I've finally risen from the dead! I've recieved numerous e-mails lately, from visitors who haven't seen any recent posts. Some even asked if I had died..*chuckles*. Well, to those of you who did ask, here I am! Alive and well! I've been extremely lazy lately, and not in the mood to make anything besides some of the orders I've recieved. I finally decided to not sell any Xmas items..However, I did agree to providing only friends and family with christmas treats, upon their requests.
Anyway, in the past week, I've been slaving over one of Pierre Herme's Signature desserts, Plaisir Sucré. A couple of other floggers have made this time consuming, anger inducing dessert. By the looks of it, mine doesn't look as good as theirs.
It all started off terribly last week, on my first gutsy attempt. I had tempered my milk chocolate perfectly. However, disaster struck when I spread the chocolate too thinly over my acetate. The next day, the chocolate crumbled into a million glorious pieces when I tried prying it off the acetate. *Sigh*
That was not the only problem I encountered, mind you. My milk chocolate ganache was way too runny, more like gazpacho than ganache! It turned out a complete mess, and I promised myself that I'd attempt it again, with better results.
The next day, I decided I'd take it slow and easy. I tempered the now thicker sheets of chocolate at night, and made the ganache, as well as the chocolate chantilly mixture. That would leave me with just the preparation of the praline and dacquoise, followed by the assembly, for the next day.
The ganache was a litte better, as I upped the chocolate to cream ratio. If I were to ever make this ever again, I'd probably up it even further. This also isn't something I'll be making frequently, unless people ask for it. For those who don't already know, Plaisir Sucré is a plated version of PH's legendary Cherry On The Cake. It consists of a hazelnut dacquoise base, crackly praline layer, followed by tempered milk chocolate disks which are sandwiched with both whipped milk chocolate ganache as well as milk chocolate ganache. Heart attack in a mouthful, in my opinion. I honestly think those who aren't very experienced in dessert making should give this recipe a miss.
Though it takes a lot of patience and work, the results will not disappoint. Everyone who tried it fell in love with it and even asked for seconds.
Plaisir Sucré
Serves 8
Chocolate Chantilly
- 285g milk chocolate
- 435g heavy cream
Put chocolate into a mixing bowl while you bring the cream to a rolling boil. Pull the cream from the heat and immediately pour it over the milk chocolate. Mix energetically with a rubber spatula till perfectly homogenous.
Cover the cream with cling wrap, pressing the plasting against the surface of the mixture. Chill overnight, or for at least 6 hours.
Chocolate Ganache
- 190g milk chocolate (I used 260g, and will use 300g next time)
- 165g heavy cream
Put chocolate into a mixing bowl while you bring the cream to a rolling boil. Pull the cream from the heat and immediately pour it over the milk chocolate. Mix with a rubber spatula till perfectly homogenous. Try not to get too much air into the ganache.
Chill until ganache is thick at room temperature and easy to pipe.
Hazelnut Dacquoise
- 70g hazelnut meal
- 100g icing sugar
- 3 large egg whies
- 2 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 140g halved hazelnuts
Preheat oven to 165 degrees celsius.
Sieve icing sugar and hazelnut meal together; set aside. Whisk egg whites till soft peaks form. Gradually add in sugar and whisk till glossy and stiff.
Fold in hazelnut meal mixture and spread out into a 10 inch square onto a large Silpat. Scatter halved hazelnuts onto the mixture and bake for 25 - 30 mins. Let cool once baked.
The Praline
- 200g nutella
- 50g milk chocolate, melted.
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 cup Rice Krispies
Mix everything together in a bowl. Set Aside.
The Chocolate Sheets
- 260g milk chocolate, tempered
Spread tempered chocolate onto acetate sheets which measure 2x4 inches in length. You will need 24 of these chocolate plates.Let set and peel off. You may choose to set them in the refrigerator if your kitchen is too warm or humid.
The Assembly
Spread Praline onto cooled dacquoise. Chill for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, cut dacquoise into eight 2x4 inch rectangles. Set aside.
Take a chocolate plate and pipe ganache onto it in a zig-zag fashion. Sandwich with another milk chocolate plate.
Pipe another zig zag of ganache onto the cut dacquoise. Place sandwiched chocolate plates on top of this. Repeat for the remaining 7 portions.
Let set in the refrigerator for 10 mins. Meanwhile, whip Chcolate Chantilly with an electric mixer, or by hand. It should stiffen and be firm enough to spread.
Pipe chocolate chantilly on top of the milk chocolate sandwiches. Top with one more chocolate plate. Dust with cocoa to serve.
ps: It's best to use Valrhona or any other fantastic chocolate you have. This is not something you want to be stingy with, as it will definitely affect the taste of the final product if you use a cheaper variety of chocolate. As for myself, I used Sharffenberger.
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Your Plaisir Sucré looks great, Amrita! I'd love to make these again. If only the entire process wasn't so time-consuming ...