Chestnut and mandarin citrus fruit petit gateaux

Instructions

Gluten-free Coeur de Guanaja 80% dark chocolate shortcrust pastry

1. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave. 
2. Stir through the soft butter until it is completely melted and the mixture looks smooth. 
3. Add in eggs and salt and stir with the spatula until the mixture looks creamy, homogeneous and silky. 
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment combine: chestnut flour, brown rice flour, cornstarch, almonds flour and icing sugar (sifted) and beat for few seconds, until you get a homogeneous mixture.
5. Add in the chocolate-butter-eggs mixture and beat at low speed until a soft dough is formed. 
6. Press the dough into a neat flat square and wrap in plastic wrap before placing into the fridge for 1h.
7. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Line a micro-perforated baking tray with micro-perforated silicone mat.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 3 mm in thickness. Cut out 6 discs with a Ø 8cm fluted cookie cutter and place them onto the prepared tray.
9. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust with cocoa butter powder (Mycryo) while they're still hot. This prevents the pastry to get soggy. Store the shortcrust pastry discs in an airtight container at room temperature until assembly.

Gluten-free chestnut, honey and hazelnut sponge biscuit

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, static mode. Line a micro-perforated baking tray with Silpat mat. Wrap both the external edges and the bottom of a 20 x 20 cm stainless steel frame with a sheet of aluminium foil. The foil should come up over the external edges of the frame. This will assure that no batter escapes from the bottom of the frame during baking. Place the frame onto the prepared tray. 
2. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients: hazelnuts flour, chestnut flour and baking powder. Mix with a fine whisk and set aside.
3. Whip eggs, honey, sugar and salt until pale and fluffy. 
4. Add to wire the fresh cream, while continuing to beat at medium-low speed. 
5. Once the cream is fully incorporated, add the dry ingredients a little at a time, while continuing to beat at medium-low speed.
6. Once the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, add to wire the oil, while continuing to beat at medium-low speed. The batter is ready when it looks smooth and slightly airy.
7. Transfer the batter into the prepared mould and spread it out evenly, using a palette knife.
8. Bake for 15 minutes, or until it is golden-brown in color, puffed, soft and dry to touch.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely. It is better to place the baked and still warm sponge biscuit in the freezer for about 1h (or approximatively 30 minutes in the blast freezer), to stop its cooking and for better and easier cutting.
10. Once the sponge biscuit is chilled and partially frozen, cut it out with a Ø 6 cm cookie cutter, to get 6 discs. Store them wrapped in clingfilm in the freezer until assembly.

Mandarin citrus fruit and passion fruit crémeux

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C.
3. Place the yolks in a bowl.
4. In a saucepan, combine the fruit purees together with the zest of mandarin and heat without bringing to boil.  Pour over the yolks in 3 times, whisking with a fine whisk at each addition of liquid. Place everything back into the saucepan and cook to 82-85°C, stirring continuously with a rubber spatula over low to medium heat.
   A method for determining the doneness of the crème anglaise is to look closely just as the custard's consistency. When you start stirring, you will see lots of tiny bubbles on the surface of the crème anglaise. But as soon as it is done, these bubbles disappear and they are replaced with ticker and silky waves. The crème anglaise is also done when you can make a line on the rubber spatula with your finger. 
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir through the soaked gelatin sheets, until it is completely dissolved. 
6. Pour the crème anglaise over the melted chocolate in 3 times, stirring with a spatula at each addition of liquid, in order to obtain a smooth and fluid crémeux.
7. Transfer the crémeux into a mixing glass and emulsify with the hand blender to stabilize the emulsion and to get a smoother and silkier crémeux.
8. Transfer the crémeux into a silicone mould with 6 round cavities of Ø 6 cm (I used the Multiflex 125 ∅ 6 cm x H 4,5 cm mould from Silikomart), to 1 cm in thickness and freezer for about 1h in a domestic freezer or for about 30 minutes in the blast freezer.
9. Place the frozen crémeux disc on top of the frozen sponge biscuit and place in the freezer until assembly. 

