Chocolate & hazelnut praline tartelette | Ft. Matt Adlard

Today we have a guest in the kitchen and not just any guest, it's Matt Adlard! We're going to make a beautiful chocolate & hazelnut praline tartelette with a frangipane and a mascarpone whipped ganache.

The chocolate pastry & lining the dough

100 grams	cold butter
70 grams	icing sugar
20 grams	cacao powder
50 grams	egg yolk
180 grams	flour

Mix the cold butter with the icing sugar and the cacao powder. Now mix this till it’s a smooth and even paste. Then also mix in the egg yolk. You can mix this in the machine, but if you don’t have it just mix it by hand. Then also add the flour and knead it into a nice dough. Once it’s a beautiful dough transfer it on a silicon sheet and put another sheet on top. Now flatten it using a rolling pin until it’s around 3 millimeters thin. Then let it set in your fridge for at least 2 hours.

Once it’s rested you can line your tartelette rings. The key here is to work quickly before the dough starts to heat up and melt in your hand. Now cut the dough to the desired shape and line the baking rings on the inside with the dough. Just be very gentle with the dough because is very fragile. Really be sure to keep the dough very cold. Now use a knife to trim the excess dough and then let them set in your fridge.

The dark chocolate cremeux

100 grams	egg
150 grams	milk
150 grams	cream
10 grams	sugar
200 grams	dark chocolate

Mix the egg with the milk, the cream and the sugar. Then mix it well and while stirring heat it up till it has thickened. Once it has thickened pass the liquid through a fine sieve into a measuring jar or bowl that’s filled with the dark chocolate. Let it sit for a minute and then blend it with a hand blender till emulsified.

The praline

230 grams	sugar
70 grams	water
350 grams	hazelnuts

Transfer the sugar into a saucepan together with the water and caramelize it on a medium heat. Once the caramel starts to color add the hazelnuts and while stirring caramelize this for around 10 minutes till completely golden brown. Then spread it and let it cool down completely. After, transfer them into a wet grinder and grind it into a beautiful smooth praline. You can also do this in a blender, but we just love using the wet grinder. Then pour the hazelnut praline into a bowl. Now transfer it into a piping bag and let it cool down in your fridge.

The mascarpone whipped ganache

24 grams	cold water
4 grams	gelatin powder
380 grams	double cream
1	vanilla pod
130 grams	white chocolate
100 grams	mascarpone

First we’re going to bloom the gelatin powder. Mix the cold water with the gelatin powder and let it bloom for 5 minutes. Meanwhile pour the double cream into a saucepan. After that cut the vanilla pod in half, scrap out the seeds and add then to the cream. Now bring this to a boil. Once it’s boiling turn of the heat and dissolve the gelatin. Then remove the vanilla pod. Now transfer white chocolate and the mascarpone in a measuring jar. Then pour the hot vanilla cream on the white chocolate and mascarpone and emulsify it with a hand blender. Then let it set in your fridge for at least 6 hours.

The fiancier & baking the tartelette

25 grams	butter
70 grams	dark chocolate
25 grams	icing sugar
20 grams	flour
20 grams	almond powder
2 grams	baking powder
50 grams	egg white
65 grams	cream
2 grams	flaky salt

Transfer the butter in a saucepan and melt it on a low heat. Then add the dark chocolate and mix it. After that mix your dry ingredients in a bowl. That’s the icing sugar, the flour, the almond powder and the baking powder. Now add the egg white and the cream and mix it. Then add the melted chocolate mixture and mix it once more. After that add the flaky salt. This is for seasoning, but it will also give it some texture.

Then fill the bottom of the tartelettes with the financier batter and when necessary, spread it with a pallet knife. After that bake them at 175 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes. Then remove the baking ring and tidy up the side with a grater or with the back of a sieve. Now brush a thin layer of mixture of 20 grams of egg yolk, 20 grams of cream and 4 grams of cacao powder on the outside. Bake it for another 10 minutes and then let it cool down completely. Once the tartelettes have cooled down fill them with the ganache. Let this set in your fridge.

How to finish the tartelette

Transfer the mascarpone ganache into a stand mixer bowl and whisk it till a medium stiff peak starts to form. This is going to take around 3 minutes. Then pipe some beautiful lines on top of the ganache. After that take the cold praline and pipe thin lines between the whipped ganache. Now finally finish these beautiful tartelettes with some hazelnut skins.