Crown of whipped cream, hazelnuts and salted butter caramel

Ingredients

For the cracker

• 80 g of soft semi-salted butter
• 100 g brown sugar
• 100 g flour

For the choux pastry

• 125 g of water
• 125 g of milk
• 60 g of unsalted butter
• 150 g of t45 flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon(s) of sugar
• 4 whole eggs beaten into an omelette

For the salted butter caramel

• 50 g caster sugar
• 50 g of semi-salted butter
• 100 g of whole liquid cream

For the caramelized hazelnuts

• 125 g of hazelnuts
• 40 g of water
• 100 g caster sugar
• 10 g of semi-salted butter

For the whipped cream

• 200 g of very cold whole liquid cream
• 60 g of very cold mascarpone

• the seeds of 2 vanilla pods

• 40 g icing sugar + a little for serving

Preparation

1. Prepare the craquelin: in a salad bowl, mix all the ingredients to form a dough. Then roll it out thinly between two sheets of baking paper using a rolling pin and leave to harden in the freezer for 20 minutes. Use a cookie cutter to make circles the size of your choux buns.

2. Prepare the choux pastry: preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6-7). Bring the water and milk to the boil then add the butter. Once it has melted, remove from the heat, add the flour, salt and sugar all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, then return to low heat and mix the dough with a wooden spatula to dry it out for 3 minutes. It should come away from the pan and form a thin film on the bottom. Pour it into a salad bowl and add the eggs in several batches. Pour the dough into a piping bag.

3. Poach 8 large choux buns, spacing them well apart, on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Place a circle of craquelin on each choux bun. Bake for 40 minutes without opening the oven door during cooking. Let cool.

4. Prepare the caramel: caramelize the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, then gradually add the butter and finish with the cream, mixing with a whisk. Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.

5. Pour the caramel into a container so that it hardens, then set aside in the refrigerator.

6. Prepare the caramelized hazelnuts: brown the hazelnuts in a pan for 3 minutes, then remove the skin by rubbing them with a cloth. Then pour the water and sugar into the pan. Melt until it reaches 118 °C. Then add the hazelnuts and mix. The sugar will crystallize then melt again and caramelize. Once the hazelnuts are caramelized, add the butter. Pour the hazelnuts onto a sheet of baking paper and leave to cool.

7. Crush them coarsely.

8. Prepare the whipped cream: in the bowl of the food processor, pour the very cold cream with the mascarpone and the seeds of the vanilla pods. Whip at medium speed for 3 minutes, then increase the speed. When the cream is whipped and firm, add the icing sugar. Pour the whipped cream into a piping bag.

9. Cut the choux buns in half lengthwise. Garnish the bottom of each choux bun with salted butter caramel and then caramelized hazelnuts. Then pipe the whipped cream generously, add a few crushed caramelized hazelnuts and close the choux bun. Arrange the choux buns on the serving dish and sprinkle with icing sugar. Keep cool until ready to serve.