Tag: patisserie

Recipe: Raspberry tart with apple chip

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Makes: 12 mini tarts  (~6cm in diameter)

Time required: 3 hours

Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

Inspiration:

Most of the time my baking ideas come while walking through the supermarket to see which fruits are available. One of the (many) great things about Hong Kong is that we get fruit imported from all around the world which means that fruits like raspberries are available throughout the year and usually at a reasonable price. Given raspberries are super cheap at the moment, I decided to make a dessert bursting with raspberries. The elements of this tart are:

  • Sable base (my first time making a sable and it was super buttery and delicious that I was hoping some of the bases would crack so I could eat them straight from the oven)
  • raspberry cream
  • fresh raspberries
  • chocolate disc
  • apple chip

Ingredients:

Sable base:

  • 150g butter
  • 70g icing sugar
  • 70g almond meal
  • 100g plain flour
  • 10g salt

Raspberry cream:

  • 300g butter
  • 200g raspberries
  • 150g icing sugar

Chocolate disc:

  • 200g dark chocolate

Apple chip:

  • 1 green apple
  • 20ml lemon juice
  • 40+100g caster sugar
  • 1 gelatin leaf
  • 10g butter

Instructions:

Sable base:

  1. whisk together butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy
  2. sift in the flour, almond and salt and mix until well combined
  3. flatten into a disc on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 1 hours
  4. roll out to ~1cm thick and return to the fridge for another 20 minutes
  5. cut out 12 circles around 6cm in diameter and bake  the circles inside the rings at 160C for 15 minutes, removing the rings after around 10mins in the oven

Raspberry cream:

  1. puree raspberries in a food processor and simmer over medium heat until slightly reduced
  2. whisk together butter and sugar then slowly add in the raspberry and whisk until well combined

Chocolate disc:

  1. temper chocolate over a double boiler
  2. spread onto a sheet of acetate
  3. when slightly set, cut out 12 circles, around 5cm in diameter

apple chip:

  1. place apple and lemon in a food processor
  2. bloom gelatin, then drain and place the bowl over a pot of simmering water to melt the gelatin
  3. add the gelatin and 40g of sugar into the apple/lemon then process until well combined
  4. add the apple puree, remaining sugar and butter to a pan over medium-high heat and simmer until slightly reduced
  5. spread the puree over a baking sheet (in different shapes) and baking at 150C for 5-10 minutes until lightly golden

Assemble:

  1. for each sable base: place raspberries around the edges and fill the hole in the middle with some of the raspberry cream
  2. place the chocolate disc on top of each tart then pipe another dallop of raspberry cream
  3. top with an apple chip (or any other decorations) … i also tried decorating it with a chocolate leaf
raspberry tart - apple chips
shaping the apple chips before placing into the oven
raspberry tart 1
Assembling the raspberry tarts
The finished raspberries tart, decorated with a chocolate leaf
The finished raspberries tart, decorated with a chocolate leaf

Recipe: Lemon Meringue Tarts with blueberry gelee

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Finished: lemon meringue tart with blueberry gelee

Makes: 16 small round cakes (~5cm in diameter)

Time required: 2 hours over 2 sessions (~2 hour at a time)

Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆

Inspiration:

One of the things I love about entremets is that you can take different desserts, flavours and textures and layer them into a small delicate cake. For this cake, I wanted to “recreate” a lemon meringue pie – have all the elements of a normal lemon meringue pie (buttery crust, lemon curd, meringue) but create it in a different form. To add a twist … I included a bluberry gelee which oozes out when you cut into the cake – the sweetness (but also subtle flavour) of the blueberry is a great contrast to the sour lemon curd.

Elements of this cake:

  • buttery biscuit base
  • lemon curd mousse
  • blueberry gelee
  • meringue
  • blueberries and chocolate leaf to decorate

Ingredients:

Tart base:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 150g plain flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 70g pure icing sugar
  • 120g butter, cold

blueberry gelee:

  • 125g blueberries
  • 30ml water
  • 70g caster sugar

Lemon curd:

  • 200g caster sugar
  • juice from 3 lemons
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 whole eggs
  • pinch of salt
  • 50g butter

Lemon mousse:

  • lemon curd made above
  • 2 gelatin sheets
  • 450ml whipping cream
  • juice from 1 lemon

Meringue:

  • 2 egg whites
  • 120g caster sugar
  • 40ml water

To decorate:

  • blueberries
  • tempered chocolate leaves

Instructions:

Tart base:

  1. whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla and set aside
  2. in a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and icing sugar
  3. cut the cold butter into 1cm cubes and beat into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse sand. Careful not to overmix
  4. mix the egg into the flour/butter mixture until just combined
  5. roll into a flat disc and refrigerate for at least an hour
  6. once all the other elements of the cake have been prepared roll the dough to 0.5cm thickness and cut out 16 circles just slightly larger than the round moulds
  7. bake at 170C for 12 minutes until the edges of the biscuit base is golden

Blueberry gelee:

  1. bring all ingredients to a boil and then simmer for ~5 minutes until the mixture thickens
  2. place into a piping bag and then set aside in the fridge to cool as you prepare the lemon mousse

