🍫 Chocolate, Hazelnut & Tonka Bean Entremets

Featuring Chocolate-Tonka Mousse, Hazelnut Praliné Insert, Cacao Breton Shortbread & Mirror Glaze

This elegant entremets was born out of leftovers—hazelnut crémeux and praliné inserts, and a batch of chocolate mirror glaze sitting in the fridge. To bring it all together, a cacao sablé breton was chosen for the base instead of traditional sweet pastry, and the chocolate mousse was delicately infused with tonka bean. The result is a refined yet comforting dessert for hazelnut and chocolate lovers alike—delicate, balanced, and deeply flavorful.

💬 Introduction

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Prep Time 2

Cook Time 23

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

🍫 Chocolate Mirror Glaze

150 g sugar
150 g glucose syrup
80 g water
100 g unsweetened condensed milk
75 g dark chocolate
75 g milk chocolate
9 g powdered gelatin
54 g cold water for blooming gelatin

🌰 Hazelnut Crémeux

60 g whole milk
15 g heavy cream
15 g hazelnut praliné
15 g hazelnut paste
2 g gelatin 1 sheet

🌰 Praliné Insert

80 g hazelnut praliné
30 g heavy cream

🍪 Cacao Breton Shortbread

5 egg yolks
135 g sugar
180 g unsalted butter soft
1 pinch fleur de sel
16 g unsweetened cocoa powder
255 g flour
12 g baking powder

🍫 Tonka Bean Chocolate Mousse

43 g heavy cream Part 1
43 g whole milk
17 g egg yolks about 1 yolk
8 g sugar
1 g gelatin
6 g cold water for blooming
84 g milk chocolate
84 g dark chocolate
171 g cold heavy cream Part 2
½ tonka bean finely grated

Instructions

Chocolate Mirror Glaze

Bloom the gelatin in 54 g cold water for 10 minutes.
In a saucepan, heat water, sugar, and glucose to 103°C.
In a separate pitcher, place both chocolates (chopped), condensed milk, and bloomed gelatin.
Pour the hot syrup into the pitcher and blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
❗ Avoid incorporating air to prevent bubbles in the glaze.
Strain through a fine sieve if needed. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface and refrigerate overnight.

Hazelnut Crémeux (Insert – Day Before)

Bloom gelatin in cold water for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, mix praliné and hazelnut paste.
Heat milk and cream in a saucepan. Off the heat, add gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Pour over the hazelnut mixture, stir with a spatula, then blend for a smooth texture.
Pour into 3 cm diameter insert molds (~15 g each if possible).
Freeze for 30 minutes before adding the praliné layer.
📝 Hazelnut paste is simply roasted hazelnuts blended until smooth—no sugar. You can replace it with praliné if needed.

Praliné Insert

Combine hazelnut praliné and cream.
Emulsify by adding cream in 3 additions and stirring between each.
Pour over the frozen hazelnut crémeux and freeze overnight.

Cacao Breton Shortbread

Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy.
Add soft butter in small pieces and mix until smooth.
Sift in flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; fold gently with a spatula.
Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment to 5 mm thickness.
Cut out 7 cm rounds using tart rings, and leave dough inside the rings.
Bake at 170°C for about 15 minutes. Cool, then unmold.

Tonka Chocolate Mousse

Bloom gelatin in cold water.
Heat milk, cream (Part 1), and grated tonka bean to a simmer.
Remove from heat, cover with plastic wrap, and let infuse for 10 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk yolks and sugar.
Reheat cream mixture, strain over the yolks, whisk, then return to heat.
Cook to 83°C while stirring constantly—do not boil.
Remove from heat, add gelatin, then pour over chopped chocolate. Stir to melt.
Blend with immersion blender until smooth.
Whip cream (Part 2) to soft peaks and fold gently into the chocolate base.

Assembly

Fill each Stone mold ¾ full with chocolate mousse.
Using a spoon, spread the mousse up the sides of the mold to eliminate gaps.
Freeze for 5 minutes if needed.
Insert the frozen hazelnut/praliné insert (crémeux side down), pressing gently.
Add more mousse, smooth the top with a spatula, and cover with plastic wrap.
Freeze overnight.

Decoration & Finishing

Reheat mirror glaze to ~30°C.
Unmold the entremets and place on a cooling rack set over a tray.
Pour glaze evenly over each frozen entremets, starting from the center.
Tap the rack gently to remove excess glaze.
Use a small offset spatula to transfer each entremets onto a Breton sablé, centering carefully.
Decorate the base with crushed hazelnuts.
Let defrost in the fridge for 2 hours before serving.

Chef Mimo

I’m Chef Mimo, a passionate pastry chef with over 17 years of experience in the world of fine desserts. I specialize in French-style entremets, refined cakes, and creative chocolate work. Pastry is not just my profession—it’s my lifelong passion. Through PastryCrafted.com, I love sharing my recipes, techniques, and inspirations with anyone who dreams of mastering the art of pastry. Whether you’re a curious beginner or a seasoned pro, you’re welcome in my sweet world.

🍫 Chocolate, Hazelnut & Tonka Bean Entremets