Arabica Cake
3 servings
30 minutes
A dessert by Christian Lorenzini, chef of the Moscow restaurant Christian. Two dozen ingredients, including hazelnuts and hazelnut flour, sesame, two types of cream, white chocolate - and two spoons of coffee.
1
Combine soft butter at room temperature in a mixer bowl on medium speed with all dry ingredients until crumbly. Mix by hand until the mass is combined. Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 3-4 mm. Place in the freezer for 1 hour. Cut out 9 cm diameter circles from the frozen dough. Bake in a mold at 160 degrees for 15 minutes with convection. If there is no convection, bake with the door slightly open. Cool slightly and place in the freezer to prevent drying out.
- Butter: 145 g
- Cane sugar: 45 g
- Hazelnut flour: 120 g
- Wheat flour: 65 g
- White sesame seeds: 19 g
2
Beat the chicken egg, yolk, and sugar (65 g), then mix with dry ingredients. Melt the butter to 50 degrees and add it to the dough. Whip the egg white with sugar (30 g) to a meringue state and gently fold it into the main dough. Place 50 grams on the baked and cooled streusel in molds and bake at 160 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately smooth the surface of the biscuit with a spoon (center and edges) so that it is level after cooling. Let cool slightly at room temperature. If not used immediately, store in the freezer to prevent moisture loss in the biscuit. To remove the baked semi-finished product from the mold, cut around the edge of the biscuit with a thin knife.
- Chicken egg: 1 piece
- Egg yolk: 40 g
- Fine white sugar: 375 g
- Vanillin: pinch
- Egg white: 30 pieces
3
Place coffee beans in a bag or pastry bag and crush them with a rolling pin not too finely, transfer to a saucepan, pour in milk, and bring to a boil, but do not boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 20 minutes. If you want a stronger coffee flavor in the cream, you can leave it covered for a longer time.
- Natural coffee: 2 tablespoons
- Milk 3.5%: 125 ml
4
Soak gelatin (2 g) in water (10 ml). Strain the milk through a sieve, weigh it, and add the necessary amount to reach the original. Combine the yolk with sugar, cornstarch, and a small part of cold milk, mix. Heat the remaining milk almost to boiling, pour it into the yolk mixture while stirring vigorously, transfer to a hemisphere, and cook in a water bath until it becomes custard. Remove from heat, add melted gelatin and butter, mix, and blend until smooth for a richer flavor and texture. Cover with film and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Before use, mix the cream in a mixer with a paddle attachment.
- Gelatin in plates: 4 g
- Milk 3.5%: 125 ml
- Egg yolk: 40 g
- Fine white sugar: 375 g
- Cornstarch: 12 g
- Butter: 145 g
5
Grind the coffee in the same way, pour in cold cream, bring to a boil but do not boil. Remove from heat, cover with a lid and let steep for 20 minutes. Soak gelatin (2 g) in cold water (10 ml). Strain through a sieve and add cream back to the original amount. Bring the coffee cream to a boil and add the gelatin dissolved in water, mixing well. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes; stir, blend until smooth and gradually add whipped cream while blending well each time. Cover the resulting cream with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Whip before use.
- Natural coffee: 2 tablespoons
- Cream 35%: 192 ml
- Gelatin in plates: 4 g
- Water: 275 ml
- White chocolate: 82 g
- Whipped cream: 175 ml
6
Spread raw hazelnuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven at 160 degrees for 10 minutes. Let the hazelnuts cool slightly, take a handful of nuts, and rub them between your palms to remove the skins. Reheat the peeled hazelnuts in the oven for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, place sugar and water in a saucepan, heat it, and as soon as it boils, quickly add the hot nuts and stir rapidly with a wooden spatula to candy the hazelnuts. Once a sugar crust forms on the hazelnuts, immediately transfer them to a cold tray or baking sheet to prevent the sugar from melting. Let cool.
- Hazelnut: 100 g
7
Pour cold water over the coffee, bring to a boil, remove from heat and cover with a lid. Steep for 15 minutes. Strain. Caramelize the sugar: divide the sugar into 4 parts and gradually add each part to a heated saucepan with a thick bottom until all the sugar melts to an amber color. Do not stir with a spoon; just periodically swirl the pan for even melting of the sugar. When all the sugar has melted, remove the pan from heat and gradually pour in hot coffee. Be careful: adding liquid to caramel releases a lot of heat — you can get burned! Cook the resulting coffee syrup over low heat for 20-30 minutes while constantly stirring. Cool down.
- Natural coffee: 2 tablespoons
- Fine white sugar: 375 g
8
Place the cream with coffee syrup in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring constantly. Cool down.
- Cream 35%: 192 ml
- Fine white sugar: 375 g
9
Assembling the dessert: on a baked and previously thawed disc of crispy streusel and hazelnut biscuit, pipe two types of cream in a chaotic order from a pastry bag, and decorate with pieces of chocolate and candied hazelnuts on top. Drizzle with sauce before serving.