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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 2h00

Le Cordon Bleu's Pastry School
Makes 12
Preparation time: 2 hours + 15 minutes for pastry – Baking time: about 30 minutes – Refrigeration time: 30 minutes for the pastry
Freezing time: 3 hours 10 minutes – Storage: 2 days in the refrigerator
Difficulty: ***

Equipment required: 17 x 17 cm baking frame – 6-cm diameter biscuit cutter – 4-cm diameter biscuit cutter
2 piping bags – mould with 7-cm diameter half-sphere cavities – 8-cm diameter biscuit cutter

Micro-greens and flowers for decorating
Use micro-greens and edible flowers to decorate your desserts. They add great originality and a floral touch. They should be used on modern-style pastry creations with clean lines, otherwise their appearance will be overdone. Apple Blossom, with a sharp taste of apple, combines perfectly here with the chocolate and gives the dome a final flourish.

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Grub Street Publishing published her project Chocolate And Blackcurrant Domes 30 Sep 09:00

Step 1
For the “mi-cuit” CREAM chocolate filling

Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6). Whisk the eggs with the sugar. Melt the chocolate, add the butter and mix. Incorporate the egg and sugar mixture. Add the creme de cassis and potato starch and mix.
Step 2
Set the frame on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and fill with the mixture. Spread out well and bake for 5 minutes. Leave to cool.
Step 3
For the Savoy “Biscuit” sponge

Keep the oven temperature at 200°C. Mix together the dry ingredients. Whisk the eggs with the sugar in a bowl. Incorporate the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter.
Step 4
Spread the mixture over a baking tray lined with baking parchment to form a square about 22 x 22 cm. Bake for 8 minutes and leave to cool.
Step 5
Lay a sheet of baking parchment over the cold “biscuit” sponge, turn over and and remove the parchment from what was initially the bottom. Use the 6-cm biscuit cutter to cut out 12 discs.
Step 6
Remove the baking parchment from the “mi-cuit” cream chocolate filling inside the frame and place over another sheet of baking parchment. Run a knife around the inside of the frame to cleanly remove the “mi-cuit” cream chocolate filling from the mould.
Step 7
Use the 4-cm biscuit cutter to cut out 12 discs.
Step 8
For the blackcurrant coulis

Soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water. Combine the blackcurrant puree with the sugar in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the softened gelatine. Refrigerate.
Step 9
For the syrup

Combine the blackcurrant puree, water and sugar in a pan and bring to the boil while stirring with a whisk. Remove from the heat and add the crème de cassis. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.
Step 10
For the chocolate mousse

Melt the chocolate over a bain-marie. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. Make a pate a bombe by combining the water and sugar in a pan and heating until the temperature reads 118°C on the cooking thermometer. Pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks while whisking briskly until the mixture turns pale, thickens, and cools down.
Step 11
Whip the cream until it is a little firm and add to the pate a bombe. Very gently mix.
Step 12
Pour a third of the mixture into the chocolate and mix with a whisk. Incorporate the remainder and mix until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag.
Step 13
Assembly

Pipe chocolate mousse into the mould cavities until one-third full.
Step 14
Use a tablespoon to spread the mousse over the sides of the cavities, then pipe a ball of mousse into the middle.
Step 15
Insert a disc of “mi-cuit” cream chocolate filling.
Step 16
Pipe chocolate mousse all around the disc.
Step 17
Whisk the blackcurrant coulis to smooth, then fill a piping bag and cut off the end. Pipe a layer of coulis over the “mi-cuit” cream chocolate filling.
Step 18
Imbibe the Savoy “biscuit” sponge discs with the blackcurrant syrup and insert one into each cavity to close the domes.
Step 19
Press gently on the Savoy “biscuit” sponge, then smooth with surface with a palette knife to remove the excess mousse. Freeze for 3 hours.
Step 20
For the sweet pastry dough

Preheat the oven to 170°C (gas mark 3–4). Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Roll out the sweet pastry dough (see pages 488 and 489) to about a 2 mm thickness. Use the 8-cm biscuit cutter to cut out 12 discs. Bake for 15 minutes.
Step 21
For the glaze

Soften the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water. Combine the water, cream and honey in a pan and bring to the boil. Mix the sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, add to the pan and mix. Squeeze the gelatine to drain, whisk into the hot liquid, then pass through a sieve into a bowl.
Step 22
Cover the surface of the glaze with a sheet of cling film, then remove immediately to eliminate any bubbles. Leave to cool.
Step 23
Dip the bottom of the mould into a bowl of hot water to remove the domes from the mould, then transfer to a rack. Freeze for 10 minutes, then place the rack over a Swiss roll tin.
Step 24
Pour the warm glaze over the domes. Pass a palette knife under each dome to remove the excess glaze, leaving a clean base.
Step 25
Finishing and decoration

Use a small sieve to dust the pastry discs with icing sugar.
Step 26
Transfer each dome to a pastry base.
Step 27
Decorate the domes with Apple Blossom micro-greens.

Chef’s tip
If you do not have a mould with half-sphere cavities, you can use what you have at home: a muffin tray, cups or small bowls lined with cling film.