Strawberry, caramel and Urfa chilli mousse cake

Instructions

Gluten-free Manjari 64% dark chocolate sponge cake

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation 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 together dark chocolate and cocoa butte in the microwave. Add salt, stir and set aside to cool down to 45°C.
3. Place the egg whites into the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with whisk attachment and start beating until they become foamy and frothy. When a light, soft foam is formed, decrease the speed to medium-low and add the cane sugar little by little. Once all the sugar is added, increase the speed and beat until obtain a shiny and thick meringue, about 2-3 minutes on high speed.
4. Decrease the speed and add slowly and to wire the egg yolks, then increase the speed again and whip on medium-high speed for another 2 minutes, until the batter is pale, airy and fluffy.
5. Add the lukewarm mix of chocolate-cocoa butter in two times and fold gently with a spatula to not deflate the air.
6. Sieve into the batter the gluten-free flour blend and fold carefully with the spatula.
7. Pour the mixture 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). Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until the cake is puffy, golden, firm and a fine crust is formed on the top. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then chill in the freezer for about 1h, so that the cake is well chilled but not fully frozen. In this way, you can cut it without ruining it.
8. Cut out 6 discs of the chilled cake with a 10 cm round Exoglass cutter. It will take 3 discs for each mousse cake. Wrap the discs with clingfilm and store in the freezer until needed.

Gluten-free Orelys 35% blond chocolate croustillant  

1. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C. Add the raw almonds cream and combine well with a spatula to obtain a smooth batter. Add the granola and stir well with the spatula to obtain a grainy, evenly mixture, ensuring that the granola is well coated with chocolate.
2. Line a baking tray with silicone baking mat. Divide the croustillant within two round Exoglass cutter of 10 cm wide. Spread the croustillant into an evenly layer (about 5 mm thick), then lift the cutter carefully and freeze until needed.

Orelys 35% blond chocolate and caramel crémeux with Urfa chilli flakes

1. Make a dry caramel: place a saucepan over low-medium heat, add a little Demerara sugar and wait until it is fully dissolved. No stirring at this point.
   Demerara is an unrefined sugar with a natural blond color so it is very important not to leave it on the heat too long, otherwise it will become dark and bitter.
   Once the sugar is melted, add the leftover sugar in 2 intervals and stir with a rubber spatula at each addition to combine together the caramelized sugar with the unmelted sugar. The addition of new sugar lowers the temperature of caramel without burning it.
2. In the meantime, bring to simmer the heavy cream with honey. Chop the blond chocolate into small pieces and place them into a mixing glass.
3. When all the sugar is melted, remove the pan from the heat and deglaze it by pouring in it in 3 times the hot cream. Whisk constantly with a fine whisk at each addition of cream, in order to obtain a smooth sauce.
4. Bring the pan on heat and cook the caramel at low-medium heat to reach 104°C, whisking constantly.
5. Pass the caramel trough a sieve over the the chopped chocolate and set aside for about a minute to let the caramel melts the chocolate. Emulsify with a hand blender to obtain a smooth, evenly cream.
6. Add butter and chilli when the caramel is 35°C and emulsify once more.
7. Pour the caramel into a baking dish, cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the caramel and chill for about 2h, until it is creamy, sticky and lightly thick.
8. Make the insert composed of three layers of chocolate sponge cake and two layers of caramel crémeux.
9. Line a baking tray with silicone baking mat and place a frozen disc of chocolate sponge cake. Transfer the chilled crémeux into a disposable piping bag fitted with round nozzle (Wilton 2A) and pipe a spiral over the sponge cake.  Use a small palette knife to smooth and level the crémeux out, ensuring that the crémeux covers the sponge cake into an evenly layer. Place the second disc of cake on top and press gently and slightly down. Pipe another spiral of crémeux and level it out. Place the third disc of cake on top and press gently and slightly down. Run an offset spatula around the sides of the cake to smooth any excess bulging out. Freeze for about 2 hours, to let the layers firm.
   Proceed in the same way with the others 3 discs of chocolate sponge cake.

