Best chocolate cake and chocolate tartlets with raspberries and ganache recipe and tutorial. A day dedicated to “snacking”, allowed to try the delicious desserts – no secret review of the chocolate cream, the fruit for decoration not counted. It sounds like a dream – especially if you like sweet & chocolate so much – no pressure to see if it succeeds. I should get a perfect teacher for the chocolate tarts – Olivier Fabing, who explains the high school of French pâtisserie in detail on TV and his book.
Chocolate cake and chocolate tartlets for 12 people
If there hadn’t been a sentence there that would suddenly change my actually relaxed afternoon in the kitchen with pressure and responsibility. “What you are making today is the dessert for the guests of the restaurant for tonight’s dinner!” So relaxation can quickly fluffy 🙂 – the decision fell on “chocolate tartlet with raspberries and ganache”, so extravagant chocolate cake.
The night before the cooking class, another casual question from Olivier – “Vanessa, what would you like to make for dessert for the guests”…. and without thinking twice, I also thought to myself “… oh anything with chocolate would be nice!”. A smile from Olivier, an acknowledgement and the hint, “I’d love to – I’ll come up with something for you…”
The morning still spent in the Style Outlets Zweibrücken, me a little distracted it should start at 14.00 o’clock. The cooking apron was already ready, along with a wide variety of ingredients, from sugar, large blocks of chocolate to raspberries. Many small bowls, a scale, some large and small knives and a “Bunsen burner”.
The most I’ve ever known of the equipment was from chemistry class many years ago or from crème brûlée… A folder with the cooking recipes, put on the apron and it was allowed to start.
“Chocolate tartlets with raspberries”
Already in the open show kitchen for me put out, the ingredients. At the latest when I looked at the chocolate blocks, it was clear to me, it will all be a little bigger, there is not only dessert for the closest friends, no, there will be a few more participants at the dinner. There was that “certain pressure” again – to make it look good in any case and the thought “hopefully the cupcakes taste good”.
For the basic recipe of the chocolate cake or chocolate tartlets with raspberries, the following ingredients were used:
- 200g chocolate
- 165g butter
- 165g sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 40g flour
- 40g ground almonds (for the moisture in the dough)
- 4 egg whites
So far I had understood it, now it went to the weighing and Olivier took it very precisely. 200g chocolate is not 210g chocolate or 190g chocolate (then it would say there…) but 200g or 201g – if you consider that a large block of chocolate weighs 250g, the whole stack over 2 kilograms was now required fingertip feeling. Can a chocolate cake or chocolate tartlets actually have too much chocolate?
First, water was put on and brought almost to a boil. In contrast to the small bowl in the water bath, Olivier attached great importance to the fact that the bowl is above the pot and thus no water (also no steam) penetrates into the chocolate for the chocolate cake.
Filled now the exactly 200g chocolate, 165g butter and 165g sugar and brought to melting. Then fold in the egg yolks, flour and ground almonds and add the separately whipped egg whites.
Tasting had to be now already once and the chocolate mass had already an interesting taste. Actually, I would not have had to continue at all and emptied the bowl piece by piece. Yummy!
But it came differently and Olivier insisted on a baking sheet, on which the chocolate mass was spread and then baked at 180°C to 200°C for 12-15 minutes. The smell of chocolate continued to rise in the kitchen and you could see beautifully how in the large oven the dough slowly rose.
The taste deliciously fluffy, a hint like a good brownie, only nowhere near as hard and sticky. Actually, this chocolate cake would have been enough for me as a pastry for coffee, but afterwards the dough should be cut out with round metal rings.
Ganache Chocolat Recipe – 2nd part “Chocolate Tart with Raspberries”
For the second part of the raspberry tartlet and chocolate cake, the following ingredients are then needed, and again, accurate measurement is very important, otherwise the consistency of the “Ganache Chocolat” will not succeed.
- 150g milk chocolate (if Nutella is desired – only 100g)
- 150g dark chocolate
- 125g milk
- 125g cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 25g sugar
First, the chocolate is heated again in a water bath and let it run to 3/4. In the meantime, you can already boil the milk with the cream (but carefully!). Mix the egg yolk and sugar mixture with a whisk and – carefully – pour the milk and cream mixture on top, stir and heat… keep adding a little heat and stirring constantly (so it doesn’t get flaky). Then add the dissolved chocolate and stir to combine.
Using a spoon, now fill the top half of the cupcakes until they finish at the top. You can put the remaining, unused chocolate mass on a baking paper and let it harden in the refrigerator. This can be used later for decorations.
