There’s just something about the combination of rich chocolate and tart raspberries that I never get tired of. The deep chocolate flavor paired with the fresh acidity of the raspberries makes for such a good contrast, and this is one of those cakes that always seems to disappear quickly. It’s rich, fresh, and just the right amount of indulgent.
The spiral can be a little tricky, as it needs the right temperature and a completely frozen mold to come out nicely. Just make it well in advance and give it plenty of time in the freezer. It’s a little extra work, but I think it looks so pretty on the cake that it’s worth trying.
Happy baking <
Day 1
Nutella & Raspberry Crunch:
- 30 g caster sugar
- 15 g shelled hazelnuts
- 65 g milk chocolate (33%)
- 35 g Nutella
- 35 g cornflakes
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tsp raspberry powder
- Toast the hazelnuts for 5–7 minutes at 175°C / 347°F in the oven.
- Gently melt the sugar into a golden caramel in a saucepan, stir in the nuts, and pour the mixture onto a sheet of parchment paper. Let the nuts cool.
- Finely chop the nuts.
- Gently melt the chocolate (if necessary, over a double boiler). Set the saucepan aside.
- Stir the finely chopped hazelnuts, lightly crushed cornflakes, salt, Nutella, and raspberry powder into the chocolate.
- Roll out the crunchy layer flat between two sheets of parchment paper and place it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Then cut out a base using a cookie cutter or cake ring (14 cm in diameter).
- Place the cut-out crunchy layer in a cake ring (14 cm in diameter) lined with parchment paper and an acetate sheet on the bottom. Make sure it lies even and flat.
Tips & Notes:
- Don’t chop the nuts too finely, as this will reduce the crunch effect.
- Level the surface with a glass or a spoon.
Day 1
Milk Chocolate Brownie:
- 75 g dark chocolate (54%)
- 75 g butter
- 75 g caster sugar
- 100 g eggs (appeox. 2 medium eggs)
- 1 tsp all-purpose flour
- 50 g milk chocolate (33%)
- Coarsely chop the milk chocolate.
- Slowly melt the butter in a saucepan (it shouldn’t be too hot, as this can cause the chocolate to separate later). Over low heat, add the dark chocolate. Stir until all the dark chocolate has melted.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the sugar. Lightly beat the eggs with a fork in a separate bowl.
- Let the batter cool slightly, then gradually add the eggs while whisking with a hand whisk. Finally, fold in the flour and the chopped milk chocolate.
- Pour the batter into a lined 14 cm cake ring or springform pan. Bake the base at 180°C / 356°F for about 20–23 minutes. It should be soft in the middle and feel slightly underbaked.
- Let the brownie cool completely. Place the brownie in the cake ring on top of the crunch layer. Smooth the surface of the brownie slightly with a glass.
Tips & Notes:
- If baking with pastry rings, use two rings of different sizes and place a piece of baking paper in between to keep the batter contained.
Day 1
Raspberry Curd:
- 0.5 gelatin sheet (1 sheet = 1.75 g, bloom value 240)
- 350 g raspberries (Should make 115 ml purée total, use 50 ml for this layer, and save the rest of the purée for the raspberry crémeux)
- 2.5 tbsp lemon juice
- 50 g eggs (approx. 1 medium egg)
- 15 g egg yolks (approx. 0.75 of an egg yolk)
- 50 g caster sugar
- 25 g butter
- Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5–10 minutes.
- Heat the raspberries until tender, then blend them into a smooth purée using an immersion blender. Measure out 50 ml of the purée for the curd and reserve the remaining purée for the raspberry crémeux. Reserve the rest of the purée for the raspberry crémeux.
- Whisk together the raspberry purée, lemon juice, egg, egg yolk, and sugar in a saucepan. Slowly heat to a boil while whisking constantly.
- Let the cream simmer for a couple of minutes until it thickens, while continuing to whisk constantly. Be careful not to use too high a heat, as this can cause the cream to burn. Simmer gently for a couple of minutes while whisking constantly until the cream thickens.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter, cut into cubes. Then add the gelatin.
- Strain the raspberry curd through a fine-mesh strainer. Finally, blend with an immersion blender until completely smooth.
- Spread the curd on top of the brownie.
- Let the cake set completely in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
Tips & Notes:
- Cook the curd over medium heat to avoid burning and heating the eggs too much, while constantly whisking.
- Keep whisking until the curd thickens and increases in volume. This may take several minutes.