Strawberry Inspiration whipped ganache with Urfa chilli flakes

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2. Melt the Strawberry Inspiration couverture in the microwave to 45°C.
3. Heat the strawberry puree with the pomegranate molasses in the microwave without boiling. Add the soaked gelatin sheets and stir to dissolve.
4. Pour the hot puree over the melted couverture in three times, stirring with a spatula in a circular pattern to obtain a smooth and evenly cream.
5. Transfer the cream into a mixing glass and mix with the hand blender to obtain a silky and smooth ganache, make sure not to add so much air.
6. Add slowly and to wire the cold heavy cream, always emulsifying with the hand blender without adding air bubbles. Add the natural food coloring to enhance the pink color of the ganache and emulsify once more. Add finally the Urfa chilli flakes and emulsify once again.
7. Pour the ganache into a baking dish, cover with clingfilm pressed on top and chill overnight.
8. Transfer the cold Strawberry Inspiration ganache in the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whip the ganache on medium-high speed until medium peaks forms (about 5 minutes). The cream holds its shape well but is still soft and creamy. When you lift out the whisk, peak will form but the tip will fold back on itself. If you over-whip the ganache it will start to separate, to become grainy and to lose its shiny and silken texture.
9. Place two 12 x 4 cm round silicone cake moulds (Kalipso Silikomart) over a baking tray and wrap the side of each  mould with an acetate strip of 6,5 cm high. This strip serves to increase the height of the mould because the original 4 cm aren't enough to include all the prepared ingredients.
10. Pour a little of whipped ganache into each mould. Use a teaspoon to spread the whipped ganache up the sides of the acetate strip to eliminate any air bubbles and to avoid whitespace. Set inside the insert of chocolate sponge cake-caramel crémeux and press it gently and slightly down so that it is almost submerged in the whipped ganache. Cover the insert with other whipped ganache, ensuring to leave a gap for the croustillant. Place the croustillant (with the smooth side upwards) on top of the whipped ganache and press it gently down until it is level with the top of the acetate strip. Remove any excess whipped ganache with a small palette knife and freeze for about 4-6h in a domestic freezer or about 90 minutes in a blast freezer.

Natural-colored strawberry and cocoa butter mirror glaze

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in 40 g cold water for at least 10 min.
2. Weigh out the cocoa butter into a measuring cup or mixing glass. Heat caster sugar, strawberry puree and dextrose sugar in a saucepan to 104°C
3. Remove from the heat and add in the sweetened condensed milk and stir with a spatula.
4. Pour into the mixing glass over the cocoa butter, and emulsify with the hand blender to melt the cocoa butter and without adding air bubbles.
5. Heat the Absolu Cristal in the microwave to 65°C and add into the mixture, followed by the drained gelatin sheets (add both the gelatin and the soaked water). Emulsify once more, then add the natural food colorings and emulsify.
6. Pass the glaze through a sieve and pour it into a baking dish. Cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the glaze and chill in the fridge for 12h or overnight.
7. Heat the glaze in the microwave until the edges start to melt. Transfer into a measuring cup and emulsify with the hand blender, so that the centre begins to melt too. Keep the blade of the hand blender on the bottom of the mixing glass, to avoid air bubbles.
8. Once the glaze is 25-27,5°C, unmould the frozen mini mousse cakes and set them on two cake rings of 7,5 cm wide and 5,5 cm high, with a pair of clingfilm sheets underneath, to collect the excess glaze. Cover the cakes with the glaze at 25-27,5°C. Wipe off any excess glaze on top of each cake with a large flat palette knife, angling it slightly and lifting it up at the edge. When the glaze stops dripping, remove any excess glaze from the base with a small sharp knife. Place the finished cakes onto a plate and put in the fridge.

Assembly and decoration

1. Temper Ruby chocolate, following the method you prefer. I use the tabling method. The tempering curve you need to follow is: 45°C (melting) - 26/27°C (cooling) - 28/29°C (the temperature of usage)
2. For the flexible bands that wrap the bottom of the mousse cakes follow the directions as described here. You need to use an acetate strip of 1 cm width and 44 cm length for each mousse cake.
3. For the chocolate rings on top of the mousse cakes follow the directions as described here.
4. Garnish with edible flowers and some Ivoire 35% white chocolate crunchy pearls previously coated with pink dust powder.