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Hello everyone and welcome to semi-finals week of my GBBO 2022 Technical Challenge Bake Along. Last week was pâtisserie week and for the Technical Challenge, the bakers were asked to make four Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry tarts! What on earth is a vertical tart you say!?! Well – apparently a ring of shortcrust pastry, standing upright and filled with a chocolate and hazelnut mousse, raspberry jelly, and decorated with cream, chocolate, raspberries, and gold leaf! This was definitely the hardest challenge so far but I managed even though one of my pastry rings sadly cracked… As always, I have made loads of changes (improvements?) to the original recipe (found here) to make things more home-baker and economically friendly! Enjoy!
Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts – Check out the video here!
Equipment you will need for this week’s Technical Challenge – Recommendations
As is often the case with Technicals, you will need a few bits of special equipment to make Prue’s Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts. For one, you will need four 9cm pastry rings to make the pastry hoops. I used crumpet rings for this recipe (these ones here) which worked really well. You will also need some baking paper and ceramic baking beans for baking the tarts so that the pastry cooks evenly and doesn’t slip down the inside of the pastry rings. The original recipe doesn’t call for this but I think it crucial which is why I have added it to my version of the recipe below.
For setting the chocolate mousse, you will also need two 8cm pastry rings (these are the ones I have). While lining these with acetate to stop the mousse from sticking is definitely easier and gives you a cleaner finish, you may get away with using clingfilm instead.
Finally, if you are making your own hazelnut praline paste (see recipe below) then you will need a liquidiser or a stick blender to blend the hazelnuts and caramel into a smooth puree. You’ll also need a stick blender to blend the raspberries for the jelly. I used the liquidiser attachment for my Kenwood kitchen machine here, and also the food processor attachment for making the pastry. However, you can also make the pastry by hand simply by rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients. But you must try to keep your hands as cold as possible so that the butter doesn’t melt!
Ingredients for Prue’s Vertical Tarts – Additional Recipes and Supplements
This week’s “unique” ingredient was hazelnut praline paste. The original recipe just said “50g hazelnut praline paste” but I don’t think I have ever seen that sold in shops in the UK. I have seen it before in France and was very tempted to but it, but it’s very expensive. Instead, I found a recipe on the internet (here) and adapted it slightly for you to use here. All you need are some hazelnuts (ideally blanched and pre-roasted) and some caster sugar to make a caramel. For more info check out the recipe linked above.
As usual, I also found the amount of chocolate called for in the recipe too high so have scaled it down for you (I don’t want to waste my lovely chocolate). Also, I found making an extra crumb simply for serving the vertical tarts very unnecessary, especially as there is so much leftover pastry. So instead, I just used that to make a crumb and thereby saved some ingredients and also leftovers! Again, there are a few ingredients from the original recipe that I decided to skip, such as Frangelico (a type of alcohol) and gold spray, to cut the costs. If you have any of these at home already then you should use them of course!
More Bake Off Technical Challenge Recipes
In my opinion, these vertical hazelnut, chocolate, and raspberry tarts were the hardest Technical Challenge of the 2022 season so far! Let’s see what Final’s week has in store for us next week! In the meantime, you can check out all my other versions of Technical Challenges I have made in the past – the list just keeps on growing!
