Chocolate tart with orange caramel and hazelnut

The first recipe from missed previous challenges that I tried was Rachael's chocolate and caramel tart under the title ''Life of pie''. Even though with the addition of a hazelnut mousse my variation seems to fall out of this category, I think it was a very complementing combination.

                               Crust
                               20gr                                                          cocoa powder, shifted
                               130gr                                                        flour
                               60gr                                                          butter
                               70gr                                                          powdered sugar
                               2                                                               egg yolks
                               as preferred                                              vanilla
                               2Tbs                                                          chopped orange confit
 
                               Orange caramel
                               170gr                                                         orange juice
                               48gr                                                           glucose
                               48gr                                                           sugar
                               48gr                                                           heavy cream
                               54gr                                                           white chocolate
                               54gr                                                           butter, room temperature
                               3,3gr                                                          sheet gelatin, softened in cold water
                               1/2tsp                                                        orange zest
 
                               Chocolate filling
                               2                                                                 large eggs
                              100ml                                                           whole milk
                              200ml                                                           heavy cream
                              200gr                                                            dark chocolate
 
                              Hazelnut nougat cream
                              6,87gr                                                           sheet gelatin, soaked in the liquor
                              40gr                                                              hazelnut liquor
                              400gr                                                            heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
                              140gr                                                            pastry cream
                              95gr                                                              hazelnuts
                              35gr                                                              simple syrup
                              as proffered                                                  vanilla

For the caramel layer heat heavy cream with the orange juice and zest and meanwhile melt the glucose in a separate pan. Gradually dissolve the sugar and cook the mixture to caramel. Pour in the cream and continue stirring until the caramel is dissolved. Remove from heat, let slightly cool and dissolve in the softened gelatin. When the mixture is not too hot incorporate the butter and melt in the chocolate. Let cool and refrigerate until use. For the sablé crust cream butter with sugar until fluffy and slowly beat in the yolks with vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and cocoa powder and mix only until incorporated. Then wrap well in plastic and chill until firm. Meanwhile prepare the pastry cream base for the mousse and while it is still hot stir and dissolve in the softened gelatin along with the liquor. Combine the hazelnuts with simple syrup in a blender, beat them to paste and also incorporate into the pastry cream mixture. Let it cool to room temperature, then fold in the whipped cream with a spatula and fill a 20cm-diameter ring sealed with with plastic wrap on the bottom. Chill in the freezer until set.

 
When ready, soften the chilled tart dough with a rolling pin and roll it out on a floured board to a thickness of 3-6mm. Fill with the dough sheet the bottom and sides of a 20cm-diameter and 4cm tall tart ring, force the confit pieces into the bottom dough and line with foil filled with dry beans or pie weights. Bake at 180C until set, around 9 minutes. Remove pie weights and foil and bake another 8 minutes, until dry. Prepare the chocolate filling by melting the chopped chocolate in heated cream and milk and after incorporating the eggs pour the mixture in the tart shell. Continue baking at 180C for 30 minutes, until the filling has set but is still wobbly in the center. Allow to completely cool to room temperature and cover the top with as much caramel as fitting. The caramel should have a viscid consistency when poured but if it has set, it can be broken by whisking and spread. Refrigerate the tart for a couple of hours and finish by placing the molded mousse layer on top and releasing the metal ring with a blowtorch. Finally decorate with tart crust leftovers, orange confit and optionally modeling chocolate.

Coconut and white chocolate torte

                        Pistachio dacquoise

                        40gr                                                                    egg whites                 

                        40gr                                                                    granulated sugar      

                        18gr                                                                    almond flour

                        17gr                                                                    pistachio flour

                        5gr                                                                      cake flour

                        as preferred                                                        vanilla

                       Coconut and yogurt mousse

                       200gr                                                                   coconut cream

                       100gr                                                                   powdered sugar

                       130gr                                                                   strained yogurt

                       7gr                                                                      gelatin sheets, softened

                       300gr                                                                   heavy cream whipped to soft peaks

                       White chocolate and yogurt cream

                       90gr                                                                     white chocolate

                       90gr                                                                     strained yogurt

                       2,4gr                                                                    gelatin sheets

                       135gr                                                                   heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

                     
                      Caramel

                      40gr                                                                      sugar

                      30gr                                                                      butter

                      50gr                                                                      hot coconut cream, heavy cream or puree

