Peanut and popcorn
Nougat, burnt butter cake
Serves 4
Prep time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 2 hours plus chilling
Croquant tubes
140g caster sugar
30ml water
100g glucose
Popcorn mousse
25g popcorn kernels (popped)
100ml whole milk
250ml double cream
2 yolks
50g caster sugar
2 gelatine leaves
Salted caramel
1200g caster sugar
1tsp water
1 tsp glucose
½ tsp Maldon salt
70ml double cream
50g unsalted butter
Nutella powder
60g Nutella
40g Abzorbit
Caramel popcorn
30g Popcorn kernels (popped)
100g dark brown sugar
50g unsalted butter
Nougat
130g caster sugar
40ml water
40g glucose
20g honey
1/2 egg white
10g popped popcorn
10g peanuts
Hazelnut and burnt butter cake
25g plain flour
35g wholewheat flour
3g baking powder
1g Malden salt
1 egg
100g dark brown sugar
60ml whole milk
60g butter
70g hazelnut praline puree
12g salted peanuts, toasted and lightly crushed
Vanilla gel
200g water
100g caster sugar
2 vanilla pods
1 pinch Maldon salt
7.5g Ultra-Tex
Praline Cremeux
110ml double cream
50ml milk
40g egg yolks
15g caster sugar
90g fine dark chocolate 65%
35g gianduja
35g praline paste
12g unsalted butter
Garnish
Gold leaf
30g peanuts
200g sugar
200g chocolate
Method
Preheat an oven to 150C
Croquant tubes
1) Make a light caramel, by heating the sugar and glucose in a pan until it’s a caramel colour
2) Pour caramel onto a silicon baking mat to cool
3) Blitz caramel in a blender until it becomes a powder
4) Sieve the powder onto a stencil measuring 8cm x 8cm, repeat 3 more times
5) Cook the 4 rectangles at 180 degrees for 3-5 minutes
6) Roll the recetangles around wooden roll to make a tube no fatter than a ten pence piece
7) Place in airtight container with silica gel
Popcorn mousse
1) Bloom gelatine in a container of ice cold water
2) Sabayon egg yolk and sugar, by whisking in a bowl over a pot of hot water until light and fluffy
3) Boil milk and 300ml cream and pour over egg mix
4) Cook over the heat until a custard is formed and then add the gelatine and popcorn
5) Cool mix in fridge for 15 minutes but do not set
6) Semi whip 200ml cream and fold into cooled anglaise
7) Put the mix in the fridge FOR 20 MINS and then put into piping bags
Salted caramel
1) Make dark caramel by slowly cooking the sugar, salt, glucose and 50ml water in a pan until it turns a caramel
colour
2) Once caramel is reached add butter and whisk until the butter has melted
3) Add cream slowly and bring back to the boil
4) Pass mix through sieve and blitz using hand blender and chill in the fridge
5) Place in piping bags
Nutella powder
1) Place ingredients into a Thermomix, making sure it is dry
2) Pulse the Thermomix and shake the mixture
3) Repeat the process 6 times until mix is fluffy
4) Place in airtight container at room temperature, till serve
Caramel popcorn1) Make caramel, add the sugar to a small pan with the water and heat until a brown caramel is formed.
2) Add butter to the caramel and toss popcorn through the mixture while it is still on the heat
3) Place the popcorn onto greaseproof paper to cool and place in a container at room temperature
Nougat
1) Heat sugar, glucose and water in a pan to 133 degrees
2) Add honey to syrup and bring back to the boil
3) Whip egg whites in food mixer to soft peak and slowly pour the syrup over the egg whites
4) Whip in the mixer until cooled but still slightly warm to touch
5) Remove from mixer and mix with peanuts and popcorn
6) Place into container that has been lined with clingfilm and sprayed with non-stick baking spray and leave to
dry for an hour
7) Cut into squares and serve
Hazelnut and burnt butter cake
1) Make brown butter by melting butter in a pan for 3-4 minutes until it browns
2) Spray a small baking tray with non stick spray
3) Toast the nuts in a pan for 2-3 minutes until toasted and then lightly crush in a pestle and mortar
4) In a small bowl sieve together both flours and baking powder and add the salt
5) In a large bowl whisk the eggs, brown sugar, milk, brown butter and praline
6) Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture and toasted nuts into the egg mixture
7) Transfer the batter to the tray, spreading evenly
8) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 150 degrees for 75 minutes or until spongy
9) Let cool in pan on a wire rack.
Vanilla gel
1) Place all the water, sugar and salt in a pan and boil and add the vanilla pods
2) Put in Thermomix and blitz for 3 minutes
3) Pass through a muslin cloth
4) Add the Ultra-tex to the remaining liquid and whisk by hand, place in a squeezy bottle
Praline cremeux
1) Put the cream and milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil
2) Whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl for 2-3 minutes
3) Pour half of the boiling cream and milk liquid into egg and whisk until mixed.
4) Add the other half of the cream and milk liquid. Transfer the mixture back in the saucepan and stir
continuously until it forms a custard which is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
5) Remove from the heat and pass into a bowl of chopped chocolate, gianduja and praline paste
6) Stir until fully incorporated
7) Add butter and mix until smooth
8) Pour into shallow dish, cover with cling film and cool quickly in the fridge for 1 hour until set
Garnish
1) Heat the sugar in a pan until it forms a caramel, leave to cool for 1 minute.
2) Dip the peanuts in the caramel quickly and let the caramel run off. After 30 seconds the run off will start to
harden. Break off the end and carefully place on a silicon mat to harden
3) Remove and leave to set
4) For the chocolate strips, temper the chocolate by melting the chocolate in a bowl over a bain marie, once
the chocolate has reach 48C cool to 27C, bring back up to 31C and spread thinly and evenly on a sheet of
acetate. Once the chocolate has half cooled run a knife along the acetate cutting 1cm thick strips. Curl up
the sheet of acetate to make curls and fix it with sticky tape and leave to cool. Once cool carfully remove the
acetate leaving the chocolate curls.
Plating up method
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Cut a slice of the cake, 8cm x 3cm and place on the right of each plate
Top the cake with a croquant tube filled with popcorn mousse
Put a spoonful of salted caramel at the top of the cake
Place the vanilla gel across the plate
Put a pile of Nutella powder on the left of the cake
Place a quenelle of praline cremeux on top of the powder
Add gold leaf to the praline cremeux
Garnish with squares of nougat, popcorn and caramel peanuts and choclolate curls