Kuri Matcha Choco Verrines ~ 栗子抹茶可可和風物語

It is so wonderful that the sun is out after weeks of stormy weather! I had caught the blue bug from all that rain and didn’t want to do anything but lay in the bed! Now that it is sunny and warm, I am motivated to be back in the kitchen ^^

This Japanesey sweet is my take on a dessert featured in the Japanese version of ELLE à Table (Jan/09). I like the layering effect showed in the magazine and was convinced by the intrigue combination of chestnut and matcha. The two is a fairly common pairing in making wagashi (traditional Japanese sweets), but this nothing short of deliciousness combination seem somewhat unpopular or common in western pastry. If you have a recipe made of the two, would you mind sharing? I’m just mad about them!

The sweet is composed of spongy fragrant matcha génoise, rich & dense flourless chocolate cake, candied chestnuts, light & melt-in-your-mouth chestnut Chantilly then a dusting of cocoa powder and a piece of candied chestnut complete this lovely, Springy dessert - giving it not just a lovely presentation but a contrasting texture of light and dense. All the components were simple to make and you can make them a day in advance (except the chestnut Chantilly). Though I was very happy with the result but I couldn’t stop thinking that this may taste even better with Jasmine mousse, maybe you can try this combo and let me know how it turns out =)



Kuri Matcha Choco Verrines – makes six 8oz glasses
¼ recipe Matcha Génoise, diced
¼ recipe Chocolate Valentino, diced
1 recipe Kuri (chestnut) Chantilly Cream
8 whole chestnuts in syrup (available at Japanese markets)
Some cocoa powder

Matcha Génoise
100g granulated sugar
70g all purpose flour
15g matcha
20g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 large eggs

Prep:
- Sift together flour and matcha, set aside.
- Preheat oven to 360°F/180°C.
- Lightly butter a 12 x 9in/28 x 24cm roll cake pan and line it with parchment paper.

Brings a small pot of water to boil, set aside. Melt the butter in a microwave, set aside to cool.

Using a handheld mixer, beat the eggs together in a heatproof bowl then add sugar and beat until blended. Place the bowl over the pot of boil water and continue to beat over medium speed until it is foamy and warm to the touch. Remove from heat, continue to beat in a circular motion until it doubles in volume and soft peaks form. Gradually add in the sifted matcha flour mix using a rubber spatula and fold gently until incorporated. Add in the melted butter, quickly fold until completely incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spread and smooth out the batter using the spatula. Tap the pan slightly on the counter to release any air bubbles, place into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice it into small cubes.




Kuri (chestnut) Chantilly Cream
200ml heavy cream
3tbsp chestnut cream or crème de marrons
1tbsp caster sugar
¼ vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped out

Bring 50ml heavy cream, vanilla pod & seeds, and the chestnut cream to just simmer over medium heat; stirring occasionally to prevent from burning. Remove from heat and continue to stir until the two are fully incorporated. Remove vanilla pod and place the saucepan in an ice water bath to cool.

Place the remaining cream, sugar in a bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Fold in the cooled chestnut cream mixture and mix until fully incorporated. Pour the whipped cream into a piping bag w/o a tip, let chill in refrigerator.

Assemble:
Spoon some Chocolate Valentino cubes into the glasses (I use champagne flutes) to ¼ height of the glasses then spoon in matcha génoise cubes next to 2/4 full. Snip off a little corner of the piping bag, and pipe the cream to ¾ full, place some candied chestnuts on top then pipe more cream until almost to the top. Sprinkle some cocoa powder and top off with a piece of candied chestnut. Voilà!



這個和風甜點的靈感來自一款在日版ELLE à Table(01/09)看過的點心。我承認是因為照片拍的很漂亮﹐所以我才給吸引住的。再看它的材料配搭居然是我最愛的抹茶跟栗子的組合﹐我可沒理由拒絕了。其實抹茶跟栗子的組合是和菓子常見的風味﹐但在製作西式點心方面這個搭配並不是很普遍。好可惜喔~

