirror glaze over each one at 30–35°C / 95°F.
2
Once the glaze has set, carefully place each entremet on its tartlet case.
3
Decorate with salted caramel peanuts and, if desired, gold leaf.
4
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow the entremets to defrost gradually before serving.
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