Now cover the filled chocolate tartlets with foil and put them in the fridge for 2-3 hours to harden.
Why a Bunsen burner for chocolate tartlets
The question is quite simple to explain, to be able to loosen the rings from the chocolate tartlets, you put the cold chocolate tartlets on a narrow object (such as an egg cup) and slowly and carefully heat the outer metal ring (which then expands) and falls from the chocolate tartlets 🙂 …
These and many other tricks, just like how to get cheap rings for patisserie, what else you can use a Bunsen burner for or how you can then decorate the chocolate tartlets with a berry sorbet were explained by Olivier afterwards. Many little things that make everyday chocolate cake baking and desserts like chocolate tartlets much easier.
A special course – a special gift
For guests at Lösch Hotel for Friends, there is the possibility to book this course directly with the stay and also ask all the questions you always wanted to ask in the kitchen – I don’t know how many times I asked, “Why, How, Why, etc.” and Olivier answered all the questions directly and honestly – with a special French charm and accent…. so the day was really special.
As a souvenir there was the book “Divine Seduction” (Göttlich Verführung) by Olivier Fabing with personal dedication, as well as my cooking apron and for you in the future certainly one or the other picture of me from a kitchen, with new desserts and many simple tips that make the desserts succeed.
Recipe chocolate tartlet with raspberries
Equipment
- 1 stand mixer
- 1 water bath bowl
- 1 dough scraper
- 1 baking rings small
Ingredients
Chocolate cake dough
- 200 g chocolate chips (dark)
- 165 g spreadable butter
- 165 g sugar
- 4 egg yolk
- 40 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g almond semolina (= ground almonds) Important for the moisture in the dough
- 4 egg white
Ganache Chocolat
- 150 g chocolate chips (milk)
- 150 g chocolate chips (dark)
- 125 g whole milk 3,5%
- 125 g whipped cream
- 3 egg yolk
- 25 g sugar
Topping
- 150 g raspberries
Recipe-Instruction
- Bring water to a near boil in a saucepan on the stove as a water bath. Place a larger bowl in the water bath so that no water or steam can get into the bowl.
- Fill bowl on the water bath with 200g of chocolate, 165g of butter and 165g of sugar and melt and mix. Then fold in the egg yolks, flour and ground almonds, as well as the egg whites beaten in advance.200 g (1 ⅙ cups) chocolate chips (dark)165 g (5.80 oz) spreadable butter165 g (⅘ cups) sugar4 egg yolk40 g (⅓ cups) all-purpose flour40 g (⅙ cups) almond semolina4 egg white
- Now spread the finished mixture on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake at
200 °C for about 12-15 minutes. Start 12 minutes timer here - After a short cooling, the finished baked dough is cut out with round metal rings, leaving the dough in the ring and not detached from it – so you need 12 metal rings. Now you start to prepare the chocolate ganache.
- First, the chocolate is heated again in a water bath and let it run to 3/4. In the meantime, you can already boil milk together with the cream (but carefully!).150 g (⅘ cups) chocolate chips (milk)125 g (4.40 oz) whole milk 3,5%125 g (4.40 oz) whipped cream150 g (⅘ cups) chocolate chips (dark)
- Mix the egg yolk and sugar mixture with a whisk and – carefully – pour the milk-and-cream mixture on top, stir and heat… keep adding a little heat and stirring constantly (so it doesn't get flaky). Then add the dissolved chocolate and stir until combined.3 egg yolk25 g (2 tbsp) sugar
- Using a spoon, fill the top half of the cupcakes until they are flush with the top edge. You can put the remaining, unused chocolate mass on a baking paper and let it harden in the refrigerator. This can be used later for decorations.
- DiThe filled cupcakes are now covered with foil and given in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to harden. Start 120 minutes timer here
- To remove the rings from the cupcakes, place the cold cupcake on a narrow object (such as an egg cup) and slowly and carefully heat the outer metal ring (which then expands) and falls off the cupcake 🙂 The best way to do this is to use a Bunsen burner or creme brulee torch and gently turn the egg cup all the time.
- Now decorate as desired with raspberries or e.g. raspberry ice cream with a chocolate chip.150 g (1 cups) raspberries
Nutrition
I can only recommend you, if you would like to spend a nice weekend in Rhineland-Palatinate, work together with a star chef and simply ask all the questions of the patisserie, take a look at the offer of Olivier Fabing and the hotel “Lösch für Freunde”. Or maybe you just want to try the ready-made chocolate cake or chocolate tartlets? Bon appetite and have fun trying the recipes and my best chocolate tartlets.
