Chocolate and cherry petit gateaux with Bolaven Plateau red peppercorn

Instructions

Gluten-free Manjari 64% dark chocolate financier

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C, static mode. Grease a 32,5 x 32,5 cm silicone swiss roll mat (Silikomart tapis roulade) and place it on a baking tray.
2. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave to 50°C. Heat the heavy cream in the microwave without bringing it to boil. Add the warm cream to the melted chocolate in 3 times, stirring with a rubber spatula at each addition of liquid, to make a smooth ganache.
3. Add the hazelnut oil to the ganache and stir with the spatula. Leave aside at room temperature.
4. In a bowl sift icing sugar, cornstarch and baking powder. Add the hazelnuts flour and salt and mix by hand with a fine whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the lukewarm ganache and stir with the spatula until the batter looks smooth. 
5. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Add ⅓ of whipped egg whites to the batter and mix vigorously with a rubber spatula in oder to lighten up the batter. No worries to deflate the air of the egg whites at this stage. Add the leftover egg whites in 2 times, folding gently with a scooping-and-folding motion at this time. The batter shall be smooth and slightly fluffy.
6. Pour the batter into the greased silicone mat and spread it out evenly with a palette knife, so that it is level with the top of the mat (I mean, 1 cm high, as the height of the silicone mat). The batter will cover only halfway the silicone mat. Bake for 15 minutes, until the financier is puffed, soft and dry to touch.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting 6 circles with a Ø 7 cm cookie cutter. I suggest to place the financier in the freezer for about 1h (or 30 minutes in the blast freezer) before cutting it, so that it will be easier to cut. Store the financier circles wrapped in clingfilm in the freezer until assembly.

Cherry compote

1. In a saucepan, combine cherry puree, honey and amarena cherries syrup and heat to 40°C.
2. In a small bowl, mix pectin NH and Dulcita sugar. 
3. Add the mix of sugar-pectin to the warm cherry puree once it is 40°C, mixing constantly with a fine whisk to let the mix of sugar-pectin dissolve into the liquids. Bring to boil and cook for around 1 minute to medium heat, mixing continuously with the whisk. The pectin NH is activated at the temperature of 70°C, so it's very important to bring the mixture to boil.
4. Remove the saucepan from heat and pour 10 g of compote into 12 round silicone moulds of  Ø 7 cm, in order to obtain a very thin layer of a few millimeters. Each petit gateaux needs 2 discs of compote.
5. Freeze for at least 2h in a domestic freezer or for about 1h in the blast freezer. Once the thin discs of compote are completely frozen, gently remove them from the mould and store them wrapped in clingfilm in the freezer until assembly. 

Gluten-free chocolate and hazelnut crumble (for the croustillant)

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Place all the ingredients into a small grinder and mix until obtain a crumbs mixture.
2. Arrange the crumbs onto a micro-perforated baking tray lined with micro-perforated baking mat and chill in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
3. Bake the frozen crumble for about 18 minutes, until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and dust immediately with cocoa butter powder (Mycryo) while the crumble is still hot, to make it crispier and to prevent it from getting soggy. Store the crumble in airtight container at room temperature and away from light.

Gluten-free chocolate and hazelnut croustillant 

1. Melt the dark chocolate and Gianduja chocolate separately in the microwave, then combine them together in a bowl. Add in the crumble and stir. 
2. Line a baking tray with Silpat mat and place on top a Ø 12 cm cookie cutter. Spread the croustillant into the cookie cutter, ensuring to make an evenly layer of about 2 mm thick. Press the croustillant with the back of a teaspoon, to get an homogeneous and flat surface. Lift up the ring and repeat the same steps until obtaining 6 discs of croustillant. Freeze until assembly. 