                      20gr                                                                      glucose

                      as preferred                                                          vanilla

                    
                     Glacage

                     100gr                                                                     coconut cream

                     50gr                                                                       milk

                     25gr                                                                       water

                     25gr                                                                       sugar

                     100gr                                                                     white chocolate

                     5gr                                                                        gelatin sheets, softened

                    Coconut spongecake

                    1/2                                                                        coconut spongecake

                    30gr                                                                      sugar

                    40gr                                                                      water

First prepare the white chocolate mousse by meting the chocolate and warming the yogurt at least to room temperature. Then heat a minimum amount of water or coconut cream just enough to dissolve in the gelatin and  when hot, add the softened in cold water gelatin sheets. Mix well with the melted chocolate, combine with the yogurt and finally fold in the whipped cream. Seal the bottom of a 20cm-diameter cake ring with plastic wrap, fill it with the mousse and keep in the freezer. Meanwhile prepare the caramel by heating and melting half of the sugar to brown color. Add the cream, butter, and then the rest of the ingredients and boil to 107C. Let cool and refrigerate until use.

For the dacquoise whisk the egg whites with the sugar until stiff, shift in the dry ingredients, fold gently, spread on a 17-20cm-diameter circle on parchment paper and bake at a preheated oven to 180C for about 15min until golden on top. Let cool and optionally trim any protruding edges. Starting with the coconut mousse, mix yogurt with the sugar and then heat some of the coconut cream until hot to dissolve in the softened gelatin. When the gelatin has completely melted, combine with the rest of the cream and yogurt and freeze for a while the mixture until it quite sets and is easily folded into the whipped cream. When ready, start assembling the cake. Remove the frozen mousse from the cake ring (keep it in the freezer), place the dacquoise on the bottom and cover with the first layer of coconut mousse.

Freeze and meanwhile prepare the syrup for the coconut spongecake by bringing water with sugar to boil. Let cool and then place the spongecake over the coconut mousse moistening with the syrup. Pour some more of the coconut filling over it, place the frozen mousse layer on top and cover it with the caramel where you may add chopped pistachios or coconut flakes. Keep in the freezer and prepare the glacage. Combine the sugar, water and milk in a saucepan warming until hot, dissolve in the gelatin, melt in the chocolate and  cool it down adding the coconut cream. At this point return to the cake and finish with the last layer of coconut mousse on top. Freeze again until completely set and meanwhile keep the glacage at room temperature. When set, cover with the glaze, garnish with ground pistachios and refrigerate. 

White chocolate panacotta with coffee flavored butterscotch sauce

     That's one of the few times I get to complete a DB challenge on time and to be honest it's not excactly complete since I have substituted florentine cookies with orange tuilles due to lack of ingredients. Surprisingly I found the making of panacotta challenging (which is great) since I was quite ambitious about getting a butterscotch filling frozen (never happens) but the result totally worthed it. I also had the chance to use leftover cramble and almond paste from my almond torte as the cream's base after blending and baking them alongside with the tuilles (an addition that I recomend).

           Panacotta

           450gr                                          heavy cream

           150gr                                          milk

           60gr                                           granulated sugar

           90gr                                           white chocolate

           12gr                                           gelatin sheets, softened in cold water

           Butterscotch sauce

           140gr                                          brown sugar

           35gr                                           strong coffee

           105gr                                          heavy cream

           35gr                                            butter, room temperature

           50gr                                            milk (optional)

           Tuilles

           90gr                                            flour

           90gr                                            butter

           90gr                                            powdered sugar

           90gr                                            egg whites

           1                                                orange (zest)

For the panacotta bring cream, sugar and milk almost to boiling point, remove from heat and dissolve in the gelatin. Then melt in the chocolate, let the mixture cool and fill almost 10 small moulds. Refrigerate for several hours. To make the sauce, start warming the heavy cream and bring sugar with coffee to boil. When the syrup reaches 115C, remove from heat, add the butter and then the hot cream. To achieve a thinner texture poure in up to 50gr of milk and refrigerate after cooling. Finally for the tuilles, simply melt the butter and whisk in the sugar with the zest. Blend in the flour and then beat in the egg whites without incorporating air to the mixture. Spread the batter on silicone mats making thin layers (a stencil would be helpfull) and optionally sprinkle some chopped almonds. Bake at a preheated oven to 200C for 4-6min. In order to give them a curvy shape wrap them around a rolling pin as soon as they come out of the oven.