Piemonte Entremet Recipe

Chef Bertrand le Gallic
Servings

3 Cakes

Prep Time

24 hours

Category

Desserts/Cakes

Named after the Italian region where gianduja was born, the Piemonte entremet brings together the flavors that made Turin one of the world's great chocolate cities: rich hazelnuts, silky gianduja, and a delicate contrast of fruit and crunch. Gianduja itself dates back to early-1800s Turin, when Piedmontese chocolatiers stretched scarce, expensive cocoa with the region's prized local hazelnuts — the same pairing that anchors this dessert two centuries later.

This entremet layers a crunchy praline base, a Callebaut dark gianduja cream, a bright blueberry confit, and a whipped hazelnut praline mousse, finished with a glossy hazelnut gianduja glaze and caramelized hazelnuts. It's built for professional pastry kitchens — the kind of centerpiece dessert that suits a bakery display case, a hotel dessert menu, or a restaurant's plated finale — and every component can be made ahead and frozen, which makes it practical for service as well as impressive on the plate.

Below, the full recipe is broken into its seven components in the order you'll want to prepare them, along with a few notes on where the original method needed filling in.

Ingredients

    Sweet Pastry (Pâte Sucrée) — base

    • 600 g butter, cold, cut into small cubes
    • 300 g icing sugar
    • 1000 g T55 flour
    • 2 g salt
    • 200 g almond powder
    • 225 g eggs

    Almond Cream (Crème d'Amande) — base

    • 100 g butter
    • 100 g sugar
    • 100 g ground almonds
    • 100 g eggs

    Crunchy Praline

    • 50 g Callebaut Milk Chocolate 33.6% Min Cocoa, n° 823
    • 170 g Callebaut Almond & Hazelnut Paste Nut Based Filling
    • 125 g Cacao Barry Fragments of Very Thin Crepes, Paillete Feuilletine
    • 10 g sunflower oil

    Blueberry Confit

    • 375 g Capfruit Blueberry Frozen Fruit Puree No Added Sugar
    • 110 g Soc Chef Liquid Glucose Syrup
    • 90 g sugar
    • 15 g Soc Chef Pectin NH Powder

    Gianduja Cream

    • 190 g milk
    • 190 g Even Fresh UHT Whipping Cream 35% Fat
    • 75 g egg yolks
    • 60 g sugar
    • 300 g Callebaut Dark Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate
    • Quantity per 16 cm mold: 180 g

    Praline Mousse

    • 190 g milk
    • 190 g Even Fresh UHT Whipping Cream 35% Fat
    • 75 g egg yolks
    • 60 g sugar
    • 12 g gelatin
    • 390 g whipped cream
    • 270 g Callebaut Almond & Hazelnut Paste Nut Based Filling
    • Quantity per 18 cm mold: 340 g

    Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate Glaze

    • 105 g Callebaut Dark Chocolate 70% Min Cocoa, n° 70-30-38
    • 255 g Callebaut Milk Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate
    • 35 g sunflower oil
    • 250 g Even Fresh UHT Whipping Cream 35% Fat
    • 60 g simple syrup (500g water + 500g sugar)
    • 40 g Soc Chef Liquid Glucose Syrup

    Caramelized Hazelnuts

    • 250 g hazelnuts
    • 25 g water
    • 75 g sugar
    • 5 g Cacao Barry 100% cocoa butter Powder Mycryo™

    You Will Need

    • Capfruit Blueberry Individually Quick Frozen Fruit (IQF)
    • Pavoni Non Stick Silicon Baking Mat
    • Pavoni Disposable Pastry Bag - 100pcs Box

    Directions

      Sweet Pastry and Almond Cream Base

      1. Beat the cold butter and icing sugar together until just combined — don't aerate.
      2. Fold in the flour, salt, and almond powder until the dough just comes together.
      3. Add the eggs gradually, mixing until smooth.
      4. Wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
      5. Roll the chilled dough to about 2–3 mm and line an 18 cm ring.
      6. For the almond cream: cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs gradually, then fold in the ground almonds.
      7. Spread the almond cream over the baked pastry base add some Capfruit Blueberry Individually Quick Frozen Fruit and bake at 160°C (320°F) for 15 minutes, until set and lightly golden.
      8. Cool completely before adding the Crunchy Praline layer.

      Crunchy Praline

      1. Combine the Callebaut Almond & Hazelnut Paste Nut Based Filling with the Cacao Barry Fragments of Very Thin Crepes, Paillete Feuilletine
      2. Melt the Callebaut Milk Chocolate 33.6% Min Cocoa, n° 823 to 40°C (104°F) and stir in the sunflower oil.
      3. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the praline and feuilletine, and mix until fully combined.
      4. Spread 90 g of the mixture evenly over the cooled Sweet Pastry and Almond Cream base. Freeze until firm.

      Blueberry Confit

      1. Mix the sugar and Soc Chef Pectin NH Powder together in a small bowl.
      2. In a saucepan, heat the Capfruit Blueberry Frozen Fruit Puree No Added Sugar and Soc Chef Liquid Glucose Syrup together.
      3. Before the mixture reaches 30°C (86°F), gradually whisk in the sugar and pectin mixture.
      4. Bring to a full boil, then cool and refrigerate overnight.
      5. Pipe the confit into an 18 cm ring mold (Pavoni PX061 reference) and freeze immediately.

      Gianduja Cream

      1. Make a crème anglaise: warm the milk and cream, then temper in the egg yolks and sugar and cook to nappe consistency.
      2. Pour the hot crème anglaise over the Callebaut Dark Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate
      3. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and fully emulsified.
      4. Pour the mixture directly over the frozen blueberry confit layer.
      5. Freeze immediately.

      Praline Mousse

      1. Make a crème anglaise with the milk, cream, egg yolks, and sugar.
      2. Add the gelatin to the hot crème anglaise and stir until fully dissolved.
      3. Pour the crème anglaise over the praline paste and blend until smooth.
      4. Cool the mixture to 25°C (77°F), then fold in the whipped cream.
      5. Use immediately — this mousse doesn't hold, so have your rings and inserts ready before you start.

      Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate Glaze

      1. Melt the Callebaut Milk Hazelnut Gianduja Chocolate and stir in the sunflower oil.
      2. In a saucepan, bring the cream, glucose, and simple syrup to a boil.
      3. Pour the hot mixture over the gianduja and blend with an immersion blender until perfectly smooth and emulsified.
      4. Refrigerate overnight.
      5. The next day, warm the glaze to 32°C (90°F) before using.

      Caramelized Hazelnuts

      1. Roast the hazelnuts at 160°C (320°F) for 10 minutes.
      2. In a saucepan, cook the sugar and water to 118°C (244°F).
      3. Add the roasted hazelnuts and stir to caramelize evenly.
      4. Stir in the Cacao Barry 100% cocoa butter Powder Mycryo™ and mix well.
      5. Pour onto a Pavoni Non Stick Silicon Baking Mat or tray and let cool completely before breaking apart.

      Assembly and Finishing

      1. Assemble the entremets upside down on a plastic-lined tray.
      2. Pipe the praline mousse into three 18 cm rings, filling about halfway.
      3. Insert the frozen layers in this order: gianduja cream, then blueberry confit, then the almond and hazelnut base (Sweet Pastry, Almond Cream, and Crunchy Praline).
      4. Smooth the surface and freeze completely.
      5. Unmold the frozen entremets and glaze with the hazelnut gianduja chocolate glaze at 32°C (90°F).
      6. Finish with the caramelized hazelnuts.