Our best chocolate recipes!

When Easter arrives, we all know what it means: an endless chocolate invasion in all its forms! But this year, get ready for a chocolate experience like no other. Our genius pastry chefs Élisabeth and François have decided to share with you two recipes that will make you go crazy.... We don't want to make your mouth water, but these two recipes didn't last long at the office!

Back to your ovens!

Elisabeth's famous chocolate cake 🍫

You know that colleague who loves to treat her team to pastries, each more incredible than the previous one, so much so that every week you check to see which days she's not working from home to make sure you don't miss any? At Cabaia, we have Elisabeth! Today, out of the goodness of her heart, she has kindly agreed to share with you the secret recipe for her famous chocolate cake! A word of warning: you don't have to bring it to the office - it's just as delicious eaten at home... We're just saying! 😂

Ingredients:
150g dark chocolate
250g butter
5 eggs
120g sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the ganache :
100 ml single cream
100 g dark chocolate

For the dough:

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie. Leave the mixture to cool.
Beat the eggs with the sugar until frothy. Mix the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, add to the mixture and stir. When the chocolate/butter mixture is lukewarm, add it to the batter and mix.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured springform tin and bake at 160 degrees fan oven for about 30 minutes. Leave the cake to cool.

For the ganache: Melt the chocolate in the liquid cream and pour over the cake when it has cooled.

Tested and approved by the whole team!

François' chocolate tonka buckwheat flan

Remember that Top Chef or Le Meilleur Pâtissier candidate who experiments with the strangest ingredients, but always manages to get the highest marks from the jury? At Cabaia, that candidate is François! He's the pastry chef who's a bit of a mad scientist and loves experimenting with flavours! A master of taste, as we say! So, if you're feeling adventurous, we recommend this recipe for chocolate tonka buckwheat flan - you'll be telling us all about it! Watch your taste buds, you're in for a treat! 😍

FOR: 6 INDIVIDUAL FLANS PREPARATION TIME: 45 MIN COOKING TIME: 53 MIN

EQUIPMENT: 6 CIRCLES, EACH 8 CM IN DIAMETER AND 4 CM HIGH

Ingredients:

FOR THE COCOA SHORTBREAD DOUGH :

240 g butter

160 g icing sugar

50 g almond powder

4 g salt

100 g eggs

355 g flour

45 g cocoa powder

FOR THE BUCKWHEAT PRALINE :

210 g almonds with skin (you can also use shelled almonds)

140 g buckwheat

245 g sugar

2 g fleur de sel

52 g grapeseed oil

65 g Peru 65% chocolate

FOR THE TONKA CHOCOLATE FLAN :

360 g milk

1 vanilla pod

4 g tonka powder

80 g egg yolks

60 g sugar

30 g cornflour

48 g butter

100 g single cream

80 g 65% Peruvian chocolate

FOR THE BUCKWHEAT SHORTBREAD :

80 g buckwheat

40 g sugar

8 g water

FOR THE ASSEMBLY :

SOME roasted almonds

THE COCOA SHORTBREAD

Soften the butter in the microwave. Mix it with the powders (except the almond powder). Once the mixture is smooth, add the eggs. Roll out the pastry to 3 mm between two guitar sheets. Place in the fridge for 30 mins.
Cut into 6 strips measuring 22.5 × 4 cm and 6 discs measuring 6.5 cm in diameter.
Chill again for 30 mins.
Shape the circles by inserting the strip and then the disc. Loosen the pastry with your fingers to seal the edges together. Bake the bases filled with almond powder for 20 mins at 150°C, turn the tray over and bake for a further 20 mins.

BUCKWHEAT PRALINE

Roast the almonds for 15 mins at 160 *C.
Make a dry caramel with the sugar. Pour the hot caramel onto a Silpat.
When all the ingredients are cold, blend the caramel first, then blend the almonds separately with the grapeseed oil. Add the fleur de sel.
Mix the caramel powder, almond purée and buckwheat together until smooth. Then fold in the microwave-melted chocolate.

THE CHOCOLATE AND TONKA FLAN MIXTURE
Infuse the vanilla, tonka powder, milk and cream for 30 minutes.
Mix the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour.
Strain the infused milk through a sieve. Heat it and pour half of it into the yolk-sugar-Maizena mixture, stir and then pour it back into the saucepan. Cook like a pastry. Turn off the heat and add the butter and chocolate.
Leave to cool and blend with a hand blender or Thermomix.

BUCKWHEAT SHORTBREAD
Heat the water and sugar syrup to 114°C. Stop cooking, pour in the buckwheat and stir constantly until the sugar coats the buckwheat.

THE ASSEMBLY
Place 15 g of praline in each pastry base. Sprinkle with roasted almond pieces.

Fill with the flan mixture. Bake at 200°C for 13 minutes. Once cooled, add praline to the top of the flans and finish with the buckwheat shortbread.

If these two recipes don't win you the chocolate king or queen trophy, we don't know what more you need! The whole Cabaia team wishes you a Happy Easter, and don't hesitate to send us the results of these recipes! 😍