Valentine's Day Exotic Fruit Entremets

Before starting this Exotic Fruit Valentine's Day Cake recipe, organise all the necessary ingredients for the coconut Dacquoise.

For the coconut Dacquoise: Pour the egg whites in the stand mixer recipient fitted with the whisk.

Add 85 grams of castor sugar...

... and the dark brown sugar...

... and whisk.

... until you obtain a meringue.

Sift the castor sugar and almond flour in a sifter, over a sheet of greaseproof paper.

Press the ingredients in the sifter with your hand to force the almond flour through the mesh.

Pour the sifted ingredients over the meringue...

... and fold gently with a rubber spatula...

... until homogeneous.

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

Using a mousse ring Ø 18cm and draw the inside of the ring with a pencil on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Draw another on the paper.

Flip the baking parchment on your workbench so the circle drawings are not in direct contact with the Dacquoise preparation.

Pipe the Dacquoise preparation inside the circle drawing into a spiral shape, starting from the centre...

Sprinkle the discs of Dacquoise biscuit with desiccated coconut. This recipe allows you to prepare two biscuits. It is difficult to reduce quantities for this recipe, as this will affect the consistency of the coconut Dacquoise preparation. The second disc can be stored in the freezer (once cooked and wrapped with cling film) for a later use.

Cook the discs in a fan-assisted oven preheated at 200°C (gas 6) for 12 minutes. Baking time can vary according to the type of oven.

When cooked, remove from the oven...

... and leave to cool at room temperature.

For the white chocolate, vanilla and jasmine Bavarian cream: Pour the water into a saucepan and bring to boil.

Pour the jasmine tea leaves in the saucepan...

...and leave aside to infuse.

For the mango/pineapple brunoise: Using a knife, cut 50 grams of pineapple flesh.

Repeat with the mango.

Cut the mango and pineapple into small cubes to create a brunoise.

Melt the butter in a frying pan.

Add the fruit brunoise

... and sprinkle with castor sugar. Cook until you get a light caramelization.

Pour the white rum over the diced fruit.

When the rum starts boiling, ignite the surface of the pan with a flame to flambé the preparation.

Make sure you don't overcook the fruits so they stay whole and hold together. Pour the fruits through a sieve to strain and set aside to cool.

For the exotic fruit crémeux: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Hydrate the gelatine powder with 15 grams of water...

...and combine. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.

Pour the egg yolks and whole eggs (beaten beforehand) into a bowl.

Add the castor sugar...

...and blanch the ingredients with a whisk.

Add the Pabana exotic fruit purée...

... and the passion fruit purée...

... and combine carefully with a whisk.

Transfer the preparation into a saucepan...

... and cook 'à la nappe' (i.e. until the consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon). Make sure the temperature doesn't exceed 82°C to avoid scrambled eggs.

When the preparation reaches 65°C, reduce the heat and continue cooking while monitoring the temperature at regular intervals with a laser thermometer.

Take the saucepan away from the heat and add the hydrated gelatine mass.

Combine vigorously with a rubber spatula until the gelatine has dissolved in the hot preparation.

Transfer the preparation into a deep and narrow recipient, such as a measuring glass.

Add the softened butter when the preparation cools down to 33°C...

... and mix with a hand blender until smooth and homogeneous.

Place a mousse ring Ø 14cm on a perforated baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Pour the exotic fruit crémeux into the ring. The thickness should be between 1 and 1.5cm.

Spread the mango and pineapple brunoise over the exotic fruit crémeux. Store in the freezer. Up to this stage, this recipe can be made several days in advance.

For the white chocolate, vanilla and jasmine Bavarian cream (continued): Prepare all the ingredients, together with the jasmine tea already infused in the saucepan.

Hydrate the gelatine with 34 grams of water.

Combine and leave aside for at least 10 minutes.

Add the whipping cream to the infused tea...

... and place the saucepan on the heat. Bring to a simmer.

Pour the milk in a separate saucepan.

Pass the tea and cream preparation through a fine sieve over the saucepan with the milk.

