We celebrated Easter with the family and for the occasion, I brought along a Piou Piou entremets for dessert. Yes, yes… that’s its little nickname 🙂 It’s made up of a soft pecan and hazelnut sponge, a Dulcey, pecan and hazelnut crunchy layer, a caramel crémeux, a pecan and hazelnut praline and a Tahitian vanilla mousse.
I came up with a recipe built around comforting flavours that I’m particularly fond of (and yes, Easter isn’t just about chocolate :P): vanilla, caramel and pecan paired with hazelnut. I tried a praline made with 50% pecan and 50% hazelnut and I simply loved it! You get the indulgence of the hazelnut together with the character of the pecan, it’s divine! It’s one of my favourite entremets and it delights every single guest every time <3
And as a little side story, it’s an entremets I’d already made several times 3 years ago because it’s the cake I wanted to present on the TV show “Les rois du gâteau” on M6 (for the 3rd season). I had been selected but a few days before filming, I gave it all up after seeing what this new edition looked like (the first contestants to appear on the show were sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses on Instagram).
How do you make a Piou Piou?
Actually, it’s the name Charline gave to the mould she created for Easter and which I find simply gorgeous. A few weeks ago, Charline (aka Maquette Crème on Instagram) launched a crowdfunding campaign for the project she’s developing: putting her experience as an architect at the service of pastry by creating made-to-measure moulds and cakes. Pretty cool, right? And the best part is that she managed to raise the amount needed to launch this incredible project and that, at the same time, I had the joy of receiving the Piou Piou mould, an egg mould and 2 cookie cutters.
Which vanilla should I use?
Here I used Tahitian vanilla from Norohy (an exceptional vanilla <3) which reveals intense aniseed and floral notes with a hint of almond, tonka bean and balsamic. I thought these rounded, indulgent notes would pair very well with the caramel, pecan and hazelnut. You can of course use your favourite vanilla (such as Madagascar vanilla).
For the vanilla aromas to express themselves fully, I strongly advise you to infuse your vanilla. I’d even go further and advise you to do a double infusion, first cold for 24 hours and then hot (covered and off the heat) for 20 minutes. According to Norohy, the vanilla aromas express themselves differently depending on the temperature.
- For the cold infusion: the development of the vanilla aromas won’t be masked by those of the hot milk and they won’t evaporate. When tasting (on a milk base), you get more intense woody notes.
- For the hot infusion: bringing the milk or cream to a higher temperature won’t extract any more aromas from the pod. When tasting (on a milk base), you get round, woody notes with the hot milk note adding indulgence.
How do you spray an entremets with velvet?
Velvet spraying is what allows you to cover the entremets with a velvet-effect coating (as opposed to a mirror glaze). You make a mixture of chocolate and cocoa butter (which can be coloured with a fat-soluble colouring) which you then spray onto a frozen entremets. As the chocolate/cocoa butter mixture is hot, on contact with the frozen entremets, the temperature shock crystallises the chocolate on the mousse of the entremets. That’s what creates this velvet effect.
I used to buy cans of velvet spray because, let’s admit it, they’re convenient. But I’ve now switched to a paint sprayer (which is obviously only used for this!) and I don’t regret my choice. The advantage of the sprayer is that you can get whatever colour you want. Granted, it means buying equipment (I have the Wagner W180P model bought from a DIY store), it costs around sixty euros. It’s noisy, VERY noisy, but the result is really much nicer than with a shop-bought spray. Of course, it all depends on how you use it and how many entremets you end up making. If you spray one or two entremets a year, there’s no point investing 😉
Whether with a spray can or a paint sprayer, velvet spraying an entremets is messy. Extremely messy! Personally, I’ve stopped spraying in my dishwasher (even though it seemed like the ideal solution) because it still left marks after washing. I use whatever I have to hand to protect the worktop (cardboard, packaging, plastic bags or baking paper…). Don’t hesitate to protect the whole work area well because it’s very volatile and you’ll get it everywhere (that said, it’s less messy than a spray can).
Ingredients & Method
7 components · Full recipe
Pecan and hazelnut praline (about 200 g (7.1 oz) of praline, can be made in advance)
Ingredients
- 75 g (2.6 oz) pecan nuts
- 75 g (2.6 oz) hazelnuts
- 100 g (3.5 oz) caster sugar
- 25 g (0.9 oz) water
- 1 pinch fleur de sel
Method
1
Toast the pecan nuts and hazelnuts in the oven for about 10–15 minutes at 150°C / 300°F. I recommend toasting them separately on two different baking trays.
2
Once the hazelnuts are warm or cool, rub them between your hands or in a tea towel to remove the skins. A little remaining skin is fine.
3
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the water and sugar to the boil. At 116°C / 241°F, remove from the heat, pour the nuts into the syrup and stir so the sugar coats all the nuts. The mixture will turn whitish — that’s normal.
4
Return to medium heat and stir continuously until the sugar melts again and caramelizes (this can take a little time). Do not stop stirring at any point, otherwise the nut mixture will burn.
5
At the end of cooking, the nuts are glossy and have taken on a beautiful auburn colour. Spread them out on baking paper and leave to cool completely.
6
Once fully cold, break up the nut slab and place it in a food processor with the fleur de sel.
7
Blend in short bursts (pausing regularly to prevent the paste from overheating) until you reach a praline consistency. The longer you blend, the more liquid it will become. You can choose an “old-fashioned” praline with some remaining grains, or a very smooth praline.
