This recipe involves multiple steps and preparations, but the final result is truly rewarding. It encapsulates the rich essence of hazelnut in various delightful textures.
Required recipes
Hazelnut praline - Can be prepared even more than 1 week in advance.
Chocolate marquise - It's recommended to be prepared one day in advance, but it's also possible to prepare it directly on Day 1.
Coffee cremeux - This should be prepared one day in advance.
Isomalt snowflake (optional) - This can be prepared even a few days in advance or replaced by some other decoration like a chocolate tuile.
Equipment
Outer mold. I'm using Cube from Silikomart.
Inner mold. I'm using Sphere Ø 45mm by Pavoni.
Velvet spray. I'm using Silkomart Velvet Spray Red. You can also extend the coating to the whole cube if you don't have the spray. Obviously the visual effect will be different but you'll get an amazing result anyway.
Quenelle mold. I'm using Silikomart Quenelle 24.
Suggested schedule
My recommendation is to proceed with coating ~6 hours before serving. This will allow all the creams to reach the perfect texture. If you wish to cover the entire cube the best option is to proceed with coating ~12 hours before serving.
Day 1
Whipped hazelnut ganache
45g Heavy cream 35% fat (1)
20g Whole milk
45g Hazelnut praline
1 Gelatine sheet (platinum, 1.75g)
50g White chocolate
105g Cold heavy cream 35% fat (2)
Re-hydrate the gelatine in cold water
Add hazelnut praline, milk and heavy cream (1) to a saucepan on a low heat
Add the white chocolate and the re-hydrated gelatine and mix with a spatula
Add the cold cream (2) and mix with a hand blender. Target is just to incorporate (and not to emulsify) so a few seconds are enough.
Let to set in the fridge overnight.
Assembly pt. 1
Build the sphere. Pipe the hazelnut praline on the bottom, then place a thin disc of marquise and piping the coffee cremeux on top. If you don't have a mold to build an entire sphere you can use a mold to build half spheres and combine them once they are frozen.
Freeze overnight.
Vanilla quenelle (optional) pt. 1
This preparation is optional. You can skip it and decorate the cube in a different way. Just keep in mind that you cannot use anything heavy, otherwise the cube will fall apart.
150g Heavy cream
30g White chocolate
1g Gelatine sheet (platinum, 1 sheet = 1.74g)
1 Vanilla pod
Rehydrate the gelatine sheet in cold water for 5-10 minutes
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to the heavy cream together with the pod.
Bring to simmer and remove from the heat. Then let it rest for 5 minutes and pass through a sieve on the white chocolate and rehydrated gelatine. This process will allow to only keep the seeds, removing the vanilla pod together with eventual fibers from it.
Mix by using a hand blender.
Let it set in the fridge overnight.
Day 2
Assembly pt. 2
Whip the hazelnut ganache till it reaches medium peaks, then pipe it to fill 3/4 of the cube in the mold.
Place a sphere inside the cube an push it gently so that it reaches the proper position. Use a spatula to adjust the top part.
Vanilla quenelle (optional) pt. 2
Whip till medium peaks
Pipe into the quenelle mold and let it freeze overnight
Day 3
Coating
225g Cocoa butter
150g Dark chocolate 70%
Melt the cocoa butter on a low heat.
Pour over the dark chocolate and mix till smooth.
The mixture should be used at a temperature between 42°C and 44°C. If temperature is lower you can heat the whole mixture in the microwave at low power. Also, in order to keep the temperature at the right level you can use kitchen film to cover the container and remove it only when you are ready to dip.
Assembly pt. 3
Remove a cube from the mold and dip quickly half of it by using a skewer. The coating should set immediately. For an extra touch you can add chopped hazelnuts to the coating before dipping.
Keep in the fridge for ~6 hours before serving (12-24 hours if you cover the entire cube). This will allow all the creams to reach the perfect texture.
Remove a quenelle from the mold and place it on top of the cube so that it will defrost together with the cube. If you wish you can also use a spray to give a velvet effect to it.
Add the snowflake decoration (or whatever other decoration) when you're ready to serve.
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