Press on the jasmine tea leaves with a rubber spatula to extract as much flavour as possible.

Add the egg yolks to the jasmine tea cream and milk, while mixing with the whisk.

Cook 'à la nappe' (i.e. until the consistency is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon). Make sure the temperature doesn't exceed 82°C to avoid scrambled eggs. Add the hydrated gelatin.

Place the white chocolate pistoles in a bowl.

Pass the hot cream (82°C) through a fine sieve over the bowl with the white chocolate.

Scrape the bottom of the sieve with the rubber spatula to waste as little preparation as possible. If the cream is a little overcooked and you notice some chunks of coagulated eggs, don't worry as we're going to mix it.

Combine vigorously with a whisk until the white chocolate has totally melted in the hot cream.

Add the liquid vanilla extract...

... and combine with the whisk.

Mix with a hand blender until smooth and homogeneous.

Transfer the cream into a food tray and spread to a thin layer so it cools down faster at room temperature.

Pour the cold whipping cream in the stand mixer recipient...

... and beat until you obtain a whipped cream with a soft consistency.

When the cream has cooled down to 35°C, transfer into a mixing bowl...

... and add 1/3 of the whipped cream. Combine carefully whisk.

Add the rest of the whipped cream...

... and whisk carefully until smooth and homogeneous. The consistency should be quite fluid, which is why it is essential to have a soft whipped cream.

Pour the Bavarian cream into a piping bag. The use of a nozzle is not necessary.

Pipe the Bavarian cream at the bottom of the Eros silicone mould, placed on a baking sheet.

Using a small cranked spatula, create a volcano shape so that the cream goes all the way up the sides of the mould.

Take the exotic fruit crémeux out of the freezer and slide a knife blade along the ring to detach it.

Carefully release the exotic fruit crémeux insert from the ring...

... flip the crémeux disc...

... and arrange the disc over the Bavarian cream, making sure the side with the diced fruit is in contact with the cream.

Gently press on the disc with your fingers to bury it a little inside the cream.

Cover the insert disc with the rest of the Bavarian cream, leaving a gap of 0.5cm on top.

Using a mousse ring Ø 16cm, cut the coconut Dacquoise biscuit.

Flip the biscuit and arrange it over the cream, burying it gently so the cream comes up the sides a little. However, there shouldn't be a layer of cream on top of the biscuit.

Cover the surface of the mould with cling film and place in the freezer. Up to this stage, the cake can be prepared several days in advance and stored in the freezer.

For the finish: Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.

Add the Mycryo cocoa butter (melted in the microwave beforehand) to make the chocolate a bit more liquid.

Combine carefully with the rubber spatula.

Add fat-soluble pink colouring powder to the white chocolate with the tip of a knife. I recommend working with very small quantities. If you don't have pink colouring, you can use a tiny amount of red colouring powder.

Mix with a hand blender to activate the colour pigments, until you get a homogeneous consistency. Add more colouring if needed.

Add the slivered almonds to the pink chocolate and combine with the rubber spatula. Set aside and keep warm at 30°C.

For the pink coating: Take the cake out of the freezer and remove the cling film.

Place a round cake board Ø 18cm at the base of the silicone mould...

... then flip the cake and carefully remove the silicone mould. The cake should still be frozen for this operation.

Place the frozen cake on top of several sheets of greaseproof paper to protect your worktop surface, then spray with pink pearl velvet icing from a distance of 20 or 30cm...

... making sure to coat the whole surface of the cake. When coming into contact with the frozen cake, the icing will set instantly into micro drops and create an elegant velvet finish.

Carefully lift the coated cake off the cake board with two metallic cranked spatulas, making sure not to damage the coating...

... and arrange the cake on a smaller cake board (the board shouldn't be visible).

Apply melted pink chocolate around the base of the cake with a pastry brush.

Using decorating tweezers, arrange slivered almonds coated with pink chocolate around the base of the cake. The warm almonds will set instantly when coming in contact with the frozen cake.

Carefully arrange the cake on serving plate.

Our exotic fruit entremets is now finished. Leave to defrost in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving. Enjoy this delicious dessert!