Sooo, chestnuts in a dessert huh? Yes, this is a dessert with chestnuts that consist of a cookie base, caramel chocolate ganache, chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream, mascarpone mousse, almond sponge, chestnut mousse and milk chocolate. That’s a lot of layers I know. But this year I was so eager to make a chestnut dessert that works and it’s delicious and complex. I absolutely love chestnuts as I already stated in the previous post and because this year there were this many I got to play around with them, otherwise it would be very difficult for me to use chestnuts for baking instead of eating them.
I really love how everything turned out from taste to the appearance of this dessert.
I actually had a mental block for how to decorate it so that the look would live up to the taste. I know it’s delicious but if I want to convince you, I better make it look so inviting that you believe me and make it, right? And of course, with every dessert I make I try to get better and better.
But after I made it, it waited 3 days in the fridge because either I was too tired to come up with any idea or I was so busy that the time just passed by, plus ugh, the sun setting at 4 pm is killing me. How am I supposed to take pictures in the dark??
So I finally came up with something, the idea of chocolate leaves on top seemed very intriguing to me, so I went and printed some templates for leaves and a tree, then I tempered some dark chocolate and made the chocolate decorations. I also remembered I had gold lustre dust and that it would probably look beautiful on the chocolate leaves. But the only time I had to actually fully decorate and photograph was from 3 pm to 4 pm the next day. Long story short, I barely had the time to take pictures and so they aren’t the best quality which is really sad to me because usually when I make something that I really like, I especially enjoy photographing it and of course it looks better here. I had to go with the few good pictures that came out. And that’s the story of these not so fine pictures :).
About the glaze! The last layer before the decorations is just melted milk chocolate with some neutral oil but I don’t know the amounts that I used. So you can either use another chocolate glaze or improvise a bit :). What I would suggest for you is to make a chocolate mirror glaze. It very popular right now and there are a lot of recipes around. I would actually do that if I had more time but I was in a real rush, so it is what it is.
Ingredients
Cookie base
2 egg yolks
80 g sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
80 g butter at room temperature
115 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate caramel ganache
Caramel
50 g sugar
20 g butter
30 ml whipping cream
pinch of salt
Chocolate ganache
75 g dark chocolate
25 ml whipping cream
Chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream
125 ml milk
125 ml whipping cream
2 egg yolks
40 g sugar
120 g chestnut puree
10 g cocoa powder
3 g powdered gelatin
15 ml cold water
220 ml whipping cream
Mascarpone mousse
130 ml whipping cream
100 g mascarpone
60 g powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Almond sponge
3 eggs
60 g sugar
60 g flour
20 g almond flour
Chestnut mousse
280 g cooked chestnuts
120 ml milk
40 g sugar
130 ml whipping cream
6 g powdered gelatin
140 ml whipping cream
Decoration
whipped cream
cookie crumbs
tempered chocolate leaves painted with gold luster dust
Instructions
Cookie base
In a bowl beat the sugar and egg yolks for 2 min on medium-high speed. Add vanilla extract and butter. Beat for another 2 min or until creamy then add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed just until everything is combined. Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. In the meantime, you can make other components.
Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a 24 x 32 cm baking pan with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to fit the prepared baking pan and bake until golden brown.
Chocolate caramel ganache
Caramel
Heat up the cream until hot and set aside. Put the sugar into a wide pan and melt over medium heat. Slowly swirl the pan to make sure the sugar is dissolving evenly and not getting burnt. Once all the sugar is dissolved completely, wait for the color to change to an amber color. Stop the cooking when the color is dark amber (be careful not to burn). When the sugar reaches the desired color, remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and whisk vigorously until it’s all mixed up. Now add the cream and salt and whisk again, until it’s incorporated. Set aside and cool.
Chocolate ganache
Heat the cream and remove from heat as soon as it boils. Add chopped chocolate and mix until ganache is shiny and homogenous. Add the caramel to chocolate ganache and mix until combined.
Almond sponge
Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a 24 x 32 cm baking pan with parchment paper. Mix the eggs with sugar until light and doubled in volume, about 4 min. Mix the flour and almond flour together then gently fold them into the egg mixture with a spatula. Put the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 5 min or until golden-brown. Cool down.
Mascarpone cream
Beat the mascarpone with powdered sugar and vanilla extract for 1 min or until creamy. Now start adding the whipping cream whilst mixing. Stop mixing at soft to medium peaks. Set aside.
Chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream
Prepare the gelatin by the instructions on the packaging. Put milk, 125 ml cream, sugar and egg yolks in a pan and mix. Cook on low-medium heat, whisking constantly until it reaches 82°C. You can check if the cream is done by placing a spoon in the cream and then making a line with your finger across the spoon. If the line stays clean and the cream is slightly thickened, it’s done. Add cocoa powder, chestnut puree and gelatin to the cream and mix until well combined. I used an immersion blender to really make sure everything is smooth. Leave to cool a bit but not enough to let the gelatin set. Whip up the whipping cream to soft peaks and with a spatula gently fold it into the cooked and cooled cream.
Chestnut mousse
Make this after everything else is done and set so that you can use it as soon as it’s done. Otherwise, the mousse could start to set before you use it for the dessert. Prepare the gelatin by the instructions on the packaging. Place the chestnuts, milk, 130 ml cream and sugar in a pan and heat up until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot. Remove from the heat and use the immersion blender to smooth out the mixture. Add gelatin and mix it in until it’s melted. Set aside to cool down. The chestnut cream should be just cool enough to fold in the whipped cream without melting but if you let it cool too much the gelatin will start to set the cream, so be careful to fold in the whipped cream before that! Whip up the remaining whipping cream to soft peaks and fold it gently to the cool chestnut cream.
