Chocolate Dome Cakes

For the bergamot mint crème brûlée: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Place the cream in a saucepan.

Place the saucepan on an induction hob or a stove, then bring to a boil.

Remove the mint leaves from the stems.

Add the leaves to the hot cream.

Cover and infuse for 10-15 minutes.

Mix the egg yolks with the castor sugar.

Beat vigorously with a whisk until pale and fluffy.

Using a fine sieve, filter the infused milk over the eggs.

Press on the mint leaves with a spoon to extract as much flavour as possible.

Combine gently.

Cook the preparation in a Gastroflex mould with half spheres.

Bake at 100°C (gas 1/4) for 40 minutes.

For the crispy biscuit: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Soften the Cara Crakine slightly in the microwave, then place in a mixing bowl. Add the melted chocolate.

Gently combine the two ingredients.

Pour the preparation on a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Spread into a thin layer, using a cranked spatula.

Place another sheet of greaseproof paper on top.

Press with your hands to flatten.

Even with a rolling pin to a thickness of 2-3mm. Refrigerate.

For the dark chocolate mousse: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

In a saucepan, cook the sugar with a small amount of water until the temperature reaches 120°C (use a laser thermometer).

Coarsely chop the caramelized hazelnuts with a knife.

When the temperature gets close to 120°C...

... start beating the whole eggs in the stand mixer.

Gradually pour the cooked sugar over the whole eggs, while beating at low speed.

Increase the speed, then beat until cooled down completely.

Pour the preparation in a recipient.

Melt the couverture chocolate.

Add the melted chocolate to the egg and sugar preparation.

Add the crushed hazelnuts.

Combine all elements.

The preparation is ready when the consistency is homogeneous.

Beat the whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream.

Add the whipped cream to the chocolate preparation.

Using a rubber spatula, combine gently until the colour is homogeneous.

Transfer the preparation into a piping bag. The use of a nozzle is not necessary.

Pipe the chocolate mousse halfway up stainless steel half-sphere moulds (diameter 7cm).

When the crèmes brûlées are cooked, remove from the oven and place in the freezer for about 20 minutes for them to cool down quickly.

Gently remove the crème brûlée half spheres from the mould.

Lift them gently with a stainless steel spatula...

... and place one in each chocolate mousse sphere.

Fill the sphere moulds up to the top with the chocolate mousse.

Even the surface with a cranked metallic spatula.

Remove the crispy biscuit from the freezer and remove the top sheet of greaseproof paper.

Using a pastry cutter(diameter 7cm), cut the crispy base into disks...

... and lift them gently.

Place one crispy biscuit disk on each chocolate sphere. The crispy biscuit will make the base of the cake. Place in the freezer.

For the white chocolate rings: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Melt the white chocolate in the microwave by periods of 10 or 15 seconds, until the temperature reaches roughly 40°C. When melted, stir until the temperature goes down to 35°C.

At this stage, add the Mycryo butter. Let it melt in the chocolate a little, then combine and let the temperature go down to 28°C.

Pour the white chocolate on an guitar sheet or an acetate sheet. Spread with a cranked metallic spatula to a thickness of 2mm. At room temperature, let the chocolate set slowly.

When the consistency is getting harder (but not completely solid yet), cut rings with plain pastry cutters of different diameters. Chocolate is very delicate to work with; take extra precautions not to break the rings.

When all the rings have been cut, place them in the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes for the chocolate to set until solid.

Remove the tray from the fridge. Flip on a board and remove the acetate sheet. The chocolate rings should come away easily.

Gently separate all individual rings.

Remove the stainless steel sphere moulds from the freezer. To easily remove from the mould, slightly heat the surface of the mould with a blow torch (this operation should be very brief for the preparation not to melt).

Make the cake slide out of the mould.

Place on a Silpat baking mat.

For the finish: Use the velvet pearl chocolate spray. Place the spray in a bain-marie pot filled with water at approximately 50°C. Let it heat up slowly for about 30 minutes.

When the bottle is hot, shake it for a couple of minutes until you can hear the ball bearings moving freely. Spray the chocolate domes with a velvet coat, from a distance of 30-40cm. The domes should be entirely covered with a smooth, velvety layer.

The result should be similar to what is shown in the photo. It is essential that the cake is frozen and the spray bottle is hot.

Gently lift a chocolate ring and place it around a dome.

Position a second ring...

... then a third one.

Use rings of different diameters so the rings are positioned on different levels on the dome.

Place some Crispearls on a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Using a gold colouring spray, decorate the pearls.

Let dry.

Using a decorating bag and some melted white chocolate, pipe a few drops on the chocolate rings.

With decorating tongs, place one gold pearl on each drop of white chocolate. Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve.