In exceptional circumstances, exceptional chronicles. During confinement, Pierre Herbulot offers you weekly chef recipes to redo at home. This week, he cooks you the chocolate cake from Christophe Michalak, world pastry champion.

The recipe for Christophe Michalak's chocolate cake:

Preparation: 30 minutes

Cooking: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

For the chocolate milk froth:

200 g milk chocolate

300 g liquid cream

For the hazelnut dacquoise:

50 g hazelnut powder

3 egg whites (90 g)

35 g almond powder

20 g sugar

½ pinch of salt

80 gr icing sugar

For the crunchy praline:

10 g butter

30 g milk chocolate

60 g hazelnut paste

60 g hazelnut praline

60 g Crushed Gavottes

1 handful of toasted hazelnut pieces

Chocolate and milk foam:

The day before, crush the chocolate and boil the cream. Pour it over the chocolate, mix and place overnight in the refrigerator. The same day, assemble the foam using a pastry robot provided with a whisk and place it in a pocket provided with a socket.

Dacquoise hazelnut:

Whip the egg whites. Let sit for a few seconds, then whisk again for a few moments.

In a bowl, mix the hazelnut powder, almond powder, sugar, salt and icing sugar. Add this preparation to the egg whites and mix. Pour into a circle placed on a sheet of baking paper, smooth with a spatula and cook for 20 minutes at 170 ° C (thermostat 6).

Tip: if we don't have hazelnut powder, mix whole hazelnuts in a small food processor

Crispy praline:

Melt the butter and chocolate in a saucepan. Add the hazelnut paste, the praline and the crushed Gavottes. Pour the mixture over the unmolded dacquoise and sprinkle with toasted hazelnut chips.

Dressage:

Poach the mousse on the cake and decorate to your liking.

Tip:

It is possible to make the praline and the hazelnut paste yourself.
For the hazelnut paste, simply mix the hazelnuts for several minutes. The oil will come out and transform the powder into a paste.
For the praline it is the same principle with hazelnuts and caramelized almonds.
For the praline:
75g hazelnut
75g almonds
100g sugar
25g of water

Make a caramel by heating the water and sugar. Add the hazelnuts and almonds. The caramel can crystallize, it does not matter, let the preparation heat up. When the fruit is coated with light caramel, place on a baking sheet until completely cooled. Break the praline into pieces and mix it until you get a paste. Add a pinch of fleur de sel.