Lemon curd:

  1. whisk together all ingredients except for the butter
  2. place all ingredients (including the butter) into a saucepan over medium heat and continue whisking until the mixture thickens into a curd
  3. place three quarters of the curd into the fridge to cool while leaving the remaining quarter at room temperature

Lemon mousse:

  1. bloom gelatin sheets in iced water for 10 minutes
  2. bring the lemon juice to boil then melt in the bloomed gelatin sheets
  3. mix in the room temperature lemon curd and set aside while preparing the rest of the mousse
  4. in a separate bowl, whisk the cream to medium peaks
  5. whisk together the room temperature lemon curd with the cold lemon curd until light and airy
  6. gently fold into the whipped cream to form the mousse

Meringue:

  1. place sugar and water over low-medium heat to create a sugar syrup
  2. meanwhile, begin whisking the egg whites in a large bowl
  3. when the sugar syrup is ready, pour the sugar syrup in a slow steady stream while constantly whisking the egg whites at maximum speed
  4. continue whisking until stiff peaks

To assemble:

  1. pipe the lemon mousse into the round moulds 3/4 full
  2. pipe in a blob of the blueberry gelee then top the remaining of the mould with more lemon mousse
  3. Freeze the moulds for at least 3 hours, until they can be smoothly removed from the moulds
  4. remove the mousse from the moulds then place each lemon mousse piece over a biscuit base
  5. pipe on the meringue, torch the meringue then decorate with blueberries and chocolate
Tart dough - mixing the butter into the flour. Be careful not to overmix
Tart dough – mixing the butter into the flour. Be careful not to overmix
tart dough - pressed into a flat disc and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
tart dough – pressed into a flat disc and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
tart dough - rolled out and cut into round discs
tart dough – rolled out and cut into round discs
circle moulds with lemon mousse and blueberry gelee
circle moulds with lemon mousse and blueberry gelee
lemon meringue tart - decorated with blueberry and chocolate
lemon meringue tart – decorated with blueberry and chocolate
lemon meringue tart with blueberry gelee
Finished: lemon meringue tart with blueberry gelee

 

Instagram: Whatever_It_Bakes

Recipe: Raspberry Coconut Opera Cake

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Alternate plating idea for the opera cake

Makes: 20 slices, halve recipe to make less

Time required: 3 hours + extra time to decorate

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆

Inspiration:

Having recently watched the Zumbo Just Desserts tv show, I was inspired by some of the challenges the contestants faced … in particular the Franken-dessert and the Aussie Classics challenges. This is where the “Operington” cake comes in – the elements of an Opera Cake meet the flavours of a Lamington. I always enjoy making opera cakes because there’s so many layers and elements – which also allows for more creativity with flavours and textures

Elements for this cake:

  • almond coconut sponge
  • raspberry buttercream
  • raspberry jam
  • chocolate ganache
  • raspberry soju jelly, for plating
  • chocolate sauce, coconut and fresh raspberries, for plating

Ingredients:

Almond coconut sponge:

  • 9 egg whites
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 300g almond meal
  • 100g desiccated coconut
  • 400g icing sugar
  • 2tsp vanilla extract
  • 100g plain flour
  • 9 eggs
  • 100g melted butter

raspberry buttercream:

  • 200g raspberries
  • 400g butter
  • 200ml thickened cream
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 9 egg yolks

raspberry jam:

  • 200g raspberries
  • 150g sugar
  • 2 gelatin leaf

chocolate ganache:

  • 500g dark chocolate
  • 400ml thickened cream
  • 40g butter

raspberry soju jelly (optional for decorating):

  • 125g raspberries
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup soju (or other alcohol)
  • 8 sheet gelatin

Instructions:

Almond coconut sponge:

  1. preheat oven to 200C
  2. whisk egg whites with caster sugar until stiff peaks and set aside
  3. in a separate bowl, whisk together the almond meal, icing sugar and desiccated coconut
  4. add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined
  5. sift in the flour and mix
  6. carefully fold in the egg whites
  7. gently fold in the butter, careful not to remove all the air in the batter
  8. spread evenly over four trays (roughly 15x30cm) lined with baking paper
  9. bake for 8 minutes until just cooked
  10. remove from baking sheet and set aside to cool

raspberry buttercream:

  1. puree raspberries and place in a pot over low heat until the sugar melts
  2. whisk the egg yolks with sugar until light and fluffy
  3. slowly pour in the hot raspberry while whisking the egg yolks to gently heat up the eggs without scrambling them
  4. return the entire raspberry/egg mixture to low head and continue to mix until it thickens
  5. in a separate bowl, beat the butter. Gradually add the raspberry/egg mixture and cream alternating while whisking until well combined

raspberry jam:

  1. puree the raspberries
  2. place the raspberries and sugar over low-med heat until just boiling
  3. add in the bloomed gelatin and set aside to cool

chocolate ganache:

  1. heat cream over med heat until just boiling
  2. pour over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes
  3. stir the cream/chocolate until well combined then mix i the butter

raspberry soju jelly:

