Pineapple, basil, lime and white chocolate mini mousse

Almond sablée

1. Mix butter, icing sugar and salt in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until the mixture becomes creamy and smooth. For plastic butter I mean the moldable butter. It is neither too cold (from fridge) nor too soft (spreadable). To obtain a plastic butter, hit it with a rolling pin until you can bend the butter with your hands.
2. Add the raw almonds flour (grind 14 g whole raw almonds with a small grinder until you obtain a quite fine powder) and the eggs and mix until combined.
3. Add finally the flour and work until the batter comes together.
4. Once the pastry has come together, press into a neat flat square and cover in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
5. Line a perforated baking tray with a perforated silicone baking mat. Roll out the sablée to a thickness of 2/3 mm and cut out 8 circles with a 7 cm round Exoglass cutter. Place them over the baking mat and put in the fridge for 30 min or in the freezer for 15 min.
6. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Cover the almond sablée circles with a second perforated silicone baking mat and bake for about 12 minutes, until golden-brown. Take out of the oven and dust with cocoa butter powder (Mycryo) to prevent moisture from the mousse.

Basil and white chocolate biscuit sponge 7. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Line a baking tray with a 25x20 cm mould, greased and covered with parchment paper. 8. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C. Add the soft butter and stir with a spatula to dissolve. Chiffonade the fresh basil leaves (slice into thin ribbons) and add into the white chocolate-butter mixture. Mix with a hand blender to break up the basil ribbons into thin pieces. 9. Add the egg yolks and mix by hand with a fine whisk. Add the salt and the sifted flour and mix to obtain a smooth batter. 10. In the bowl of the freestanding mixer fitted with whisk attachment beat the egg whites just until a bit foamy (not stiff peaks). Add slowly and little by little the caster sugar and beat until you obtain a shiny meringue. 11. Add a small part of the meringue into the batter and fold vigorously with a spatula to soften the batter. Then fold gently the meringue into the batter in two times using always the spatula. 12. Transfer the mixture into the mould, spread it out evenly with a palette knife and bake for approximately 15 min, until slightly golden. Set aside to cool down, then put in the freezer for about 1h to let it get cold completely. 13. Cut out the cold biscuit with a 5 cm round Exoglass cutter to obtain 8 circles. Wrap them with cling film and put in the freezer.

White chocolate and olive oil croustillant 14. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C, add in the extra virgin olive oil and stir with a spatula. 15. Transfer the melted white chocolate-olive oil mixture into a mini mixer grinder, add the granola and grind slightly to break up any large granola chunks and to obtain a grainy, evenly mixture. 16. Spread the croustillant on the base of each frozen basil biscuit sponge circle with a small palette knife about 2-3 mm thick. Put in the freezer. Store the leftover croustillant in an opaque airtight container at room temperature and away from light.

Pineapple compotée with basil, lime and vanilla 17. Cut the pineapple into small cubes (about 1 cm thickness). Combine the cubes of pineapple, the pineapple puree, the lime zest and the vanilla seeds in a saucepan and heat to 40°C. 18. In a small bowl mix together with a fine whisk the cane sugar and pectin NH, then add to the hot mix when it is 40°C. Bring to boil and cook for a couple minutes until the pineapple is quite tender. 19. Remove from the heat and allow to cool down (60°C). Chiffonade the fresh basil leaves, add to the pineapple compote and mix with a hand blender to break up the basil ribbons into thin pieces and to obtain a homogeneous mixture. 20. Fill 8 Silikomart half-spheres (4 cm wide) and freeze for about 1h.

Waina 35% white chocolate mousse with lime and vanilla 21. Soak the gelatin sheets in the cold water. 22. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C. Heat the lime juice in the microwave without boiling, then add in the soaked gelatin sheets and stir to dissolve it. Pour the lime juice over the melted white chocolate in three times, stirring with a spatula just to obtain a velvety, glossy cream. Transfer the cream in a mixing glass or a measuring cup, add the vanilla seeds and mix with the hand blender to obtain the best and most silky smooth consistency. Pour the cream in a bowl and cool down to 35-40°C. 23. Semi-whip the heavy cream and fold it gently into the lukewarm white chocolate cream, using a spatula. 24. Transfer the mousse to a disposable piping bag and cut a tip off the end. Pipe the mousse halfway into the Stone silicone mould from Silikomart. Use a teaspoon to spread the mousse up the sides to eliminate any air bubbles and to avoid whitespace. Demould the frozen pineapple compote and carefully set it inside the white chocolate mousse and press it down slightly so it is almost submerged in the mousse. Pipe another small layer of white chocolate mousse on top, ensuring you leave a gap to insert the biscuit sponge. Place the biscuit sponge on top of the mousse (with the biscuit sponge touching the mousse and the croustillant upwards) and press gently down until the biscuit sponge is level with the top of the mould. Remove any excess mousse with a palette knife and freeze for at least 2h.

Mirror glaze (with cocoa butter) 25. Soak the gelatin sheets in 45 g cold water for at least 10 min. 26. Weigh out the cocoa butter into a measuring cup or mixing glass. Heat the caster sugar, 130 g water and the dextrose sugar in a saucepan to 104°C. 27. Remove from the heat and add in the sweetened condensed milk and stir with a spatula. 28. Pour into the mixing glass, over the cocoa butter, and emulsify with the hand blender to melt the cocoa butter and adding as little air bubbles as possible. 29. Heat the Absolu Cristal in the microwave to 65°C and add into the mixture, followed by the drained gelatin sheets. Emulsify, then add a little bit of green fat soluble food coloring and emulsify once more. 30. Pour the glaze into a baking dish, cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the glaze and put in the fridge for 12h or overnight. 31. Heat the glaze in microwave until the edges start to melt. Transfer into a measuring cup and emulsify with the hand blender, so that the centre begins to melt too. Keep the blade of the hand blender on the bottom of the mixing glass, to avoid air bubbles. 32. Once the glaze is 25-27.5°C, unmould the frozen mini mousse and set them on a cooling rack with a pair of clingfilm sheets underneath, to collect the excess glaze. Pour the glaze over the mini mousse. 33. When the glaze stops dripping, gently place the finished mini mousse in the centre of the almond sablée base by using a small palette knife, then put in the fridge to defrost for at least 2h. The excess glaze can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or freezer for 2 months and re-heated and adjusted with water if needed.

Assembly and decoration 34. When the mini mousse are unfrozen, press the pistachio flour around the base of each mini mousse by using the end of a teaspoon. Remove any pistachio flour from the almond sablée with a small pastry brush. 35. For the Dulcey chocolate rectangles it is necessary to temper the Dulcey chocolate. The tempering chocolate curve is 40/45°C (melting) - 26/27°C (cooling) - 28/29°C (usage). 36. Cut the guitar sheet in half lengthwise so it is now 20x60 cm (width x length). Once the chocolate is tempered, pour a line onto one edge of the sheet. Place another guitar sheet on top and use a teflon rolling pin or a PVC pipe to roll out the chocolate to the other end of the sheet. Spread out the chocolate in a thin and even layer. Allow to set slightly until it is soft to touch but not fully set. 37. Cut the chocolate into 7 cm length and 1.5 cm width strips by using a stainless steel expandable dough cutter. Allow the chocolate to set completely to room temperature. 38. Place a rectangle strip on top of one side of the mini mousse and garnish with white chocolate crispy pearls, fresh basil leaves and edible flowers.