Day 1
Raspberry Chocolate Crémeux:
(This recipe makes two spirals, so you’ll have an extra one in case the first one doesn’t come out of the mold nicely. If you only want to make one spiral, you can halve the recipe)
- 0.5 gelatin sheet (1 sheet = 1.75 g, bloom value 240)
- 120 g milk chocolate (33%)
- 40 g egg yolks (approx. 2 medium egg yolks)
- 20 g caster sugar
- 100 ml heavy cream (min. 35%)
- (65 ml raspberry purée, leftover from the raspberry curd layer)
- Soak the gelatin in cold water for 5–10 minutes.
- Gently melt the chocolate (if necessary, over a double boiler) and set it aside in a bowl.
- Quickly whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in another bowl.
- Heat the heavy cream and raspberry purée to a boil in a small saucepan. When the mixture reaches a boil, pour it over the egg yolk/sugar mixture while whisking briefly.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and gently heat it to 83°C / 181°F. It’s important to be precise with this, as the temperature is crucial for the spiral to come out of the mold.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, strain the mixture, and whisk in the gelatin.
- Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate while stirring in the center with a spatula until it comes together.
- Place the spiral mold (I used a Tourbillon Ø14 mold from Silikomart) on a cutting board. Transfer the crémeux to a piping bag with a small opening at the tip that matches the size of the spiral. This recipe makes enough crémeux for two spirals. Pipe the crémeux evenly into two spiral molds. This prevents air bubbles. Finally, tap the mold gently on the table until all air bubbles are removed.
- Place the mold in the freezer for at least 24–48 hours to ensure the spiral can be removed from the mold, as it must be completely frozen. As a reminder, you are making two molds in case the first one doesn’t come out perfectly, but you can also halve the crémeux recipe if you prefer to make one.
Day 2
Chocolate Mousse:
- 2 gelatin sheets (1 sheet = 1.75 g, bloom value 240)
- 200 g milk chocolate (33%)
- 300 ml heavy cream (min. 35%)
- Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 5–10 minutes.
- Gently melt the chocolate (if necessary, in a double boiler) and set it aside in a bowl.
- Heat 100 ml of heavy cream to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the gelatin.
- Pour the hot heavy cream over the chocolate while stirring in the center with a spatula until it comes together. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm.
- Whip 200 ml of heavy cream to soft peaks and fold it into the mixture that has cooled to lukewarm (if it’s too warm, it may cause the heavy cream to separate).
- Pour the mousse into a 16 cm diameter silicone mold lined with an acetate sheet (since the cake will rise higher than the mold).
- If the mousse is a little runny, let it set slightly in the refrigerator before adding the frozen cake. As a rule of thumb, it is ready when you can dip the end of a spoon into the mousse and a soft peak forms when you lift it out.
- Remove the frozen cake from the freezer and place it into the chocolate mousse with the raspberry curd facing down.
- Place the cake in the freezer overnight so it can set completely.
Tips & Notes:
- Only heat the cream almost to a boil before pouring it over the chocolate to avoid seizing the chocolate.
- Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks, as overwhipped cream can result in a dense and grainy mousse.
Day 3
Decoration:
- 100 g milk chocolate (33%)
- 340 g fresh raspberries
- flowers (edible or secured with safety seal / edible wax)
Day 3
Chocolate Ribbon:
Cut a piece of acetate sheet measuring 1.5 cm x 53 cm and lay it flat on the kitchen counter.
- Place a cake ring (16 cm in diameter) in the refrigerator.
- Temper the milk chocolate.
- Pour the chocolate over the acetate sheet, smooth the surface with a small palette knife, peel the acetate sheet off the counter, and run your fingers along the side of the acetate sheet to remove any chocolate residue. Let the chocolate set a little.
- Once the chocolate has almost set, wrap the ribbon around the cold cake ring with the chocolate facing inward, and return it to the refrigerator. If the chocolate is too runny or hasn’t set, you won’t be able to remove it from the cake ring. So it’s important that the chocolate has almost set before wrapping the ribbon around the cake ring.
- Remove the acetate sheet once the chocolate has set.
- Carefully wrap the ribbon around the cake.
Day 3
Assembly:
- Remove the frozen cake from the mold and place it on a cake platter.
- Remove the frozen spiral from the mold and place it on top of the cake.
- Garnish with fresh raspberries around the spiral. Be careful not to crush the outer edge of the spiral with the berries; place them gently around it.
- Garnish with flowers and flower petals (dipped in edible wax, if necessary).