  1. puree the raspberries
  2. place the raspberries, water and soju over medium heat until boiling
  3. add in the bloomed gelatin
  4. pour into a container (depending what shape you’d like the jelly) and leave in the fridge to set (at least 3 hours)

To assemble:

  1. place one slice/tray of the cake on a cake board or plate
  2. spread over 1/3 of the raspberry jam
  3. spread 1/3 of the raspberry buttercream then place in the fridge/freezer for 10mins to slightly harden
  4. spread over 1/4 of the chocolate ganache
  5. cover with the next slide of cake then repeat steps 2-4 another two times
  6. when all the cake/buttercream/jam layers have been used up, pour the remaining chocolate ganache over the top layer of cake
  7. leave in freezer overnight to harden before slicing the cake with a hot knife … freezing the cake results in cleaner edges when slicing the cake
  8. defrost the slices in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving
Finished putting together all the layers of the opera cake
Finished putting together all the layers of the opera cake
Plating the opera cake for a dinner party
Plating the opera cake for a dinner party
another plating option for the raspberry opera cake
another plating option for the raspberry opera cake
plating the raspberry opera cake (2)
close up of the Opera Cake for Instagram
Alternate plating idea for the opera cake
Alternate plating idea for the opera cake

 

Instagram: Whatever_It_Bakes

Recipe: Lime Coconut Mousse

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Nutting to see here - loving my squirrel bookend

Makes: 1 dome/half-sphere (~8inch in diameter)

Time required: 3 hours in total over 4 sessions

Difficulty: ★★★☆☆

Inspiration:

Reading through Olivier Dupon’s book “The New Patissiers” (my current favourite book) I came across one page which had a really interesting flavour combination – it was a recipe for a chocolate mousse entremet with a lime panna cotta, coconut dacqouise … coated in milk chocolate mousse. I wanted to give the elements of this recipe a try, liking the idea of the tangy-ness of the lime mixed with creaminess of the coconut and the sweetness of the chocolate.

Elements of this cake from centre to outside:

  • lime panna cotta
  • coconut cream
  • dark chocolate mousse
  • coconut dacquoise base
  • coated in dark chocolate velvet spray

Although every element of this cake is very easy and quick to make, it does require preparation to make and freeze each of the layers before moving onto the next

Ingredients:

Lime panna cotta:

  • juice of 2 limes
  • 90ml milk
  • 90ml cream
  • 45g caster sugar
  • 2 gelatin sheets

Coconut mousse:

  • 100ml coconut milk
  • 150ml milk
  • 150ml cream, whipped
  • 1 sheet gelatin

Coconut Dacqouise:

  • 3 egg whites
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 30g coconut flakes
  • 30g almond meal
  • 60g pure icing sugar

Dark Chocolate Mousse:

  • 94g caster sugar
  • 94ml water
  • 1 egg
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 150ml cream
  • 3 gelatin sheets
  • 250g dark chocolate
  • 300ml cream, whipped

Chocolate Velvet spray (I used a pre-made can)

Lime coconut mousse cake 4
Plastic moulds I used to create the dome shape

Instructions:

Lime Panna Cotta:

  1. bring lime, cream and sugar to simmer for 10 minutes
  2. remove from heat and mix in gelatin
  3. pour into dome mould (~3inch in diameter) and freeze for several hours or overnight

Coconut Mousse:

  1. bring coconut milk and milk to simmer
  2. remove from heat and stir in the gelatin
  3. once cool, gently fold in the whipped cream
  4.  pour into a dome mould (~3.5inch in diameter) and then push the lime panna cotta dome into the centre
  5. place into the freezer for several hours or overnight

Coconut Dacquoise:

  1. preheat oven to 180C and line a 8inch baking tin with baking paper
  2. sift together coconut flakes, almond meal and icing sugar
  3. in a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and caster sugar to firm peaks
  4. gently fold the dry ingredients into the meringue
  5. spread onto baking tin and bake for 15-20mins

Dark Chocolate Mousse:

  1. whisk water, sugar, eggs and egg yolks together in a bain-marie
  2. remove form heat and continue to whisk until airy
  3. in a separate pot, bring cream (150ml portion) to boil and stir in the gelatin
  4. pour hot cream over chocolate and stir to combine
  5. gently fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture
  6. whisk the 300ml portion of cream, then gently fold into the chocolate/egg mixture
  7. pour the mousse into the 8inch dome to around two-thirds full and drop the panna cotta/coconut mousse into the centre
  8. fill the rest of the dome to almost to top, leaving a little space to place the coconut dacquoise on top
  9. place in freezer for several hours or overnight until the dome is frozen

Chocolate velvet coating:

  1. once the dome is frozen, unmould and coat the cake in a chocolate velvet spray
chocolate mousse dome
chocolate mousse dome
Lime coconut mousse cake 2
pre-made chocolate velvet spray
All finished and ready to eat
All finished and ready to eat
Lime coconut mousse cake
Nutting to see here – loving my squirrel bookend

 

Instagram: Whatever_It_Bakes