- Mary Berry’s Religieuses
- Mary Berry’s Fraisier Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Hand-raised Chicken, Bacon and Apricot Pies
- Mary Berry’s Bakewell Tart with feathered Icing
- Paul’s Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
- Mary Berry’s Frosted Walnut Layer Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Cottage Loaf
- Mary Berry’s Homemade Jaffa Cakes
- Paul Hollywood’s Wagon Wheel Biscuits
- Mary Berry’s Victoria Sponge Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Mini Pork Pies
- Mary Berry’s Viennese Whirls
- Prue’s Vegan Chocolate and Raspberry Tarts (S2UC Special)
- Pizza Star Bread (Junior Bake Off)
- Mary Berry’s Coffee and Walnut Battenberg Cake
- Paul’s Crusty White Cob
- Paul Hollywood’s Rainbow Bagels
- Prue Leith’s Malt Loaf
- Paul’s Jammy Biscuits
- Paul Hollywood’s Olive Ciabatta Bread Sticks with Homemade Tzatziki
- Prue Leith’s Sticky Toffee Puddings with Sesame Tuiles
- Prue Leith’s Prinzregententorte
- Paul Hollywood’s Baklava (22cm)
- Paul’s Caramel Biscuit Bars (Twix)
- Prue Leith’s Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Prue’s Sablé Breton Cake
- Paul Hollywood’s Sticky Belgian Buns
- Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
- Prue’s Garibaldi Biscuits with Feathered Chocolate Icing
- Paul Hollywood’s Pain au Raisins
- Paul’s Spicy Beef Tacos
- Paul Hollywood’s S’mores
- Prue Leith’s Pistachio Praline Ice Cream Cones
- Vegetable Spring Rolls
- Prue’s Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts
- Paul Hollywood’s Devonshire Splits
Prue’s Vertical Chocolate, Hazelnut, and Raspberry Tarts
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE HAZELNUT PRALINE
- 150g blanched hazelnuts (ideally already roasted)
- 120g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1-2 tsp sunflower/vegetable oil (if needed)
FOR THE PASTRY
- 100g plain flour
- 40g icing sugar
- 15g ground almonds
- 50g butter (unsalted)
- 1 medium egg, yolk only
- pinch of salt
FOR THE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
- 1 sheet gelatine
- 100g dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids)
- 50g hazelnut praline paste
- 1 large egg, separated
- 25g caster sugar
FOR THE RASPBERRY JELLY
- 1½ sheets gelatine (or 4g gelatine powder dissolved in 1.5tbsp warm water)
- 75g raspberries
- 15g caster sugar
FOR THE DECORATION
- 60g dark chocolate
- edible gold spray (optional)
- 100ml double cream
- Small handful of raspberries, halved
- edible gold leaf (optional)
YOU WILL ALSO NEED
- silicone spatula
- silicone mat (like this)
- 4x 9cm round pastry (e.g. crumpet) rings (I have these)
- Ceramic baking beans (I use these)
- 2x 8cm pastry rings (I have these)
- Acetate (I used this)
- Food processor (optional) (I use my Kenwood attachment)
- Liquidiser/Blender (I use my Kenwood attachment)
- Hand-held electric whisk
- Stick blender
- 10x15cm shallow tray or tupperware (I used a tupperware you’d often get a takeaway in which was a good size)
- baking tray
- Baking paper
- 1 round nozzle (1cm opening)
- 1 small piping bag
Method
- Start by making the hazelnut praline. If you haven’t got any roasted hazelnuts, toast them in a hot frying pan (no oil) for 3-4 minutes moving them around constantly to prevent them from burning. If you don’t have blanched hazelnuts put the toasted hazelnuts into a clean tea towel and rub off the skins. Then set aside until needed.
- In a small pot, mix together the water and caster sugar with a silicone spatula. Set over a low-medium heat and wait until the sugar has completely dissolved. Then increase the heat and bring the sugar mixture to the boil. Boil the sugar until it turns a golden/amber colour then transfer to a silicone mat to harden If any sugar crystals form on the side, swirl the pot to melt the sugar and make it slip back into the mix or use a silicone spatula (no metal!) to push it back down into the sugar mix.
- Once the caramel has solidified, break it into small shards and place it in a liquidiser alongside the hazelnuts. Blend until you have a thick but smooth paste, adding a tiny bit of sunflower or vegetable oil if necessary to bring the hazelnut praline together. Reserve 50g for the chocolate mousse and store the remaining praline in a jar for another time.
