Hello my dearest readers!
I am not sure if you still remember me. The last time I updated this blog, it was summer time and I just turned my life upside down. I moved to another city and I changed my career. I think you are not surprised that I decided to become a pastry chef. Yup, that is right, I am transitioning from an amateur pâtissière to a professional pâtissière. 
A lot things have happened in the last couple of months but I will save this story for another time. Instead, lets talk about a new cake recipe. I created this cassis hazelnut tartlet recipe in the summer time while black currants were in season. However, you can replace the black currants with frozen (preferable wild) blueberries which I did the other day and the tartlets tasted incredible delicious.
The inspiration for this cake creation is the French pâtissier Cyril Lignac. I came across a photo of Cyril Lignac's "Myrtille Cassis" tartlet and I was intrigued by the beautiful looking cake. Lignac's tart consists of an almond filling which I changed to a chocolate hazelnut filling; I also made a cassis mousse instead of a blueberry mousse. I do love the flavor combination of chocolate, hazelnut and cassis and the different textures of the cake. This cassis hazelnut tartlet is so scrumptious and it became to one of my favorite cassis recipes.
Have a great start into the week! soon there will be more news about my new adventure as a pastry chef.
Marianne
xxx





Makes 8 tartlets (8 cm in diameter)

TARTLET SHELLS

  • I use a recipe by Cheryl Kho. I have posted the recipe here. Double the tartlet recipe. 
  • Line the tart rings with the shortcrust pastry. Keep the tart rings in the fridge until the hazelnut chocolate filling is prepared. 

HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE FILLING

  • 135 g hazelnut flour
  • 65 g unsalted butter
  • 45 g dark chocolate (70 %)
  • 10 g granulated sugar
  • Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F.
  • Place the butter and the chocolate in a saucepan and let it melt over low heat. Remove from the heat. Add the hazelnut flour and the sugar and mix well. 
  • Fill the hazelnut mixture into the unbaked tart rings. Gently press the hazelnut filling in order to form an even surface.
  • Bake the tartlets for 20 to 25 minutes. 
  • Let the tartlets cool completely. Remove the tart rings. 
  • You can also prepare the tartlets a few days ahead, then keep the tartlets in an airtight container. 

MASCARPONE MOUSSE

  • 65 g mascarpone
  • 5 g granulated sugar
  • Vanilla seeds of a 3 cm piece of vanilla bean
  • 85 g heavy cream
  • 1 sheet (1,5 g) of gelatin, soaked
  • Mix the mascarpone with the sugar and the seeds of the vanilla. Place about 2 tablespoons of the mascarpone in a small saucepan and heat the mascarpone. Remove from the heat, add the gelatin and mix well. Slowly pour the warm mascarpone to the other half of the mascarpone and mix well. Let it cool to room temperature. 
  • Whip the heavy cream creamy and fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture. 
  • Fill the mascarpone mixture into small (5 cm in diameter) hemisphere moulds. Freeze the moulds for at least three hours. 

CASSIS COMPOTE

  • 125 g black currants *
  • 20 g sugar
  • Place the black currants and the sugar in a saucepan and let it simmer over medium heat until the black currants are soft and thickened up a little bit. 
  • Let the compote cool completely. 
* Since black currants are not in season anymore, you can also use frozen berries or replace the black currants with frozen blueberries.

CASSIS MOUSSE

  • 25 g heavy cream
  • 15 g white chocolate, chopped
  • 35 g cassis puree
  • 1 sheet (1,5 g) gelatin, soaked
  • 50 g heavy cream
  • Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and bring it almost to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add the white chocolate and the cassis puree and mix well. Add the gelatin and mix well again. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature.
  • Whip the heavy cream until creamy and fold it into the cassis mixture. 
  • Fill the cassis mousse into a piping bag fitted with a round 9 mm nozzle. Refrigerate the mousse for about one hour. 

ASSEMBLING

  • Spread a thin layer of cassis compote onto the hazelnut chocolate filling of the tartlets. 
  • Unmould the mascarpone hemisphere. Place a hemisphere in the middle of each tartlet. 
  • Pipe little dollops of cassis mousse around the edges of each tartlet. 
  • Keep the cakes in the fridge until consumption.