Piece of life
When summer comes to Quebec, it’s no joke ! We have gone from a temperature of 6°C to 25°C, and we had a little heat wave in the middle of May. Who would want to turn on the oven in such a heat ?
To tell you the truth, I really wanted a cheesecake. I had prepared myself by buying a pack of speculoos and was about to take out the Philadelphia, when I realized that an open jar of mascarpone was lying around in the fridge. And you know me, I’m not a wasteful person. So I changed my mind and opted for a dessert halfway between a tiramisu and a cheesecake, unless it was an entremet. It actually took me a while to decide what I was going to call this recipe.
As for the strawberries, they haven’t arrived in Quebec yet. We’ll have to wait until July for the full season of the famous local strawberries. But in the meantime I use frozen strawberries to satisfy my cravings.
About the strawberry entremet
The debate is on : is this a entremet, a cheesecake or a tiramisu ? Actually I think this dessert is a mix of all three. And the important thing is that it’s simple to make, there’s no need to turn on the oven, and it’s absolutely delicious.
I went through a freezing step so that I could serve it in an individual size with a nice hold, but it’s not required. You could very well prepare it in verrines [so no need to unmould] and so freezing would not be necessary [still allow a few hours rest in the fridge].
For the dough I used speculoos, but you could use another type of cookie like graham crackers for example. And if you have time, make a good homemade one, it will be even better !
A few suggestions with strawberries
The blog is full of great recipes with strawberries. There is of course the classic strawberry pie, unless a rustic strawberry-rhubarb pie is more your style. For those with a sweet tooth, the Eton mess [unstructured pavlova] should satisfy you. And if you’re a fan of mascarpone [like me], this red fruit mascarpone mousse should please you.
Easy Strawberry Entremet
Équipements
- Robot equipped with the whisk
- 8 pastry rings of 8 cm diameter and 5 cm height
- rhodoid plastic film
- Parchment paper (or silicone mat)
- Piping bag (optional)
Ingredients
Speculoos dough (the day before)
- 250 g speculoos
- 100 g butter
- 1 pinch fleur de sel
Mascarpone whipped cream (the day before)
- 450 g heavy cream (35%)
- 225 g mascarpone cheese
- 50 g confectioner's sugar
Strawberry jam (the day before)
- 480 g strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- 20 g lime juice
- 40 g sugar
- 5 g pectine NH powder
For decoration
- fresh strawberries (optional)
Instructions
- Place the rhodoid in the molds, then place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper (or a silicone mat)
Speculoos dough (the day before)
- Put the speculoos in the bowl of a blender. Blend to a powder.
- Add the melted butter. Mix again to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the bottom of the molds, pressing well to combine.
- Set aside in the fridge.
Mascarpone whipped cream (the day before)
- In a large bowl (preferably cold, you can put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. This will help the whipped cream set faster), pour in the cream, mascarpone and confectioners' sugar. Whip until you get a firm whipped cream.
- Spread the cream on the speculoos paste (keep some for decoration, if you wish). Then place in the freezer.
Strawberry jam (the day before)
- Mix half the sugar with the pectin.
- Place strawberries, coarsely chopped, in a saucepan with remaining sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil.
- Add the sugar/pectin mixture, stirring well. Simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes (there will still be small pieces of fruit, this is intentional).
- Let cool, then spread the jam over the creams (which were in the freezer). Return the entremets to the freezer and leave them overnight.
On the day
- Remove the entremets from the freezer. Unmold them while they are still frozen. Remove the rhodoid.
- Decorate with fresh strawberries and remaining whipped cream (optional).
- Let the entremets thaw in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
