Let me introduce you to… Lady Fig Grey. This dessert consists of an Earl Grey infused white chocolate mousse with a fig & raspberry jelly insert in the middle. All covered in a clear glaze with a little bit of gold sparkle. With a crunchy chocolate & nut base sitting underneath the mousse.
My favourite desserts to create & photograph are mousse desserts and tarts, no doubt about that. These recipes do require a little bit of time, passion and patience, but the end result is WORTH it. So many different textures and flavours in one dessert.
Please make sure to read the recipe fully before you start. Some of the layers will need freezing before you can get to the next stage!
Recommended plan:
Day 1: Make the jelly and bake the Feuilletine
Day 2: Make the mousse
Day of serving: Neutral glaze and crunchy base. Just remember that you will have to let the desserts defrost in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.
Fig & Raspberry Jelly:
- 95g figs
- 40g raspberries
- 20g granulated sugar
- 15g lemon juice
- 3g gelatine + 15g cold water
Place the gelatine and cold water in a small cup, stir together and leave for a few minutes to let it bloom. Peel the figs and cut them into quarters. Place the figs, raspberries, sugar and lemon juice into a saucepan and bring to boil over a low heat. Blend everything together. Put the cup with the gelatine in into a microwave for about 10seconds to allow it to melt and then pour it into the saucepan, stir until combined. Place the Silikomart SF005 half sphere mould on a chopping board (this makes it easier to transfer it into the freezer), divide the fig & raspberry between 6 moulds. Freeze for at least a few hours until solid. This step can be done a few days ahead.
Feuilletine:
This will be used for the crunchy base layer.
- 50g egg whites
- 50g icing sugar
- 50g plain flour
- 50g melted butter
You can prepare this a few days in advance. Everything needs to be exact, so please make sure to use a scale. Melt the butter in a microwave and then let it cool for 15mins or so. Preheat the oven to 150C. Prepare the oven tray and line it with a silicone mat or baking paper. In a bowl mix all the ingredients together until combined and pour about 1/3 of the mixture onto the prepared baking tray. Spread it very thinly across the whole area using a spatula, you almost want to see through it. Bake for about 13-15 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Repeat for the rest of the mixture. Once cool, break it into small flakes. Store in an airtight container.
You can use any of the leftovers for future desserts. Just pop the amount that you need back into the oven the day that you’ll be using it at 160C for about 3 minutes to bring back the crunchiness!
Earl Grey Mousse
- 130g + 250g whipping cream
- 10g Earl Grey tea*
- 140g white chocolate
- 6g gelatine powder + 30g cold water
*I use Whittard’s leaf tea, no.33 – not an ad.
Only start preparing the mousse once the jellies are completely frozen.
Place the gelatine and the cold water in a small cup, stir together and leave for a few minutes to let it bloom.
Place 130g of cream and leaf tea in a small saucepan and bring to simmer over a low heat. Take off the heat and cover the saucepan with some cling film to let the tea infuse for about 5-10mins. In the meantime, place the white chocolate in a small bowl and melt in a microwave, then transfer into a measuring jug (easier to use this to pour the mousse into the moulds later on). Using a sieve, pour the hot cream into the melted white chocolate. Place the cup with gelatine in a microwave for about 10seconds to allow it to melt and pour into the measuring jug. Stir everything together until smooth. Allow to cool for a few minutes. It shouldn’t be too warm when mixing with whipped cream in the next stage.
Place the rest of the cold cream (250g) in a large mixing bowl and whip until it’s almost semi whipped – you still want it to be a little runny. Add your whipped cream into the white chocolate mixture in two parts and combine slowly, but thoroughly using a spatula. Try to avoid over-mixing.
Place your Pavoni FR096 Swirl mould on a chopping board, and start pouring the mousse into each mould, filling them about half way up. Place one of your fig & raspberry jellies in the centre of each mousse and gently press into the mousse, pour some more mousse in, so that it goes all the way to the brim. Put it in the freezer for at least 8hrs.
Base crunch:
- 105g milk chocolate
- 85g dark chocolate
- 35g hazelnuts
- 40g feuilletine
- 10g oil
Chop the hazelnuts into small pieces and melt both chocolates in a microwave. Combine all of the base crunch ingredients. Place the mixture on baking paper, cover with another piece of baking paper and roll it out to about 2-3mm thickness. Place in the fridge (use a chopping board to help you move it across) for a few minutes, just to let it set slightly. Take out from the fridge, carefully remove the top baking paper and using a round 8cm cookie cutter create 6 circles. I recommend cutting it before it’s properly set as with time, the mixture will get harder and more crunchy, so it’s a little bit more tricky to cut. Place it back into the fridge until set and needed. This can be done ahead of the time as well.
Neutral glaze:
- 120g water
- 150g granulated sugar
- 7g gelatine powder + 35g cold water
- Gold powder/dust (optional)
Only start preparing the glaze once the desserts are completely frozen.
Place the gelatine and cold water in a small cup, stir together and leave for a few minutes to let it bloom.
Add water and sugar into a small saucepan and boil over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Place the cup with the gelatine in into a microwave for about 10seconds to allow it to melt, pour it into the saucepan with the sugar mixture and stir everything together. Add some gold powder into the mixture and stir again. Pour it into a measuring jug through a sieve. Let it cool down to about 33C-35C. If the glaze cools down too much/becomes too thick to work with, you can pop it into the microwave using 5 second intervals stirring between each round until you reach the desired temperature/consistency.
Assembly:
Prepare 6 mini round cake boards. You can place a dot of edible glue in the middle of it, then place and press each base crunch circle on top.
Prepare the glaze station. Grab an oven tray, line it with some cling film – this is important – and then put an oven wire rack on top of it. Take out the mousse deserts from the freezer (I prefer to take out 2 at a time). Place them on the wire rack and pour the glaze (do a test on one of them first to make sure it reached the correct temperature) over them. Let the excess drip off, insert a bbq skewer into each dessert, move it around against the wire rack to remove any unwanted glaze from the bottom and carefully place on top of of the crunchy base. Repeat for the rest of the desserts. If you’ve used up the glaze before you’re done decorating all of the 6 desserts, you can squeeze the excess glaze from the cling film back into the jug and pour it again. if needed, you can re-heat in the microwave using 5 second intervals stirring until you reach the desired temperature/consistency again. Decorate with a fig slice and some edible gold.
Transfer the desserts to the fridge and let them sit there for at least 4 hours as they need to defrost. I like to take them out of the fridge about 15-30mins before serving to let them warm up a little.
With this recipe we end the Autumn recipes of 2024!
Happy baking and creating! 🙂 Please tag me on Instagram @pinchofbakinglove if you do make these! I’d love to see them 😀
