Sweet ‘N Strong with spicy chocolate by Adrien Bozzolo

As Executive Pastry Chef at Mandarin Oriental Paris, Adrien Bozzolo is in charge of the sweet creations of Sur Mesure Restaurant by Thierry Marx, Camélia, L’Honoré de Cake Boutique, as well as the hotel’s room and catering services.

Originally from Lorraine, in northern France, and a finalist on the popular TV show “Qui Sera Le Grand prochain Grand Patissier” in 2014, he makes elegant creations inspired in nature’s shapes, colors, and perfumes. Pieces with balanced flavors and contrasting textures in which he uses French pastry techniques, exotic ingredients from around the world and pays great attention to design. A great example is found in this Sweet N Strong, where chocolate is the absolute protagonist in the form of mousse, glaze, cream, or decorations. A small work of art that connects us with nature and in which he has used ground allspice as a spice. The Asian touch is found in the green shisho sprout leaves that serve as a decorative element. And as its name indicates, the roundness and sweetness of the chocolate is contrasted by the intensity of the spices and the bitter character of the variety of chocolate and cocoa used.

Sweet ‘n strong

Abinao Cremeux (172 g)

50 g liquid cream 35%
50 g semi-skimmed milk
20 g yolks
5 g powdered sugar
47 g Abinao couverture

Make a crème anglaise with the liquid cream, the semi-skimmed milk, the egg yolks and the powdered sugar (84°C). Pour over the couverture and make an emulsion. Put 20 g through a 6 cm diameter flexipan mold and freeze.

Mirror chocolate glaze (796 g)

63 g liquid cream 35%
122 g water
244 g powdered sugar
122 g glucose
81 g cocoa
62 g gelatin mass 200°Bloom

Mix the first five ingredients and cook at 105°C. Add the gelatin when the glaze has cooled to 70°C, mix and pass through a sieve. Reserve 24 hours in the fridge covered with cling film on skin.

Chocolate mousse with allspice (248 g)

60 g semi-skimmed uht milk
2 g inverted sugar
81 g Guanaja couverture
105 g frothy whipped cream
0,6 g ground allspice

Heat the milk with the inverted sugar and the ground pepper. Pour over the coating and mix to perfect the emulsion. Add the whipped cream. Strain 25 g of mousse into the 6 cm molds for babà. Freeze. On a rimmed baking sheet, place on a guitar sheet and press down firmly. Put 8 cm diameter cake circles on the tray. Pour out the mousse halfway up the circle. Place the creamy insert in the center, cover with mousse and smooth to the height. Freeze and cut 7 cm circles with a cookie cutter (without removing the foam beforehand). Refreeze and cut the mousse circle into two equal parts. Reserve in the freezer.

Caramelised cocoa nibs (34 g)

20 g cocoa nibs
12 g syrup at 30ºB
2 g egg whites

Mix the ingredients together. Spread the mixture with a spatula into 1 cm diameter half-sphere molds with a spatula. Bake at 140 ° C until golden brown (about 30 minutes). Unmold once cold and break the nibs to obtain small nibs. Put in a small box with gold glitter powder or shake the box to get small gold nuggets.
* Recipe for 1 half-sphere mold 1 cm in diameter

Gluten-free sweet cocoa pastry (141 g)

41 g chestnut flour
6 g cocoa powder
6 g gray almond powder
0,4 g fine salt
22 g muscovado sugar
30 g butter
8 g egg whites
4 g egg yolks
24 g caramelized cocoa beans

Pour the first five ingredients into the blender and mix everything to obtain a fine powder. Put this mixture in the bowl of the mixer, add the butter and “sabler” everything with the shovel. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until you get a homogeneous paste. Spread 1.5 mm thick between two sheets of greaseproof paper and leave to rest in the fridge. Cut 24.2 cm / 2 cm strips of dough. Place inside the 8 cm diameter cake ring. Put the dough strip inside the circle and press it firmly against the silpain. Place on a flat plate with silpain. Bake at 170°C for 12 minutes. When the paste circles are cool, remove from the mold. Apply melted cocoa butter to each circle and drain on a silpain rack to remove excess cocoa butter. Store in the oven.

Chocolate decorations

500 g Carupano 70% couverture

Procedure for rectangles

Temper the couverture. Spread on the flat plate to a thickness of 1 mm. When the topping is semi-crystallized, cut 7cm / 2cm rectangles. Cover with a baking sheet and place a flat plate on it. Let the decorations crystallize and unmold.

Procedure for branches

Temper the couverture. Put in a bag and cut it to have an opening of a few millimeters. Prepare a plate with cocoa powder and make waves so as not to have a too smooth a surface. Place the chocolate in an irregular shape (like branches) directly in the cocoa and cover it with the cocoa with a strainer. Allow to crystallize and remove from cocoa. Remove the cocoa from the branches with a soft brush. Stick the branches with tempered chocolate in a harmonious and airy way over the chocolate rectangle and reserve in a large closed box until use.

Montage

Heat the glaze, put it in a tall container and remove the bubbles with a hand mixer. Dip the mousse in the glaze, remove the excess and let it rest in the freezer for a few minutes. Slide the mousse into the sweet paste circle. Arrange the rectangle of chocolate with the branches on top of the mousse. Place three small caramelized golden nuggets. Decorate by putting some young green shiso sprout leaves.