Coffee, Hazelnut, and Caramel Entremet
 
Coffee, hazelnut, and caramel entremet with layers of hazelnut cake, white chocolate and coffee mousse, crispy caramelized hazelnuts, and butterscotch glaze.
Ingredients
For the hazelnut cake:
  • 190g hazelnuts, toasted and finely ground
  • 70g sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 280g eggs (about five)
  • 75g butter, softened
  • 60g egg whites (about two)
  • 30g sugar
For the caramelized hazelnuts:
  • 50g sugar
  • 40g butter
  • 20g corn syrup
  • 10g water
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 25g hazelnuts, roughly chopped
For the white chocolate and coffee mousse:
  • 5g gelatin
  • 20g water
  • 25g coffee beans
  • 125g milk
  • 245g white chocolate, melted
  • 245g whipping cream, beaten to soft peaks (if using a KitchenAid stand mixer, about 5 minutes on speed 6)
For the butterscotch glaze:
  • 5g gelatin
  • 20g + 25g water
  • 215g whipping cream
  • 265g butterscotch chips, melted
  • 60g vegetable oil
Method
Prepare the hazelnut cake:
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a food processor, grind together the hazelnuts, 70g sugar, salt, and eggs. If you’re starting off with whole, toasted hazelnuts, then grind them with the sugar and add in the eggs once ground.
  3. Add the butter and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the food processor, as necessary.
  4. In a large bowl, whip the egg whites and the 30g of sugar to stiff peaks. If you’re using a KitchenAid stand mixer, this is about 9 minutes at speed 6.
  5. Fold the hazelnut mixture into the egg whites, being careful not to deflate the egg whites too much. Fold until smooth.
  6. Spread onto a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
  7. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden.
  8. Once cooled to room temperature, cut out two 18cm (7’’) squares with your pastry ring.
Prepare the hazelnut crunch:
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper.
  2. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, butter, corn syrup, water, and salt to a boil.
  3. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts and pour onto the parchment paper-covered pan.
  4. Refrigerate until cool (about 10 minutes), and then bake for 10 minutes.
  5. Let cool for a few minutes before cutting out a 18cm (7’’) square with your pastry ring. You may find it useful to hit the pastry ring with something (e.g. a rolling pin) to cut the caramel, as it can be a bit hard.
Prepare the white chocolate and coffee mousse (prepare right before assembling layers):
  1. Bring the coffee beans and the milk to a boil in a small saucepan and then set aside to infuse for at least 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the gelatin and the water in a small bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
  3. Strain the coffee beans out of the milk, warm up the milk to a simmer, and then stir in the gelatin until dissolved.
  4. Whisk in the melted chocolate until smooth.
  5. Cool for 10 minutes before folding in the whipped cream.
Assemble layers:
  1. Place the pastry ring on a parchment paper-lined pan that will fit into your freezer.
  2. Place a layer of hazelnut cake at the bottom of the ring, followed by a layer of the caramelized hazelnuts (it’s okay if they break a little), and half of the mousse.
  3. Add another layer of cake and the remainder of the mousse, smoothing it out as necessary.
  4. Place in the freezer to chill overnight.
Prepare the glaze (prepare right before glazing):
  1. Combine the gelatin and the 20g of water in a small bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes.
  2. Bring the cream to a simmer and then stir in the gelatin, until combined.
  3. Whisk in the melted butterscotch chips.
  4. Add the 25g of water and the oil and process with an immersion blender for a few seconds, until smooth.
  5. Let cool to 46°C (115°F) before using.
Glaze the cake:
  1. Remove the cake from the freezer and the pastry ring by briefly warming up the sides of the pastry ring with a flame.
  2. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack on top of a sheet pan.
  3. Pour the glaze over the sides of the cake until well-coated, and then pour the glaze onto the middle of the cake. If you run out of glaze, warm up the glaze that dripped down to the bottom of the pan and use it.
  4. Let cool at room temperature for about ten minutes, and then slice as desired.
  5. This cake should be stored in the fridge and is best eaten within the first 24 hours after glazing, as after that the caramel-hazelnut layer loses its crunch.
Recipe by IronWhisk at http://www.ironwhisk.com/2014/06/coffee-hazelnut-and-caramel-entremet/