Hi everyone! I’m sharing with you another delicious dessert! It’s an Entremet made up of a Crunchy Base, a Basil Sponge Cake, a Basil Gel, a Lemon Cremeux, a Hazelnut Mousse and a shiny Mirror Glaze! I also wanted to introduce you to an amazing ingredient: basil flowers! When infused, the flowers give the water a blue color, yet when you add some drops of lemon juice, the water turns into a beautiful pink color! That’s the technique I used to get this pink basil gel! I have also add a video of the making of these pies at the end of the article!

For 5 Entremets: using this mold: here

Sweet Crust:

• 75g of butter
• 40g of icing sugar
• 13g of almond powder
• 25g of eggs
• 100g of flour
• 10g of cocoa powder

Crunchy Base:

• 110g of sweet crust
• 0,5g of salt
• 56g of milk chocolate

Sponge Cake:

• 3 eggs
• 42g of sugar (1)
• 30g of sugar (2)
• 30g of neutral oil
• 30g of milk
• 54g of flour
• 1,2g of baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt

Basil Insert:

• 50g of infused basil water (= basil flowers + water)
• 5g of sugar
• 2g of gelatin

Lemon Cremeux:

• 25g of butter
• 35g of sugar
• 50g of eggs
• 35g of lemon juice
• 1g of gelatin
• One lemon zest

Gel:

• 60g of basil water
• 35g of water
• 13g of glucose
• 13g of sugar
• 6g of gelatin

Hazelnut Mousse:

• 250g of full liquid cream
• 13g of sugar
• 25g of egg yolks
• 113g of hazelnut paste (= mixed roasted hazelnuts)
• 0,7g of gelatin

Icing:

• 135g of water
• 125g of sugar
• 175g of glucose
• 100g condensed milk
• 14g of gelatin
• 150g of milk chocolate

We’ll start with the Basil Insert:

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

2. Infuse the basil flowers in some water (approximately the quantity you need). Let it infuse until all the color of the flower transfers to the water.

3. Add some drops of lemon juice to get a pink color.

4. Bring to boil with the sugar.

5. Add the gelatin. Refrigerate overnight.

6. The next day, mix the gel with a hand blender to make it smooth. You can add some water or lemon juice to make it less think if needed.

7. Fill 5 half spheres of 2,5cm in diameter. Freeze until they harden.

8. Unmold the half spheres. Fill 5 other spheres. Place the frozen spheres over the newly piped one.

9. Freeze.

For the Cremeux:

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

2. Melt the butter.

3. Add the egg, sugar, lemon juice and zests.

4. Cook over medium heat until it thickens.

5. Add the gelatin. Refrigerate overnight.

6. The next day, whip the cream for a few seconds. Pipe it inside 4cm half-spheres. Add the basil insert in the centre.

7. Freeze until they harden, and then unmold.

8. Pipe again some lemon cream inside 5 cavities. Add the frozen half over and press.

9. Freeze.

For the Basil Gel:

1. Boil some basil leaves for a few minutes. Immediately transfer them to a bowl filled with ice water. This will help preserve the green color.

2. Weigh the leaves and place them in a mixer. Add 1 1/2 times of water (so if you have 60g of leaves, add 80g of water).

3. Mix.

4. Filter the solution to extract the basil water. Don’t throw the solid parts, we’ll use it in the sponge!

For the Sponge:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.

2. Separate the eggs.

3. Whisk the egg whites by adding the sugar (1) little by little, until soft peaks.

4. Whisk the yolks with the sugar (2) until they increase in volume and becomes white.

5. Gently add the yolks to the egg whites. Also fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk with the oil and the basil (the one we kept form making the basil water). Take some batter and mix it.

7. Combine this batter with the original mixture.

8. Spread over a baking tray and cook for 12-15min.

9. Let it cool down and cut 5cm diameter circles.

For the Hazelnut Mousse:

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

2. Mix some roasted hazelnuts to get a fluid paste (= hazelnut paste)

3. Briefly whisk the egg yolks and sugar.

4. Bring to boil the cream. Pour over the eggs and mix.

5. Cook over low heat until it reaches 84°C.

6. Pour over the hazelnut paste and gelatin. Mix with a hand blender.

7. Filter the cream and cover with cling film. Refrigerate overnight.

It’s time to assemble!

1. Take the Basil Gel and mix it with a hand blender. You can add some basil water if it’s too thick.

2. Pipe some gel over the sponge cake disks and freeze.

3. Whip the Hazelnut Mousse until very soft peaks.

4. Fill 5cm mold to 1/3. I’ve used these molds: here

5. Add the Lemon/basil insert. Press slightly in order for the cream to cover the edges.

6. Pipe more hazelnut mousse. Leave some space at the top. Add the cake disk (the side covered with basil gel must face the mousse).

7. Freeze overnight.

For the Crunchy Base:

1. Make a Sweet Crust by following these steps: here

2. Freeze the dough until it becomes very hard.

3. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

4. Grate the dough, using a cheese grater, to have pieces of similar sizes.

5. Cook for ~10min.

6. Let it cool down.

7. Melt the chocolate.

8. Mix the sweet crust with the melted chocolate and salt.

9. Spread ~25g inside 6cm circles.

10. Freeze.

For the Glaze:

1. Hydrate the gelatin.

2. Bring to boil the water, sugar and glucose.

3. Pour over the gelatin, condensed milk and chopped chocolate. Mix with a hand blender for a few minutes. Incline the head of the blender to avoid creating too much air bubbles.

4. Refrigerate overnight.

5. The next day, heat the glaze over a bainmarie (or microwave) until 1/3 melts.

6. Transfer into a high container and mix for a few seconds.

7. Glaze the Entremets when the glaze is around 20-22°C.

8. Place each entremet over the crunchy base.

9. Zest some lemon over the glaze and decorate with some basil leaves, basil flower and chopped hazelnuts.

Your Entremets are ready! Let them thaw in the fridge for a few hours before enjoying!

Please feel free to ask all your questions in the comment section and don’t forget to send me pictures of your realisation on my email address: partage@justonemorecake.com or send me a DM on my Instagram account: blog_justonemorecake , I will post them at the end of the post