Assemble
Place the cookie base in the pan that you baked it in, then pour the caramel chocolate ganache over it and distribute evenly. Pour the chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream over the ganache, distribute evenly and place in the fridge (or a freezer, if you don’t want to wait as long) to set. After the bavarian cream is set, distribute the mascarpone mousse over it. Place the almond sponge over the mascarpone mousse and press slightly then distribute the chestnut mousse over it and put in the fridge to set. When the mousse is set, pour over the chosen chocolate glaze and let it set. All that’s left to do now is cut the dessert to whatever shape you wish and have fun with the decorating!
Recipe for the cookie base and bavarian cream adapted from the book: Torte in tortice, Alenka Kodele
Chestnut dessert
Ingredients
Cookie base
- 2 egg yolks
- 80 g sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 80 g butter at room temperature
- 115 g flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Chocolate caramel ganache
Caramel
- 50 g sugar
- 20 g butter
- 30 ml whipping cream
- pinch of salt
Chocolate ganache
- 75 g dark chocolate
- 25 ml whipping cream
Chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream
- 125 ml milk
- 125 ml whipping cream
- 2 egg yolks
- 40 g sugar
- 120 g chestnut puree
- 10 g cocoa powder
- 3 g powdered gelatin
- 15 ml cold water
- 220 ml whipping cream
Mascarpone mousse
- 130 ml whipping cream
- 100 g mascarpone
- 60 g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Almond sponge
- 3 eggs
- 60 g sugar
- 60 g flour
- 20 g almond flour
Chestnut mousse
- 280 g cooked chestnuts
- 120 ml milk
- 40 g sugar
- 130 ml whipping cream
- 6 g powdered gelatin
- 140 ml whipping cream
Decoration
- whipped cream
- cookie crumbs
- tempered chocolate leaves painted with gold lustre dust
Instructions
Cookie base
- In a bowl beat the sugar and egg yolks for 2 min on medium-high speed.
- Add vanilla extract and butter. Beat for another 2 min or until creamy then add flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low speed just until everything is combined.
- Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour. In the meantime, you can make other components.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a 24 x 32 cm baking pan with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to fit the prepared baking pan and bake until golden brown.
Chocolate caramel ganache
Caramel
- Heat up the cream until hot and set aside. Put the sugar into a wide pan and melt over medium heat. Slowly swirl the pan to make sure the sugar is dissolving evenly and not getting burnt.
- Once all the sugar is dissolved completely, wait for the color to change to amber.
- Stop the cooking when the colour is dark amber (be careful not to burn).
- When the sugar reaches the desired color, remove the pan from the heat, add the butter and whisk vigorously until it’s all mixed up.
- Now add the cream and salt and whisk again, until it’s incorporated. Set aside and cool.
Chocolate ganache
- Heat the cream and remove from heat as soon as it boils. Add chopped chocolate and mix until ganache is shiny and homogenous.
- Add the caramel to chocolate ganache and mix until combined.
Almond sponge
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a 24 x 32 cm baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mix the eggs with sugar until light and doubled in volume, about 4 min.
- Mix the flour and almond flour together then gently fold them into the egg mixture with a spatula.
- Put the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 5 min or until golden-brown. Cool down.
Mascarpone cream
- Beat the mascarpone with powdered sugar and vanilla extract for 1 min or until creamy. Now start adding the whipping cream whilst mixing. Stop mixing at soft to medium peaks. Set aside.
Chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream
- Prepare the gelatin by the instructions on the packaging.
- Put milk, 125 ml cream, sugar and egg yolks in a pan and mix.
- Cook on low-medium heat, whisking constantly until it reaches 82°C. You can check if the cream is done by placing a spoon in the cream and then making a line with your finger across the spoon. If the line stays clean and the cream is slightly thickened, it’s done.
- Add cocoa powder, chestnut puree and gelatin to the cream and mix until well combined. I used an immersion blender to really make sure everything is smooth.
- Leave to cool a bit but not enough to let the gelatin set. Whip up the whipping cream to soft peaks and with a spatula gently fold it into the cooked and cooled cream.
Chestnut mousse
- Make this after everything else is done and set so that you can use it as soon as it’s done. Otherwise, the mousse could start to set before you use it for the dessert.
- Prepare the gelatin by the instructions on the packaging.
- Place the chestnuts, milk, 130 ml cream and sugar in a pan and heat up until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot.
- Remove from the heat and use the immersion blender to smooth out the mixture. Add gelatin and mix it in until it’s melted.
- Set aside to cool down.
- The chestnut cream should be just cool enough to fold in the whipped cream without melting but if you let it cool too much the gelatin will start to set the cream, so be careful to fold in the whipped cream before that! Whip up the remaining whipping cream to soft peaks and fold it gently to the cool chestnut cream.
Assemble
- Place the cookie base in the pan that you baked it in, then pour the caramel chocolate ganache over it and distribute evenly.
- Pour the chestnut and cocoa bavarian cream over the ganache, distribute evenly and place in the fridge (or a freezer, if you don’t want to wait as long) to set.
- After the bavarian cream is set, distribute the mascarpone mousse over it.
- Place the almond sponge over the mascarpone mousse and press slightly then distribute the chestnut mousse over it and put in the fridge to set.
- When the mousse is set, pour over the chosen chocolate glaze and let it set. All that’s left to do now is cut the dessert to whatever shape you wish and have fun with the decorating!
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