Caramélia 36% milk chocolate and red peppercorn mousse

1. The previous day, toast the red peppercorn in a pan on medium heat for about 1-2 minutes. Transfer in a bowl and pour over 256 g of cold heavy cream (A). Cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 24h.
2. The next day, soak the gelatin sheets in cold water. Strain the flavored heavy cream through a strainer and weigh it again to obtain 256 g. If it weighs less than 256 g, add extra heavy cream till obtaining 256 g. Heat the cream in the microwave without bringing it to boil, add in the soaked gelatin sheets and stir until it is dissolved. 
3. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave to 45°C. Add the warm cream to the melted chocolate in 3 times, stirring with a spatula at each addition of liquid, in order to obtain a smooth ganache. 
4. Transfer the ganache in a mixing glass and emulsify with the hand blender to stabilize the emulsion and to make it look smoother and shinier. Let the ganache to cool down to 40°C. 
5. Semi-whip 193 g of cold heavy cream (B) until it forms soft peaks. Check the temperature of the chocolate ganache: when it is 40°C, add in the semi-whipped cream in 2-3 times, folding gently with a rubber spatula in order to obtain a light, smooth and shiny mousse. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill briefly in the fridge (for about 15 minutes) to let the mousse to harden a little. In this way, the discs of cherry compote will not sink into the mousse at the time of assembly. 
6. Pipe a little bit of chilled mousse in 6 round silicone moulds of Ø 9 cm x h 3 cm (Silikomart Multiflex 190). Use a teaspoon to spread the mousse up the sides of the mould. Insert a disc of cherry compote and cover it with a layer of  mousse. Insert the second disc of cherry compote and cover it with a layer of mousse. Insert the frozen financier and press it down slightly, so it is level with the top of the mould. Remove any excess mousse with a palette knife and place in the freezer. If you’re using a domestic freezer, it will take approximately 3-4 hours to freeze. If you’re using a blast freezer, it’ll take approximately 1 hours.

Caramélia 36% milk chocolate mirror glaze

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in 50 g cold water for at least 10 minutes.
2. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave to 45°C and transfer in a mixing glass.  
3. Heat 92 g of water, caster sugar, trehalose sugar and glucose syrup in a saucepan to 104°C.
4. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Emulsify with an hand blender without adding air bubbles and in order to obtain a smooth and shiny glaze.
5. Heat the Absolu Cristal in the microwave to 65°C and add into the glaze, followed by the drained gelatin sheets (add only the gelatin sheets and not the soaked water). Emulsify once more without adding air bubbles.
6. Pass the glaze through a sieve and pour into a baking dish. Cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the glaze and chill in the fridge for at least 12h or overnight.
7. Heat the glaze in the microwave to 45°C then pour into a mixing glass and emulsify with the hand blender, ensuring the blade is submerged in the glaze and not showing, to avoid air bubbles. If you directly melt the glaze to 32-35°C, it will not be shiny and glossy. Place cling film on the surface of the glaze and cool it to 32-35°C. You can place the glaze in the fridge or take it at room temperature.
8. In the meantime, cover the working surface with two sheets of clingfilm, slightly overlapping. They will serve to collect the excess glaze. Place on a cooling rack.
9. Once the glaze is 32-35°C, remove the petit gateaux from the freezer and unmould. Place the petit gateaux onto the cooling rack. Pour the glaze over each cake ensuring that it is fully covered. Wipe off any excess glaze on top of the cake with a flat palette knife, angling it slightly and lifting it up at the edge. Allow the glaze to drip over the clingfilm sheets.
10. Once the glaze stops dripping, place two toothpicks into the centre and use them to pick up the petit gateau. Gently scrape the bottom of the petit gateaux on the cooling rack to remove any excess glaze and place onto your crunch disc. Gently twist the toothpicks to remove and place in the fridge to defrost. 

Caramélia 36% milk chocolate and cherry light crémeux

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2. Heat cherry puree, heavy cream and amarena cherry syrup in the microwave without bringing to boil. Add the soaked gelatin sheets and stir to dissolve.
3. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave to 45°C.
4. Add the warm liquids to the melted chocolate in 3 times, stirring with a rubber spatula at each addition of liquid, to make a smooth cream.
5. Transfer the cream in a mixing glass and blend without incorporating air. 
6. Add the mascarpone and emulsify once again until it is completely dissolved and the cream looks smooth.
7. Transfer the crémeux in a baking dish, cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the crémeux and chill in the fridge for 12h (overnight).
8. The next day, whip the crémeux with your stand mixer fitted with whip attachment until it looks light and fluffy.
9. Transfer the crémeux in a disposable piping bag fitted with St. Honoré 9mm nozzle (De Buyer #20) and pipe "petals" around the circumference of the petit gateaux. If you don’t have a St. Honoré nozzle, you can cut the end of the piping bag into the same shape to pipe the "petals".

Assembly and decoration

Garnish the petit gateaux with two chocolate swirls and some edible flowers.