- To make the pastry, tip the flour, icing sugar, ground almonds, salt and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz until you have a breadcrumb-like consistency, then add the egg yolk and blitz until combined. Alternatively, rub the butter into the dry ingredients using your finger tips, before adding the egg yolk. Transfer the pastry onto a clean worksurface and use your hands to bring it together into a smooth dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
- In the meantime, you can prepare the chocolate mousse. Line the sides of two 8cm tart rings with acetate, and then place them onto another piece of acetate on a flat plate or chopping board. Soak the gelatine leaf in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to soften.
- Put the chocolate and praline paste into a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and gently melt. Separate the large egg and put the egg white into a clean bowl. Use an electric whisk to whisk the egg white until foamy, then gradually add the caster sugar while you continue whisking. Whisk until smooth and glossy and the egg whites form stiff peaks.
- Once melted, remove the chocolate/hazelnut praline mix from the heat. Squeeze any excess water from the gelatine leaf, then stir it into the hot chocolate mixture to melt the gelatine. Once the mixture has cooled slightly, mix in the egg yolk until well combined.
- Spoon in a tablespoon of the egg white mixture and whisk using the electric whisk. Then gently fold in the remaining egg white until there are no more streaks in the mixture. Evenly divided the chocolate mousse between the two prepared pastry rings and set in the fridge for around 1 hour.
- For the raspberry jelly, line a 15cm x 10cm tray or Tupperware box with some clingfilm. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Use a stick blender to puree the raspberries, then pass them through a sieve into a small saucepan to remove the seeds. Add the caster sugar and water then bring the liquid to the boil. Squeeze any excess liquid from the gelatine and stir them into the hot mixture, then pour it into the prepared tray/box. Leave to cool at room temperature, then refrigerate until set (around 30 mins).
- To make the pastry rings, roll the chilled pastry out into a rectangle (9cmx28cm and 4mm thick) on a lightly floured surface. Use a sharp knife to cut out 4 strips that are 2cm wide. Use these to line the four 9cm pastry rings and then freeze for 20 minutes.
- Use the excess pastry to make a crumb for setting the vertical tarts on later. Break the pastry into small pieces and mix in 25g ground almonds (or hazelnuts), then spread out on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Set the pastry rings on a tray lined with baking paper and line the inside of the pastry rings with baking paper, too. Fill each ring with ceramic baking beans, then bake for around 12 minutes. Remove the ceramic baking beans (careful, as they will be very hot) and bake for a further 3-5 minutes until the pastry is golden. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before removing the pastry rings. Add the tray with the biscuit crumb at the same time and bake until the crumbs are golden brown (this will also take about 15-20 mins) and leave to cool.
- For the chocolate decoration, melt 40g of dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Finely chop the remaining 20g of chocolate and set aside. Once melted, remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the 20g of finely chopped chocolate to melt and cool down the chocolate.
- Place a piece of acetate on the work surface and use some Sellotape to stick it down on either side. If using gold spray, spray the acetate with gold. Carefully spread the melted chocolate over the acetate until quite thin. Once almost set, use the end of a round piping nozzle (1cm diameter opening) to stamp out about 8 round disks (make a few extra in case they break. Then leave to set completely before carefully peeling them off to decorate.
- To assemble the vertical tarts, start by whipping the cream until it stiff then spoon into a piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle. Remove the tart rings from the mousse and peel off the acetate. Then cut each mousse in half vertically, so that you have 4 semicircles. Place one semicircle inside each pastry ring so that the curved edge fits nicely inside the pastry ring and stand the tarts upright.
- Remove the jelly from the fridge and cut out four 2x8cm strips. Carefully place a strip of jelly on top of the mousse. Pipe 3 little blobs of whipped cream on top of the jelly, then decorate with the chocolate disks, fresh raspberries, and some gold leaf (if using). Arrange four small piles of the crumb on a serving plate and carefully place a vertical tart on each one to serve.