Chestnut and vanilla bavaroise 

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2. Make the chestnut crème anglaise. In a saucepan, combine milk together with fresh cream, chestnut paste and chestnut puree. Heat over moderate heat, while stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, in order to melt and dissolve both the chestnut paste and chestnut puree into the liquids. If there are some undissolved chestnut pieces, transfer everything into a mixing glass or a jug and blend with the hand blender until the mix becomes smooth.  
3. Place egg yolks and Muscovado sugar in a bowl and whisk everything together using a fine whisk. 
4. Add the hot liquid to the yolks in 2 times, while whisking constantly with the fine whisk. Place everything back into the saucepan and re-heat to 82-85°C, stirring continuously with a rubber spatula over low to medium heat.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir through the soaked gelatin sheets, until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
6. Filter the chestnut crème anglaise straight into a flat container (like a baking dish, for example) and place in the fridge to chill. The chestnut crème anglaise should be at the temperature of 30-35°C before folding the semi-whipped cream. It is not necessary to cover the chestnut crème anglaise with clingfilm touching the surface.
7. Once the chestnut crème anglaise is 30-35°C, semi-whip the cold fresh cream with the vanilla seeds, until the cream forms soft peaks.
8. Gently incorporate the semi-whipped cream into the chestnut crème anglaise once it is at 30-35°C, with a scooping-and-folding motion, in order to obtain a light and shiny bavaroise. 
9. Pipe the chestnut bavaroise into the Universo 90 silicone mould (Ø 6,7 cm), about half of the way full. Use a spoon to spread the bavaroise up the sides of the mould.
   Insert the frozen insert composed from sponge biscuit + mandarin crémeux, with the crémeux facing down and touching the bavaroise. Gently press the insert down, so that the bavaroise reaches the top of the mould. Using a palette knife, remove the excess bavaroise.
10. Freeze for approximatively 3h in a domestic freezer or for about 1h in a blast freezer. Store the petit gateaux in the freezer until glazing.

Chocolate mirror glaze with brown sugar 

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in 68 g cold water for at least 10 minutes.
2. Melt the dark chocolate together with milk chocolate in the microwave, then transfer them into a mixing glass.
3. In a saucepan, combine 108 g water, Dulcita brown sugar and glucose syrup and bring to 104°C.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the sugar syrup over the melted chocolates, inside the mixing glass. Emulsify with the hand blender to obtain a smooth and glossy glaze (for approximatively one minute), ensuring not to add air bubbles while blending.
5. Add in the soaked gelatin sheets, along with its soaking water, and emulsify for another minute.
6. Heat the Absolu Cristal in the microwave to 65°C, then add to the glaze. Emulsify for approximatively 1 or 2 minutes, in order to obtain a shiny and smooth glaze.
7. Strain into a flat container, cover with clingfilm touching the surface and place in the fridge for minimum 12h (best overnight). 
8. Re-heat the mirror glaze in the microwave to 40°C approximatively, stirring it occasionally with a spatula, to ensure a proper melting. Transfer the melted glaze into a mixing glass and re-emulsify it using an hand blender and ensuring the blade is submerged in the glaze and not showing, to avoid air bubbles. If you use the Bamix, I recommend to use the multi-purpose blade. Allow the glaze to cool down with clingfilm on top, until it reaches the temperature of  32-35°C. 
9. Meanwhile, cover the working surface with two sheets of clingfilm, slightly overlapping. They will serve to collect the excess glaze. Place onto a cooling rack.
10. Once the glaze is 32-35°C, unmould the frozen petit gateaux and place them on top of the cooling rack. Pour the glaze over each single petit gateaux and allow it to drip into the clingfilm. 
11. Once the glaze stops dripping, using a toothpick and a small angled palette knife, carefully place the glazed petit gateaux on top of the shortcrust pastry. Place in the fridge for about 2-3 hours to defrost.

Assembly and decoration

1. Make the 6 tempered milk chocolate flexible bands. 
   Temperare the milk chocolate following this tempering curve: 45/48°C (melting chocolate in the microwave or in water-bath) - 27/28°C (cooling 2/3 of chocolate over a marble table or granite table) - 29/30°C (the chocolate is ready to use).
   Tempering chocolate is an essential step for making smooth and glossy chocolate decors. The tempering process takes chocolate through a temperature curve, a process which aligns the cocoa butter's crystals to make the chocolate look smooth, silky and glossy an to prevent the chocolate to get a dull and grayish color.  
2. Wrap the external side of 3 Ø 8,5 cm x H 3,5 cm metal cake ring with a H 3,5 cm acetate strip and secure the ends with sticky tape. This strip will act as protection between the chocolate and the cake ring.
3. Cut out 3 acetate strips of L 18 cm x H 4,5 cm.
   Place an acetate strip on a flat bench surface. You can lightly spray the surface of the bench with a no-stick cooking spray, to ensure that the acetate strip sticks perfectly to the bench. Pour a line of tempered chocolate lengthwise over the acetate strip and smooth the surface of the chocolate with a small palette knife until it runs over the end of the strip. Spread out the chocolate in a thin and even layer. 
4. Lift the strip by using the tip of the paring knife and place the strip in one clean side of the bench. Allow to set slightly until the strip is pliable and not fully set (about 1-2 minutes, depending on the room temperature).
5. Once the chocolate is almost dry to the touch, trace a diagonal from one corner to the other, so that the diagonal divides the acetate strip lengthwise into two isosceles triangles (meaning that at least two of its sides are equal in length), using a straightedge as a guide.
6. Wrap the acetate strip around the cake ring, with the chocolate side touching the ring and, therefore, the acetate strip. Secure the ends with sticky tape and allow to set completely at room temperature (18-20°C) overnight. Repeat the same steps with the 2 remaining acetate strips.
7. The next day, wrap a chocolate flexible band around each petit gateaux.
8. Garnish with edible flowers and edible gold leaf.