Coconut Entremets (Vegan, Gluten-free, No Refined Sugar)

Coconut Entremets (Vegan, Gluten-free, No Refined Sugar)

I know what you’re thinking. What am I doing making entremets during detox January eh? Well, as predicted I couldn’t resist touching on some French Patisserie this month, but I’ve done my best to make it as healthy as possible, meaning it’s dairy free, vegan, gluten free and has no refined sugars (providing your chocolate has no refined sugars or dairy in it).

Normally when I come across something which has more than one dietary tag on it I become suspicious as it normally involves 20+ ingredients that you can only find in special shops, and/or results in an unsatisfying, oddly textured waste of a dish. But fear not, all the ingredients I used for this you can buy really easily from any supermarket, so you won’t have to waste time searching for xanthan gum down side alleys. I was also surprised by how tasty this ended up. The coconut milk is a great double cream substitute, so the middle is as creamy as a full-fat panna cotta, and the base (made with nuts and dried fruit) is just as tasty as any butter/biscuit combo you’d find in a cheesecake. The most unhealthy bit is probably the chocolate on top, but this really depends on what chocolate you end up using, and as it complements filling really well it’s worth keeping.

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 1 hour (Plus chilling time)

Ingredients

For the Base

  • 80g Walnuts
  • 30g Desiccated coconut
  • 50g Pecans
  • 15g Chia seeds
  • 80g Dried dates
  • 6 Dried figs

For the Coconut middle

  • 2 Sachets of veggie gel (Personally I’d use 3 gelatine leaves to set the centre of this as I find it easier to work with, but if you’re making this for a vegan or vegetarian powdered gelatine will also work well)
  • 130ml Coconut milk
  • ½ tbsp Vanilla bean paste
  • 160ml Coconut cream
  • 30g Maple syrup

For the Coconut ganache

  • 100g Dark chocolate with high cocoa solids (about 75%+) (you can get really healthy dark chocolate in special food shops if you want)
  • 75ml Coconut cream

To decorate

  • Coconut slices

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients for the base of the etremet into a food processor and whizz up until crumb-like and starting to bind.
  2. Distribute this mix between your four moulds (I went for 7 x 6cm round metal moulds) and press down with the back of a spoon to compact and make an even thickness. Put this into the fridge whilst you make the next layer.
  3. To make the coconut cream layer begin by dissolving the gelatine powder in 15ml of water (or soak the leaves in a bowl of cold water if using).
  4. Then put the coconut milk and vanilla into a small saucepan and heat gently until it starts to bubble. Then take off the heat and stir the gelatine into the hot milk until smoothly combined.
  5. Then wait for the milk to cool completely before adding the coconut cream and syrup. Whisk this all up to combine and then pour into the moulds, over the base.
  6. Chill these in the fridge until completely set, this’ll take about 3 hours.
  7. When your coconut layer is set you can move onto the next step – making the glaze. Put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Melt the chocolate gently and then cool slightly before adding the coconut cream. Leave until the mix isn’t too warm and holds its shape, but is still pourable.
  8. Take the coconut entremets out of their moulds by pushing them up and out from underneath (if they’re metal moulds a blowtorch can help).
  9. Put the coconut ganache into a pipping bag with a small round nozzle and pipe little drips of the mixture over the edge of the entremets. You want the drips to be uneven so vary the amount you put over the edge. Then fill in the middle with the ganache so that the whole top is covered and put back into the fridge to set.
  10. When ready to eat plate them up with any left over crumbs from the base mix and some coconut shards to garnish!

Thanks for reading! Next post coming on Wednesday…

Emma x

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