Chocolate, Coffee and Tonka Bean

Honestly, lately I am not able to bake anything as it is written in a book. That means that usually I change so many components of a cake, that at the end I got something completly different. Actually there is nothing wrong with that. I mentioned, that I am going to post the holiday cake, well finally it is here! By the way, it was inspired by Alain Ducasse wonderful pastry book. So the cake went through some changes. I have left out the chocolate glaze and the caramel part. I felt like this would be too much right now. So what's left?! A very very thin hazelnut sponge, that would not even be worth to mention, if it wouldn't be so delicious! After all this cake is about the creams! On the hazelnut sponge there is a lovely and totally addictive tonka bean crème brûlée, though it has no burnt caramel on top, but these kind of creams are called that way everywhere I have seen, so why should I call it differently?! On the this layer there is a gorgeous coffee mousse, but for the recipe you gotta wait until Monday, because it is coming on its own together with a cold surprise and caramel. Stay tuned! So on top of the coffee mousse, well what else could be if not a dark chocolate mousse! The cake is sprinkled with a lot of cocoa powder and toasted hazelnut. This cake is just to die for! Trust me!

Ingredients
4 egg yolks
110 ml simple syrup
200 g dark chocolate
400 g cream

Cook a simple syrup out of 200 ml water with 200 ml sugar. Beat egg yolks over steam together with 110 ml syrup, when it is nice and thick, remove it and beat until it cools. Stir in the molten chocolate and the beaten cream. Refrigarte for 2-3 hours, or over night in case you prepare the tonka bean cream as well.


300 ml milk
300 m cream
120 g egg yolks
80 g sugar
tonka bean


Bring milk and cream together with ground tonka bean to the boil, remove it from the heat and let is stand covered for 10 minutes. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and pour the milk over it. Pour the liquid into a silicon baking form and bake for 50-60 minutes on 100°C-os, in case the form has a size of 24-26 cm. Let it cool and refrigerate.

50 g finly ground hazelnut
12 g flour
4 egg yolks
1 pinch of cream of tartar
125 g sugar
35 g coarsly chopped hazelnut

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Beat egg whites to soft peaks, add sugar gradually then beat until stiff. Stir in the flour and the ground hazelnut and pour it onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the coarsly chopped hazelnut and bake 10-13 minutes.