Red currant and basil may sound like an untraditional combination. BUT, don't judge it until you've tried it! It taste surprisingly good together. I was inspired to make this combination in a cake after I got a starter at a restaurant with these two flavours, and I was really surprised by how good it tasted together.
The cake is really fresh with the acidic red currant berries balanced by the mild hazelnut meringue cake and the aromatic basil flavour that elevates the cake. If you want to try something different, this cake is for you.
Happy baking <3
Amount: 10 servings
Ingredients:
Day 1
Crunch layer with Ruby Chocolate and Raspberry:
30 g caster sugar
20 g roasted hazelnuts without shell
80 g Ruby chocolate
45 g Cara Crakine
45 g feuilletine/cornflakes
1 tsp freeze-dried raspberry powder
a pinch of salt
Day 1
Hazelnut Meringue Cake:
75 g roasted hazelnuts without shell (50 g to be blended, 25 g to be roughly chopped)
30 g powdered sugar
2 egg whites
50 g caster sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
Day 1
Red Currant Ganache with White Chocolate and Basil:
180 g white chocolate
50 ml heavy cream
60 g red currant puré (made of approx. 240 g uncooked red currant berries)
1 tbsp lemon juice
10 big basil leaves and a bit of sugar
Day 1
Red Currant Marmelade:
1 gelatine leaf (1 sheet = 1,75 g)
190 g red currant
90 g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 (0,50) tsp red melatin
Day 1
Basil Mousse with White Chocolate:
3/4 (0,75) gelatine leaf (1 sheet = 1,75 g)
55 g white chocolate
15 ml lime juice
30 ml heavy cream
75 ml heavy cream lightly whipped to soft peaks
7-8 medium/big basil leaves and a bit of sugar
Day 2
Red Currant Mousse and Red Currant Mousse Half Spheres:
5 gelatine leafs (1 sheet = 1,75 g)
330 g red currant
170 g caster sugar
1,5 tsp vanilla paste
3 tbsp lemon juice
500 ml heavy cream
Day 3
Glaze:
6 gelatine leafs (1 sheet = 1,75 g)
150 g white chocolate
100 ml heavy cream
50 ml water
150 g caster sugar
150 g glucose syrup
Pink and white food colouring paste
Day 3
Decoration:
White Velvet Spray
Chocolate Ribbons: 250 g white chocolate, baby pink and pink food colouring powder
Decoration: Fresh red currant and flowers
Instructions:
Crunch layer with Ruby Chocolate and Raspberry:
Roast the hazelnuts for approx. 5-7 min at 175°C. Remove the shells
Carefully melt sugar to a golden caramel in a little saucepan. Add immediately the hazelnuts and pour the caramelized nuts onto a piece of parchment paper. Let them cool
Crop the nuts finely
Carefully melt the chocolate (possibly in a bowl over a pan of simmering water / bain-marie). Put the saucepan aside
Add finely chopped hazelnuts, Cara Crakine, feuilletine/crushed cornflakes, salt and raspberry powder to the chocolate mixture
Place the crunch between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out the crunch layer with a rolling pin. Put it in the fridge for 5 min
Take the crunch layer out of the fridge and cut a base with a pastry ring (16 cm diameter)
Place the round crunch layer base in a pastry ring (16 cm diameter) lined with plastic sheet at the sides and parchment paper at the bottom. Make sure that the crunch base is placed even and flat in the pastry ring
Hazelnut Meringue Cake:
Roast the hazelnuts for approx. 5-7 min at 175°C. Remove the shells
Blend powdered sugar and 50 g of the hazelnuts to flour in a food processer. Roughly chop the remaining 25 g hazelnuts
Whip the egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. Then gradually add sugar while whipping. Continue until you get a thick and shiny meringue
Add the nut flour/powdered sugar mixture and the chopped nuts in the meringue. Finally add salt and flour
Pour the dough in a springform or pastry ring (16 cm diameter) with parchment paper
Bake the cake for approx. 10-12 min. at 175°C until lightly golden
Let the cake cool. Then place it on top of the crunch layer in the pastry ring
Put the cake in the freezer while preparing the ganache
Red Currant Ganache with White Chocolate and Basil:
Boil red currant in a saucepan and cook until tender. Sift the red currant pulp so you get 60 g pure puré/juice
Carefully melt the chocolate (possibly in a bowl over a pan of simmering water / bain-marie) and put the chocolate aside in a bowl
Heat heavy cream, red currant puré and lemon juice almost to a boil and remove it from the heat
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate while stirring in the middle of the bowl with a rubber spatula
Hand blend the ganache
Crush the basil leaves to puré with a bit of sugar in a mortar. Stir them in the ganache
Pour the ganache over the hazelnut cake and put it back in the freezer. The ganache needs to be frozen before the next layer can be added
Red Currant Marmelade:
Soak gelatine in cold water for 5-10 min
Boil red currant, vanilla paste and sugar in a saucepan and cook until tender
