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24 September 2026Latest Articles
THE IMPERIAL EPICUREAN GAZETTE
THE WORLD'S TABLE, SERVED EVERY DAY
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The Private Kitchen
By Clémence Roux, The BakehouseAlemania2 min read
Religious with chocolate mousse

Religious with chocolate mousse

CRAQUELIN-TEIG

Ingredients
  • 40 g flour
  • 30 g cane sugar
  • 30 g sugar
  • 50 g Butter
  • Ausstecher at 2.5 and 5 cm Ø
  • 40 g Butter
  • 3 g sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 70 flour
  • 2 eggs (size M)
  • Piping bag with a 15 cm diameter nozzle
  • 2 sheets of gelatin
  • 200 g dark chocolate (54–75% cocoa content)
  • 2 eggs (size M)
  • 200 g Kalte Sahne
  • Zuckerthermometer
  • Piping bag with small nozzle
  • 10 g Butter
  • 15 g dark chocolate (54–75% cocoa content)
  • 40 ml Rum
  • 80 g icing sugar
  • 10 g dark chocolate cocoa powder
  • 200 ml stiffly whipped cream
  • Piping bag with a fine star nozzle
Method
  1. For the craquelin dough, knead all the ingredients together. Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper to a 25 x 20 cm rectangle and chill. Cut out 10 circles using each cutter and chill again.
  2. For the choux pastry, heat 110 ml water, butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan until the butter has melted. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough should form a ball, and a white film should form on the bottom of the pan. The dough should not stick to your fingers; then it has the correct consistency.
  3. Place the dough in a mixing bowl or food processor and let it cool slightly. Mix in the eggs one at a time, ensuring the dough forms a homogeneous mass after each addition, and is ultimately glossy, thick, and creamy (like firm mashed potatoes).
  4. On a sheet of parchment paper the size of the baking sheet, draw 10 circles each with diameters of 2.5 cm and 10 cm. Transfer the dough to a piping bag and pipe it into the circles. Place the cut-out craquelin dough rounds on top of the circles and chill for 20 minutes.
  5. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 degrees Fahrenheit) using conventional oven settings (top and bottom heat). Bake the balls for 20 minutes, removing the smaller ones. Let the larger ones rest for another 5 minutes with the oven turned off.
  6. For the chocolate mousse, soak the gelatin in ice-cold water until soft. Chop the chocolate into coarse pieces. Crack the eggs into a bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of hot, but not boiling, water. Whisk the eggs until light and creamy (they should reach a minimum temperature of 60 degrees Celsius; use a sugar thermometer!).
  7. Gradually add the chocolate to the eggs and let it melt. Squeeze the gelatin sheets well and dissolve them in the chocolate-egg mixture.
  8. Remove the mixture from the water bath and let it cool, stirring occasionally. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, but not stiff. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate mixture using a whisk.
  9. For the glaze, melt the butter, melt the chocolate in it, and remove from the heat. Stir in the rum. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa. Stir everything until smooth and creamy. It shouldn't be too runny, otherwise the glaze will overflow the cream puff pastry when decorating.
  10. Cut a small hole in the bottom of the cream puffs with a knife.
  11. Transfer the chocolate mousse to a piping bag and fill all the profiteroles. They should feel nice and heavy, with the cream oozing out slightly.
  12. Dip each large and small cream puff individually into the glaze and smooth the edges. Place a dollop of chocolate mousse on the large cream puffs and place the small cream puffs on top of the large ones while the glaze is still slightly soft; this will ensure they stick well.
  13. Finally, using a piping bag with a fine star nozzle, decorate the whipped cream all around like a small collar.

40 g

Flour

30 g

Cane sugar

30 g

Zucker

50 g

Choux pastry

40 g

Butter

3 g

Salt

Flour

Gelatine

200 g

Dark chocolate (54–75% cocoa content)

Eggs (size M)

200 g

GLAZING

10 g

Butter

15 g

Dark chocolate (54–75% cocoa content)

40 ml

Icing sugar

10 g

CREAM COLLAR

200 ml

On a piece of parchment paper the size of the baking sheet, draw 10 circles each of 2.5 cm and 10 cm in diameter. Transfer the dough to a piping bag and pipe it into the circles. Place the cut-out craquelin dough discs onto the respective circles.

Form circles, chill for 20 minutes.

Remove the mixture from the water bath and let it cool, stirring occasionally. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, but not stiff. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled mixture using a whisk.

Lift the chocolate cream.

For the glaze, melt the butter, melt the chocolate in it, and remove from the heat. Stir in the rum. Add the powdered sugar and cocoa. Stir everything until smooth and creamy. It must not...

It should be too runny, otherwise the glaze will run over the cream puff dough when decorating.

completion

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