Recipe Hazelnut petit fours

To prepare this dish

Ingredient list

Chocolate shortcrust pastry

210 g Elle & Vire all Purpose butter 82% fat
185 g icing sugar
60 g ground almonds
100 g eggs
425 g T45 flour
35 g cocoa powder

Soft coffee-caramel

240 g sugar
280 g glucose syrup (1)
375 g Excellence whipping cream 35% fat
275 g espresso
125 g glucose syrup (2)
2 g instant coffee
190 g Elle & Vire all Purpose butter 82% fat

Microwaved pastry cream

170 g milk
80 g Excellence whipping cream 35% fat
15 g maizena
10 g rice flour
120 g sugar
100 g egg yolks
1/2 vanilla pods
2 g salt

Mascarpone/cream cheese domes

450 g Mascarpone
300 g French cream cheese
730 g Excellence whipping cream 35% fat
290 g pastry cream
50 g icing sugar

Caramelised hazelnuts

240 g water
340 g sugar
250 g hazelnuts

Elle & Vire products used

Elle & Vire all Purpose butter 82% fat

Excellence whipping cream 35% fat

Mascarpone

French cream cheese

The recipe,
step by step

1. 1

   Chocolate shortcrust pastry

   • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, soften the butter, then add the ground almonds, sugar and eggs.
   • Finally, add the sifted together flour and cocoa powder.
   • Spread 2.5 mm thick between two sheets of baking paper and blast chill at a negative temperature.
   • Then, shape ∅4 cm petit four tartlet shells and bake at 170°C for approximately 22 minutes.
2. 2

   Soft coffee-caramel

    

   • In a saucepan, caramelize the glucose syrup (1) with the sugar.
   • In another saucepan, combine the cream, espresso, instant coffee and glucose syrup (2), and bring to a gentle boil.
   • Stop the caramelization process by incorporating the liquid mixture.
   • Bring to 106°C, mix with a handheld blender and strain.
   • When the coffee caramel has cooled to 60°C, add the butter and emulsify.
3. 3

   Microwaved pastry cream

   • Heat the milk and cream with the vanilla.
   • Pour over the previously prepared mixture of egg yolks, sugar, sifted cornstarch, rice flour and salt, then mix vigorously and cook in the microwave until the mixture reaches 82°C.
   • Mix with a handheld blender, spread onto a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place in a blast chiller.
4. 4

   Mascarpone/cream cheese domes

   • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the mascarpone and cream cheese, adding the pastry cream and icing sugar, then drizzle in the cream.
   • Whip and transfer to dome moulds measuring 3.6 cm in diameter.
5. 5

   Caramelised hazelnuts

   • Bring the water and sugar to the boil, add the hazelnuts and cook for about 15 minutes.
   • Drain off the syrup and bake in the oven at 160 °C for approximately 12 minutes.
6. 6

   Assembly

   • Place the soft coffee-caramel and the chopped caramelized hazelnuts inside the chocolate shortcrust tartlet.
   • Top with the mascarpone and cream cheese dome, spray with colourless gelatine and decorate with caramelized hazelnuts and instant coffee.

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A few words about the author…

Debora Vena

Determined, gritty, curious and deeply engaged to a constant professional growth, these are just some of Debora Vena’s characteristics. Since she was a teenager, she has been working alongside her parents in the ice-cream shops they owned; in fact, it was during this period that she became passionate about the culinary sector and especially in the huge world of Pastry. She thus decided then to attend CastAlimenti’s advanced training course, during which she had the possibility of building solid foundations. The professionalizing path became the starting point for a continuous training and improvement path, accompanied by daily work in the company of which she is a partner. The teachings of great Masters have been essential to learn the fundamentals of Pastry and to elaborate more and more accurately her own philosophy Her pasrty is based on care and scrupulous attention for every detail, from the choice of genuine and qualitative raw materials to the complete customization of products for her clients. This vision was accompanied and supported by a deep passion for her profession, a strong creative spirit and, finally, a sincere humility, a necessary quality to be able to keep growing. Her creations are elegant and very accurate in presentation and even more on the palate. The rigor is such that nothing is left to chance, even more so since when Debora has decided to devote part of her path to working on gluten free, committing to offer the maximum quality also in this pastry strand extremely complicated. In 2022 she joined the Elle & Vire Professionnel<sup style="font-size:10px;vertical-align:super;">®</sup> Ambassadeurs’ team, bringing her talent, great experience and great example of entrepreneurship.