Recipe of the month

Valentin’s day heart

Brittany shortbread

  • Vanilla bean 1 piece
  • Butter 500 g
  • Caster sugar 200 g
  • Salt "Fleur de sel" 4 g
  • Egg yolks 80 g
  • Baking powder 12 g
  • Flour 300 g

Scrape vanilla bean into butter. Soften butter and mix with remaining ingredients. Store 12 hours at 4°C. Roll out to 4 mm and cut hearts before baking at 160°C.


Pine nut sponge

  • Pine nuts 280 g
  • Icing sugar 160 g
  • Flour 42 g
  • Egg whites 157 g
  • Egg yolks 140 g
  • Salt "Fleur de sel" 3 g
  • Garrigue honey 28 g
  • Clarified butter 105 g
  • Cream of tartar 2 g
  • Dried egg whites 4 g
  • Icing sugar 70 g
  • Egg whites 210 g

Roast pine nuts at 150°C for 30 minutes. Cool and mix in a robot coupe with 160 g icing sugar, flour, 157 g egg whites, egg yolks, salt with melted honey and clarified butter. At the same time whip 210 g egg whites and gradually add dried egg whites and 70 g icing sugar. Fold both mixtures together and spread onto a Silpat®. Bake at 185°C for approximately 15 minutes. Put of the oven take off Silpat®. Cool and cut hearts.


Grapefruit compotine

  • Sorbitol, powdered 80 g
  • Glucose 220 g
  • Garrigue honey 60 g
  • Grapefruit segments 1,400 g
  • Fresh lemon juice 200 g
  • Caster sugar 130 g
  • Pectin 325NH95 24 g
  • Fresh grapefruit juice 600 g
  • Vanilla bean 2 pieces
  • Gelatin mass 70 g
  • Poppy syrup 140 g
  • Honey vinegar 45 g

Cook on low heat, sorbitol, glucose, honey, grapefruit segments and lemon juice until 50°Brix. Scrape vanilla beans grapefruit juice, mix sugar with pectin and boil everything. Strain and refrigerate at 4°C for 12 hours. The following day mix grapefruit jelly and stir with compote, add melted gelatin mass, poppy syrup and vinegar. Pour onto a tray with sides onto a Silpat®. Freeze and cut hearts slightly smaller than the final assembly.


Champagne mousse

  • Champagne 115 g
  • Lemon juice 25 g
  • Egg yolks 115 g
  • Caster sugar 150 g
  • Champagne 95 g
  • Gelatin mass 14 g
  • Lightly whipped cream 700 g

Poach at 85°C 155 g champagne, lemon juice, egg yolks and sugar. Heat 95 g champagne and add gelatin mass. Fold both mixtures together, cool to 25°C before folding lightly whipped cream.


Glaze

  • Cream 35% fat 90 g
  • Water 90 g
  • Neutral glaze 120 g
  • Citric acid 2 g
  • Sorbitol, powdered 110 g
  • Milk powder 0% fat 15 g
  • Caster sugar 80 g
  • Garrigue honey 40 g
  • Invert sugar 40 g
  • Gelatin mass 150 g
  • Glucose 270 g
  • Cocoa butter 50 g
  • White chocolate 100 g
  • Gold powder as needed

Heat cream, water, glaze, honey and invert sugar to 50°C. Add citric acid, sorbitol, milk powder and sugar into previous mixture. Boil, add remaining ingredients and blend. Glaze at 25°C.


Finishing

Spray sponge with white chocolate spray and place baked shortbread. Unmould heart, glaze and place onto assembly. Decorate with grapefruit segments and candied zests. Add coriander flower.

Recipe given by

Florian Eude
Chef Pâtissier de l’Hôtel Molitor, Paris.

The idea?

To create a cake for two persons, in a simple shape with champagne.


The shape?

The choice was made with this heart with nice curves which brings out the shone of the glaze.


The flavours?

Champagne, which pairs well with the freshness of grapefruit and pine nuts.


The technical step?

When making the grapefruit compotine which requires a certain amount of precision when cooking. It needs a refractometer to be sure for the texture.


Careful

The assembly is the important step. The insert shouldn’t be pushed too far into the mould in order that it doesn’t show with the finished product.

To top