Mandarin & White Chocolate Easter Egg Cake

Before starting this Mandarin & White Chocolate Easter Egg Cake recipe, make sure you have organised the necessary ingredients for the mandarin insert.

Soak the gelatine sheet in cold water.

In a saucepan, tip the mandarin purée and the castor sugar.

Combine and bring to a boil.

Strain the gelatine sheet and squeeze to extract as much water as possible. Add to the hot mandarin purée.

Combine with a whisk until the gelatine has dissolved completely.

Leave to cool at room temperature. To speed up cooling down process, pour the preparation into a large dish or tray. Do not refrigerate; the preparation should not jellify.

In the meantime, beat the cold whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream.

When the mandarin purée is cold (but not jellified), transfer to a mixing bowl.

Add the whipped cream...

... and combine gently with a whisk.

Pour the preparation in an funnel dispenser...

... and fill the cavities of a Flexipan half sphere mould (Ø 3cm x H 1.8cm).

Let set in the freezer for a few hours.

When frozen, release the mandarin half spheres from the mould...

... and return to the freezer.

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

Hydrate the gelatine with 14 grams of water. Combine and set aside.

In a sauté pan, tip the egg yolks. Add the castor sugar...

... and the full-fat milk.

Combine the ingredients...

... and cook over medium heat, like a sabayon, until the temperature reaches 80°C. Whisk constantly, working in 8-shaped motions. This will prevent the eggs from coagulating.

Add the gelatine to the hot preparation. Combine well...

... then pour the preparation in the stand mixer bowl.

Beat until cooled down completely.

In the meantime, melt the white chocolate over a bain-marie.

Stir at regular intervals until thoroughly melted.

When the sabayon preparation is cold, beat the whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream.

Pour the melted chocolate over the cold sabayon and combine.

Add the whipped cream and fold gently with a rubber spatula.

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

Take the mandarin half spheres from the freezer. Dip one of them in the chopped caramelised hazelnuts, flat side facing down.

The hazelnut nibs will stick to the frozen surface.

Stick another half sphere to create a sphere. Repeat with the other shapes. Reserve in the freezer.

Remove the piping bag from the fridge and cut the end to create a hole with a diameter of 0.5cm.
Fill the cavities of a 3D egg-shaped silicone mould with white chocolate mousse.

Place a frozen mandarin insert in the centre.

Place the upper part of the mould on top.

Make sure both parts are properly assembled.

Fill up the remaining space in the cavity with white chocolate mousse.

Repeat the operation until the 5 cavities are filled. Place in the freezer and let set for a few hours.

For the coating: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

When the eggs are frozen, gently remove the top part of the mould.

Gently release the eggs from the mould...

... pushing from the underside. Thanks to the flexible silicone material, this operation should be really easy.

Arrange the eggs vertically on a rack. If necessary, cut the base flat. Reserve in the freezer.

Melt the compound coating in the microwave. The temperature should reach 40/45°C maximum.

When smooth, add the chopped caramelised hazelnuts...

... and combine.

Take the eggs out of the freezer and place the rack on top of a cooking tray to collect the coating excess.

Pour some coating over each egg.

Make sure the whole surface is evenly coated. The coating will set within a few minutes by coming into contact with the frozen egg.

Assembling the cake: On a square of sesame seed nougatine...

... pipe a large swirl of chocolate ganache or chocolate custard.

Gently arrange the coated egg on top.

Repeat the same operation with the remaining eggs.

Apply some gold colouring spray on the chocolate coating...

... and finish by placing a small piece of gold leaf sheet on top of each egg. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving to allow the mandarin insert and white chocolate mousse to defrost.
Enjoy this delicious dessert!