Hazelnut Charlotte
Line the mold with ladyfingers and fill with a hazelnut-flavored mousse or cream. Chill before serving.
Ingredients
Hazelnuts (chopped)
125 g
Milk
500 ml
Vanilla pod
1
Caster sugar
375 g
Eggs (separated into yolks and whites)
6
Heavy cream (25 cl)
250 ml
Ladyfingers (for lining the sides)
to taste
Instructions
1
Heat the milk
Combine the milk and the split vanilla pod in a saucepan, slitting the pod lengthwise first. Heat until just boiling.
2
Whisk the yolks
Separate the egg yolks and whites. Place the yolks in a bowl, add 100 g of the sugar, and whisk until pale and creamy. Scrape in the vanilla seeds.
3
Cook the custard base
Bring the milk back to a boil. Whisk a small amount of the hot milk into the yolks to temper, then pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Stir constantly with a spatula and cook until thickened enough to coat the back of the spatula. Remove from the heat.
4
Toast the hazelnuts
Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast in the oven at 180°C for several minutes, until golden and dry. Rub them between your palms to loosen the skins, then discard the skins. Roughly chop.
5
Make caramelized hazelnuts
Cook the remaining sugar into a caramel with a splash of water. Add the hazelnuts and toss to coat evenly, then pour onto an oiled work surface and leave to cool.
6
Crush the praline
Once cooled, break up the caramelized hazelnuts: keep some larger pieces aside for garnish and crush the rest into fine shards.
7
Fold in the cream
Stir the liquid cream into the custard base (the original does not specify whether to whip the cream; it is typically folded in as is), then gently fold in the crushed hazelnut shards.
8
Freeze
Pour the mixture into charlotte molds or churn in an ice cream maker and freeze until set. Unmold and garnish with the reserved large pieces of caramelized hazelnut.
