Recipe from In the Mix
Made this yesterday for a dinner party last night - perhaps a bit risky to try something new under those circumstances, but seemed a lot of effort to make one for the family to test first.
Overall - have to say that it was a superior dessert. Looked and tasted great, and was apparent to my guests that some effort had gone into it. I admit to cheating on one aspect - I had forgotten to pre-freeze my ice-cream maker unit, so bought a nice handmade hazelnut gelato to replace the hazelnut parfait.
Below are comments on each component, and hope these help anyone else making the dish:
1. Crumble - Pretty straightforward. I used a 21 cm springloaded cake tin, lined with baking paper. I wasn't sure if I should press down the crumbs into base - recipe says just to sprinkle them evenly. I was concerned the base would break up, so just pressed very lightly with the back of a spoon to even out the top. After baking I forgot to place the top part of the 18 cm cake ring on until the base was cooled - pressed down gently with it once I remembered. The 18 cm ring top fitted comfortably inside the 21 cm cake tin - it had been too tight a fit inside the 20 cm one which is why I moved up a size for the base.
2. Chocolate cream - This seemed straightforward. However, I was disconcerted when the contents of the bowl were very runny after cooking - I guess I'd thought it would have more of a custard consistency. I was worried that it would just leak out of the inner ring of the base when it was that runny, before it had a chance to set. So I decided to add another egg, and cook for another 3 minutes. However, still runny, so I said a prayer to the kitchen gods and proceeded with it anyway. Luckily it was fine
3. Caramel hazelnuts and paste - As I had decided not to make the parfait, I reduced the quantity of hazelnuts to 250gm. I only had hazelnuts in their skin, and as the recipe didn't specify, I decided to roast them first to remove their skins before processing (in retrospect, I think this is the correct thing to do). As the recipe says - only process for 1 second (suggest to do this as short a time as possible). I followed the instructions exactly for making the caramel i.e. boiled the sugar and water to 115 degrees. However, the resulting hazelnut caramel looked a little anaemic to me, so next time I might boil a bit longer until coloured. That being said, if you look at the picture in the book, the hazelnuts are quite pale. I wasn't happy with them like that, so decided to put the coated hazelnuts back into Steve (oops - my thermomix) and process to a course hazelnut caramel crumb, and use it as a type of sandy soil on the plate
. Also - if you were using the full 400 gm of hazelnuts, I'm not sure there would be enough caramel to coat them sufficiently.
4. Hazelnut parfait - skipped this - used a bought hazelnut gelato, which worked well.
5. Lemon butterscotch sauce - This sauce is divine. And essential to cut through the richness of the dish. It took ages for the water, glucose and sugar to colour. Once processed, the resulting lemon juice and butterscotch mixture was pretty runny, but it thickened up to a nice consistency in the fridge.
6. Assembly - Remove the outer cake ring first from the base before attempting to get the inner ring off. I used a small sharp knife to gently prise off the inner ring. My tart had had about 4.5 hours in the fridge, and was still soft (but set). The chocolate cream bulged a bit at the sides when cut but didn't lose shape which was a relief. I served the slices on a flat bowl, with a line of caramel hazelnut "sand" alongside, and the lemon butterscotch sauce drizzled over, and a scoop of hazelnut gelato on the side. It disappeared very quickly (although I had a sneaky piece in the fridge for a treat with coffee later). I got 10 serves out of it - wouldn't like to stretch it any further. Lots of lemon butterscotch sauce left over - will use on ice cream. Also a small tupperware container left of the caramel hazelnut "sand" - have to stop my boys eating it by the spoonful.
Would I make it again? Yes - but I think that the torte caprese from the EDC, served with a good vanilla icecream and strawberries has just as good wow factor, and is much faster!!
Hope this helps anyone else making this dessert. Give it a go!
Michelle
Turramurra NSW
Linked - JD
