The pistachio mousse with the crunchy hazelnut inside, combined with the different chocolates and praline biscuit is just heaven!
To tell you the truth, I was actually planning on making a classic “3 chocolate” mousse cake, with a dark chocolate mousse layer, a milk chocolate mousse layer and a white chocolate mousse layer. But I had some pistachio paste left over from my fusion Indian dessert and suddenly had a new idea to make a white chocolate pistachio layer with some hazelnuts thrown in there for that extra texture.
So this mousse cake is made up of a moist chocolate brownie base, a crunchy praline biscuit layer, a dark chocolate mousse layer, milk chocolate mousse layer and a white chocolate pistachio hazelnut mousse layer. All of this topped of with milk chocolate and white chocolate shavings. I can assure you that this mousse cake tastes absolutely phenomenal! My father-in-law actually said that this was the best dessert that he had ever tasted – now that is a great compliment coming from a French man who has excellent taste in food!
This mousse cake works well for so many occasions: birthdays, anniversaries, dinners, Christmas…. a must try for chocolate, pistachio and hazelnut lovers.
| RECIPE (10 – 12 servings): |
| INGREDIENTS: Chocolate brownie base: – 75g egg (around 1 and a half eggs) – 45g sugar – 30g butter – 30g honey – 10g cocoa powder – 50g flour – 30g almond powder – 3g baking powder – 55g heavy whipping cream – 25g 70% dark chocolate Crunchy praline biscuit: – 75g praline paste – 40g Gavottes biscuits – 30g milk chocolate Dark chocolate mousse: – 110g 70% dark chocolate – 75g milk – 150g heavy whipping cream – 1 gelatin sheet (2g) Milk chocolate mousse: – 120g milk chocolate – 75g milk – 150g heavy whipping cream – 1 and 1/2 gelatin sheets (2.5g) Pistachio and hazelnut mousse: – 150g white chocolate – 75g milk – 150g heavy whipping cream – 75g pistachio puree – 2 egg yolks – 130g roughly ground hazelnuts – 2 gelatin sheets Decoration: – 100g milk chocolate – 100g white chocolate METHOD Chocolate brownie base: Preheat the oven to 180C. Melt the butter in the microwave and melt the chocolate using the bain marie method and set aside. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, almond powder and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and honey until well combined. Add the powders mix the preparation well. Incorporate the heavy whipping cream, melted (warm) butter and mix well then add the melted chocolate mix well again. Pour mixture into a 20cm round springform pan and cook for around 15 minutes. Once done, remove from oven and you will see that the brownie has risen considerably in the centre. Important step: It is important to flatten the brownie base, so using a round plate (slightly smaller than 20cm), immediately press down on the brownie base so it stays nice and flat. This is a step that needs to be done as soon as the brownie is out of the oven and still hot – do not wait for it to cool or the cake will set and will not be able to flatten! Once the base is nice and flat, leave it to cool in the pan. Crunchy praline base: Melt the chocolate either using the bain marie method or in the microwave, then add the praline paste. Mix this well then add the crushed up Gavotte biscuits. Mix well again and spread evenly over the brownie base. Prepare the pan for the mousses: Carefully line the sides of the pan with rhodoid sheet and set aside. Dark chocolate mousse: Bloom the gelatin in cold water for 10 mins. Melt the chocolate using the bain marie method or microwave. Boil the milk in a heavy saucepan, take off heat then stir in the gelatin. Incorporate the milk chocolate in 3 parts, mixing well until the mixture is nice and smooth. Reserve this mixture in a bain marie so that the temperature doesn’t drop below 44C. Whisk the cream until soft peaks form then add a little of the cream to the chocolate and mix well. Add the rest of whipped cream in 3 parts, incorporating delicately with a spatula – do not whisk. Once the mixture is fully combined, pour and spread the mousse evenly on top of the praline biscuit. Allow the mousse to set in the fridge while making the next mousse. Milk chocolate mousse: The process for making this is the same as for the dark chocolate mousse, except the temperature of the chocolate should be around 42C. Pour the mousse on top of the set dark chocolate mousse and put back in fridge to set while preparing the pistachio and hazelnut mousse. Pistachio and hazelnut mousse: Combine 50g cream, the milk and pistachio puree in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil then remove from heat. Bloom the gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks well in a bowl. Pour the pistachio mixture slowly over the egg yolk mixture, while still continuing to mix, then place entire mixture back in a saucepan and cook on very low heat for around 5 minutes. Place the white chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot pistachio/egg mixture over the chocolate then stir in the gelatin. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Whisk the remaining 100g of cream to soft peaks, then fold in the cooled pistachio/white chocolate mixture and roughly ground hazelnuts. Stir well then pour over the set milk chocolate mousse. Leave to set for at least 3 hours before decorating. Decoration: First melt milk chocolate using the bain marie method to 29C. Then spread the chocolate thin over a table top or chopping board. Once the chocolate starts to set slightly, use a scraper to scrape the chocolate into little shavings. Repeat the process with the white chocolate (except heat it to 27C). Place the chocolate shavings decoratively over the set pistachio mousse. Remove the cake from the fridge 15 minutes before eating and ENJOY! |
Did you try out this recipe? Any questions? Any feedback? Would love to hear from you!
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Desserts by Ine 