Sesame & Caramel petit gâteau

Sesame isn’t a super conventional flavour in Western desserts, but it has a great nutty, savoury flavour that works perfectly with caramelised white chocolate. The cookie base not only has tahini (sesame paste) but also halva, which is a fudge-like sesame treat that melts into the cookie dough. If you can’t get any halva you can leave it out, but it’s definitely worth trying to track some down.

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Instructions

1.	COOKIE BASE
2.	Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a tin 16cm x 26cm and 3.5cm deep.
3.	Melt the butter in a small pot and cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly, until you get a nutty brown butter.
4.	Pour into a bowl and whisk in both sugars, tahini and vanilla, stirring together until smooth.
5.	Whisk in the egg until well combined.
6.	Fold in the flour, baking powder and baking soda, then stir in the chocolate and halva.
7.	Press into the tin and sprinkle with the salt.
8.	Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly puffed and slightly golden.
9.	Set aside to cool completely while you make the sesame praline.
10.	SESAME PRALINE
11.	Make a wet caramel by cooking the sugar and water together in a small pot, without stirring, until it starts to caramelise.
12.	Once the mixture is a light golden brown, remove from the heat and pour the caramel onto a sheet of baking paper.
13.	Leave to cool for 15 minutes, or until cool to the touch.
14.	Blend the caramel in a food processor until it’s turned into a fine crumb.
15.	Add the tahini and blend to combine.
16.	Pour over the cookie base and freeze while you make the sesame mousse.
17.	SESAME MOUSSE
18.	Soak the gelatine sheet in cold water until soft. Drain and put in a bowl with the chocolate.
19.	Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small pot.
20.	Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and gelatine.
21.	Stir until fully melted, then whisk in the tahini.
22.	Set aside to cool while you whip the cream to soft peaks.
23.	Once the mousse base has reached 30°C, or body temperature, fold in the cream until just combined.
24.	Pour over the frozen sesame praline and level off with a palette knife.
25.	Freeze overnight, or until solid.
26.	PORTIONING
27.	See Techniques section (here) on how to portion your petit gâteau.
28.	Portion the gâteau into 24 pieces that are 4 x 4cm squares.
29.	Store in the freezer until ready to finish.
30.	SESAME TUILE
31.	Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
32.	Melt the butter and glucose together, either in a small pot or in a microwave.
33.	Whisk in the icing sugar and flour together until smooth.
34.	Stir in the sesame seeds.
35.	Spread the tuile over the prepared baking tray to about 1mm thick.
36.	Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.
37.	Remove from the oven and allow to cool ever so slightly (for at most 1 minute) before using a 3cm cutter to cut circles of tuile out.
38.	If the tuile begins to harden, return to the oven to soften slightly before cutting out more circles.
39.	Leave to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the pantry.
40.	CARAMELISED WHITE CHOCOLATE CHABLON
41.	Dip each gâteau in the chablon, following the instructions for fully coating in the Techniques section (here).
42.	Press a tuile circle on top of each gâteau before the chablon sets.
43.	Store in the freezer and defrost fully before serving.
44.	CHOCOLATE CHABLON
45.	Melt the chocolate and oil together, stirring until smooth.
46.	Use the chablon when its temperature is between 30°C and 35°C, or as directed in the recipe.
47.	All chocolate brands contain differing amounts of cocoa butter, so sometimes the chablon can be too thick for dipping with only 30g of oil.
48.	Add more oil as needed to get the chocolate to a smooth, pouring consistency.
49.	If colouring the chablon, make sure to use fat soluble colouring, just like you would with pure chocolate.
50.	To dip your petit gâteaux in chablon see the Techniques section (here).