很喜歡這個甜點的味道鋪陳 – 由有著襲人的淡雅茶香的抹茶海綿蛋糕﹑濃郁濕潤的純巧克力蛋糕﹑質地輕盈細緻口感清爽不膩帶有淡淡奶香的栗子風味香堤麗鮮奶油﹑還有藏在香堤麗鮮奶油中的鬆軟綿密帶著微甜的栗子甘露煮交揉出絕妙的層次及鮮明的口感﹐讓人為那份美味著迷感動。這個甜點適合用透明度高的容器來呈現﹐這樣才能看到它賞心悅目的漂亮層次。而因為它本身很精緻﹐裝飾上方簡單的用濾網過篩可可粉﹐再擺放一顆栗子甘露煮就可以了。

我覺得將栗子風味香堤麗鮮奶油變成茉莉風味慕斯﹐味道應該更迷人典雅。如果你剛巧不愛栗子﹐不妨嘗試這個組合吧 ^O^

栗子抹茶可可和風物語– 約6杯
¼ 份量的 抹茶傑諾瓦士﹐切丁
¼ 份量的 巧克力華輪天奴蛋糕﹐切丁
1 ½ 杯 栗子風味香堤麗鮮奶油
8顆 市售栗子甘露煮(購自日本超市)
少許 可可粉



抹茶傑諾瓦士 ~ 直徑12 x 9in/28 x 24cm長方形模具1個
100g 砂糖
70g 麵粉, 篩過
15g 抹茶
20g 無鹽奶油
3個 L尺寸全蛋

事前準備:
- 將抹茶和麵粉混合篩過備用。
- 將一烤架移到烤箱中格﹐烤箱預熱至360°F/180°C。
- 模具抹上厚厚的奶油﹐再鋪上烘烤紙﹐備用。

先燒開一小鍋的水﹐備用。將奶油切丁﹐倒進一個耐熱的容器裡﹐然後放微波爐加熱融化﹐靜置放涼備用。

將蛋倒進耐熱拌碗中﹐用電動攪拌器以中速打散﹐加進砂糖﹐攪打至顏色變淡。將拌碗放小鍋上隔熱水加熱打發﹐不停攪拌至微溫發泡。停止加熱﹐繼續以劃圓圈的動作打發至富含空氣會如緞帶般重疊時即可。分數次加進篩過的抹茶麵粉﹐用橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻切拌勻﹐然後拌入放涼的融化無鹽奶油﹐同樣的以橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻切拌勻。

一鼓作氣地將麵糊倒進烤模中﹐推勻﹐輕輕敲一下烤模釋放氣泡後﹐放進預熱過的烤箱裡﹐烘烤約15分鐘。當週圍會因烤熟而稍稍縮小﹐烤模和蛋糕體間就會出現空隙﹐輕按蛋糕中間時感覺到彈性即烤好。也可以用竹籤插入中央﹐慢慢拔出時不會沾黏﹐就烤好了。從烤箱取出﹐翻轉倒扣脫模﹐擺在網架上整個放涼。將海綿蛋糕橫切成小丁備用。

如果不立刻使用﹐可將蛋糕包好放冰箱存放﹐可以保存3天。使用前靜置回溫即可。



栗子風味香堤麗鮮奶油 – 約1 ½ 杯份量
200ml 鮮奶油
3湯匙 市售栗子醬
1湯匙 細砂糖
¼條 香草豆﹐開半刮籽

將50ml的鮮奶油﹑香草豆及籽﹑栗子醬混合倒進小鍋中﹐以中火煮至剛沸騰﹐期間要不時的攪拌以免煮焦。離火﹐確實攪拌勻栗子奶漿後﹐丟掉香草豆﹐放冰水浴中放涼。

將鮮奶油和細砂糖放入拌碗中﹐用電動打蛋器先以低速打發鮮奶油至起泡﹐再轉中速攪打至出現尖角的程度。拌入放涼的栗子奶漿﹐用橡皮刀源邊往下刮翻切拌勻即可。將栗子香堤麗倒進擠袋裡﹐剪去一角﹐放冰箱冷藏備用。

組合及裝飾:
將切成小丁的巧克力華輪天奴蛋糕舀進杯中至4分1滿﹐然後舀進丁狀的抹茶傑諾瓦士至4分2滿。將栗子香堤麗擠進杯中至4分3滿﹐填入切碎的栗子甘露煮﹐然後再擠栗子香堤麗至滿頂。撒一些可可粉﹐再擺放栗子甘露煮點綴裝飾即可。