Add melatin and let the marmelade cook further for 1 min. until it thickens
Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the gelatine. Sift the marmelade and let it cool to room temperature
Spread the marmalade on the cake in an even layer with a small palette knife
Let the cake freeze for min. 3 hours before the basil mousse can be added
Basil Mousse with White Chocolate:
Soak gelatine in cold water for 5-10 min
Carefully melt the chocolate (possibly in a bowl over a pan of simmering water / bain-marie) and put the chocolate aside in a bowl
Heat 30 ml heavy cream and lime juice almost to a boil and remove it from the heat. Whip the gelatine in the mixture
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate mixture while you stir in the middle of the bowl with a rubber spatula
Crush the fresh basil leaves to puré with a bit of sugar in a mortar. Stir them in the chocolate mixture and let it cool until lukewarm
Whip 75 ml heavy cream to soft peaks and gently fold the cream into the lukewarm chocolate mixture (if it is too hot it can separate the cream)
Pour the mousse over the marmelade. Make sure that the mousse is flat and even for a nice cake cut
Put the cake in the freezer overnight so it can set completely
Red Currant Mousse and Red Currant Mousse Half Spheres:
Soak gelatine in cold water for 5-10 min
Boil red currant, vanilla paste, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and cook until tender. Remove it from the heat and whip the gelatine in the mixture
Let it cool until lukewarm
Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and gently fold the cream into the lukewarm red currant mixture (if it is too hot it can separate the cream)
Red Currant Mousse inside the cake:
Place a silicone mould 18 cm diameter (I have used a Silikomart TOR mould) lined with plastic sheet (as the cake will be taller the the mould) on a chopping board on a kitchen scale
Pour 450 g of the red currant mousse in the mould. Put the rest of the mousse in a pipping bag and place it shortly on the kitchen table while you finish the cake
Take the frozen cake out of the freezer and carefully press it down in the red currant mousse with the basil mousse facing downwards
Freeze the cake overnight
Red Currant Half Spheres:
Pour the rest of the mousse in half spheres in the following sizes: 2,5 cm diameter, 3 cm diameter, 4 cm diameter and 5 cm diameter
Freeze them overnight
Assembling The Cake, Part 1:
The next day: Take the frozen cake out of the freezer and place it on a baking rack with parchment paper underneath
Spray the cake with white velvet spray and place it on a cake plate. Put it in the fridge while finishing the rest of the decoration
Chocolate Ribbons:
Cut three pieces of plastic sheets and put them on the kitchen table:
Chocolate ribbon 1, around the cake (18 cm diameter): 1,5 cm x 58 cm
Chocolate ribbon 2, around the cake (18 cm diameter): 2,5 cm x 58 cm
Chocolate ribbon 3, on top of the cake (16 cm diameter): 1 cm x 52 cm
Put three pastry rings (2 x 18 cm diameter and 1 x 16 cm diameter) in the fridge
Temper the chocolate and add food colouring powder. The ribbon on top of the cake at 1 cm and the ribbon around the cake at 1,5 cm should have the same colour (baby pink), while the remaining ribbon at 2,5 cm around the cake should be more pink
Pour the chocolate over the plastic sheets, even the surface with a small palet knife, release the plastic sheets from the table and run the fingers along the sides of the plastic sheets to remove chocolate leftovers. Leave them on the kitchen table until they almost set
Place the ribbons around the cold pastry rings and put them back in the fridge
When the chocolate has set, remove the plastic sheets and gently put the ribbons around the cake and on top of the cake. Fasten the ends of the chocolate ribbons around the cake with a little melted chocolate
Glaze:
Soak gelatine in cold water for 5-10 min
Chop chocolate finely and put it in a large plastic pitcher
Heat sugar, water, heavy cream and glucose syrup in a saucepan almost to a boil and remove from the heat. Whip the gelatine in the mixture
Pour the cream over the chocolate in the pitcher and hand blend (place the hand blender at an angle when blending to avoid air bubbles). Add pink and white food colouring paste
Cover the surface with cling film and cool the glaze down to 34°C-35C°
Take the mousse half spheres out of the freezer right before you are ready to glaze. Place them on a baking rack with parchment paper underneath
Pour the glaze over the frozen half spheres. Use a little palet knife to remove the glaze excess from the bottom of the half spheres
Assembling The Cake, Part 2:
Right after the half spheres have been glazed, place them on top of the cake inside the chocolate ribbon
Decorate with fresh red currant and flowers
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