8
Store in an airtight jar.
Caramel cremeux (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 90 g (3.2 oz) caster sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) water
- 12 g (0.4 oz) glucose
- 45 g (1.6 oz) egg yolks (about 3 yolks)
- 30 g (1.1 oz) + 142 g (5 oz) full-fat whipping cream
- 1/2 vanilla pod
- 2 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine (1 sheet)
- 12 g (0.4 oz) water (to hydrate the gelatine)
Method
1
Hydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Make a caramel by cooking the sugar, glucose and water in a saucepan. Deglaze with the 30 g (1.1 oz) of cream, heated beforehand.
3
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the vanilla seeds and the 142 g (5 oz) of cream.
4
Pour the bowl contents into the saucepan with the caramel and heat gently, stirring constantly, as you would for a crème anglaise.
5
Off the heat, add the hydrated gelatine, then blend with a hand blender to make the mixture smooth and homogeneous.
6
Pour into a cling-film-lined ring mould to a depth of 1 cm (0.4 in). Cover and freeze overnight.
7
Once the caramel cremeux is set, pour a thin layer of praline on top and return to the freezer.
Pecan and hazelnut sponge (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 25 g (0.9 oz) pecan powder
- 25 g (0.9 oz) hazelnut powder
- 30 g (1.1 oz) light brown sugar
- 50 g (1.8 oz) egg
- 11 g (0.4 oz) icing sugar
- 11 g (0.4 oz) full-fat whipping cream
- 47 g (1.7 oz) butter
- 25 g (0.9 oz) plain flour
- 2.8 g (0.1 oz) baking powder
- 50 g (1.8 oz) egg whites
- 8.3 g (0.3 oz) light brown sugar
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
2
In a bowl, mix together the toasted nut powders (pecan and hazelnut), the brown sugar, the egg, the icing sugar and the cream.
3
Melt the butter in a saucepan until it takes on a hazelnut colour (stir continuously). The butter is ready when it smells deliciously of hazelnuts and stops “singing.” Add it still hot to the rest of the ingredients, continuing to stir.
4
Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in.
5
Whip the 50 g (1.8 oz) of egg whites to soft peaks, tightening them with the 8.3 g (0.3 oz) of brown sugar, then fold gently into the first mixture using a rubber spatula.
6
Pour the batter onto a baking-paper-lined tray, spreading it to cover a generous half of the tray, and smooth with an offset spatula.
7
Bake for approximately 13–15 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave to cool on a wire rack, then cut out two circles of 14 cm (5.5 in) in diameter. I obtained a fairly thin sponge, so I decided to use it twice in my cake. You can also pour the batter directly into a ring (I’d say 24 cm (9.4 in) diameter) to get a single thicker sponge. Your choice!
Dulcey pecan crunch (to be made the day before)
Ingredients
- 30 g (1.1 oz) Dulcey chocolate
- 30 g (1.1 oz) pecan hazelnut praline (recipe above)
- 22 g (0.8 oz) feuilletine (dentelle crepes)
Method
1
Melt the Dulcey chocolate in the microwave.
2
In a bowl, combine the praline and the feuilletine, then add the melted chocolate. Mix gently with a rubber spatula.
3
Spread the crunch over one of the two sponge discs using a small offset spatula. A thin layer is all you need.
4
Set aside in the fridge.
5
As for the other sponge disc, place it on top of the caramel cremeux/praline insert, pressing lightly to help it adhere. Wrap with cling film and return to the freezer overnight.
Tahitian vanilla ivory mousse
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) full-fat double cream
- 100 g (3.5 oz) white chocolate
- 1 Tahitian vanilla pod
- 2.15 g (0.1 oz) powdered gelatine
- 13 g (0.5 oz) water (to hydrate the gelatine)
- 215 g (7.6 oz) full-fat whipping cream
Method
1
Hydrate the gelatine in the water.
2
Make a ganache: melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie until it just starts to melt.
3
Heat the double cream with the vanilla seeds and pod. Leave to infuse for about ten minutes, covered.
4
Heat the cream again, then off the heat add the hydrated gelatine.
5
Pour the cream over the white chocolate in three additions, emulsifying each time. The chocolate should be smooth and glossy.
6
Whip the whipping cream until foamy — do not over-whip.
7
Once the ganache has cooled to 30°C / 86°F, gently fold in the whipped cream.
Assembly
Ingredients
- None
Method
1
Pour the vanilla mousse into the mould up to the halfway point and run a spatula up along the sides for a clean finish.
2
Remove the insert from the freezer (caramel cremeux / praline / sponge) and press it gently into the mousse, centred (caramel cremeux side facing the mousse).
3
Add a little more vanilla mousse, leaving about one centimetre of space at the top.
4
Press in the crunch base (crunch side facing the mousse) and smooth the surface with a spatula.
5
Cover with cling film and freeze overnight.
Dulcey velvet spray
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Dulcey chocolate
- 43 g (1.5 oz) cocoa butter
Method
1
Melt the Dulcey chocolate and cocoa butter together in a bain-marie or microwave. Stir with a spatula.
2
Strain, then pour the mixture into the reservoir of your spray gun (ideally use a smaller container, such as a jam jar, placed inside the larger reservoir).
3
Remove the entremet from the freezer, unmould carefully and place on a wire rack. Don’t forget to protect your work surface well.
4
Spray the velvet effect from a distance of 30–40 cm (15.7 in).
5
Leave to thaw for 5–6 hours in the refrigerator before serving.
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