Dacquoise with Raspberry Mousse
Dacquoise with Raspberry Mousse is an amazing combination of three nutted meringue discs filled with a raspberry mousse that is enhanced with mascarpone.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 747kcal
Ingredients
Hazelnut Meringues
- 2 ounces hazelnuts or almonds or half and half (60 grams)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (15 grams)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons baker's or granulated sugar (225 grams)
- ½ cup egg whites (about 4 from large eggs)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Raspberry Mousse
- 1 cup seedless red raspberry jam (285 grams)
- 2 teaspoons gelatin
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar (45 grams)
- 8 ounces mascarpone (225 grams)
- Red food coloring, optional, as needed
Instructions
Hazelnut Meringues
- Line two half sheets with parchment paper. Place one rack in the oven on the bottom and the second on the middle rung.
- Using a cookie cutter or pastry circle, draw nine 3 ½" circles, equally spaced, on a piece of parchment the size of the pan. This is your template. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the hazelnuts or almonds or half and half on a sheet pan and toast for 7 to 10 minutes until fragrant and medium brown. To remove the skins easily, see my post Hazelnut Gianduja. Cool completely.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F.
- Combine the cooled hazelnuts and cornstarch in the bowl of a processor. Process until the hazelnuts are finely ground. Set aside.
- Whip the egg whites, sugar and vanilla until very stiff, about 8 to 10 minutes depending upon the machine. Fold the hazelnut/cornstarch mixture in by hand. Do not over fold and break the mixture down. It should remain firm.
- Place the template on a half sheet pan. Place another sheet of parchment over it. Fit a pastry bag with a number 3 or 4 plain tip. Holding the tip about ½ inch above the template, pipe the batter in the circles starting in the middle and moving out to the edges. Alternatively, measure a heaping tablespoon of meringue for each circle and spread it within the circle with a small offset spatula.
- Remove the template, place it on a second half sheet pan and top it with another plain piece of parchment paper. Repeat filling the circles with the meringue.
- Bake for about 1 hour until they are completely dry. Place the parchment with the meringues on racks to cool completely. They should come off by just lifting them. When completely cooled, place in airtight containers where they can be held for weeks.
Raspberry Mousse
- Place the raspberry jam in the processor bowl. Process until smooth.
- Dissolve the gelatin in the lemon juice. Set aside.
- Whip the cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Remove to another bowl and set aside.
- Without cleaning the bowl, add the room temperature mascarpone. Whisk until soft. Add the raspberry jam a third at a time.
- Microwave the gelatin for about 8 to 10 seconds until liquid. Pour into the mascarpone/raspberry mixture and whisk to incorporated.
- Fold in the cream. It will look rather purplish and not too appetizing at this point. Add red food coloring a few drops at a time until a pleasant color is achieved.
- Refrigerate until almost set up. It will depend upon how cold your refrigerator is but it took mine about 2 ½ hours
- Fit a piping bag with an #8 or 9 open star tip. Fill the piping bag about ⅔ full and holding the bag about ½ inch from the disc, pipe the mousse in a circle to within about ¼ inch of the edge. Fill the middle by piping the mousse into it. Pipe 12 circles in this manner
- Stack 2 meringue discs with mousse on top of each other. Place the plain hazelnut meringue on top. Do not press down too hard or the meringue will break.
Finishing
- I had left over ganache from another project so I used a smaller tip and piped a bit in the center of the meringue disc. I finished with a whole hazelnut.
- Alternatively, if you don't have any ganache, melt a bit of chocolate and drizzle it from side to side or simply sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.
Notes
There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above. If you have questions, look at the photos or read the header of the article. Many of them will be answered there.
As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.
Baker's sugar is best for meringues. See information above.
My preference is to use cold egg whites.
Baker's sugar is best for meringues. See information above.
Always toast the nuts for the most flavor. All hazelnuts, all almonds or half and half can be used.
Seedless red raspberry jam is perfect for the flavoring.
The lemon juice adds a bit of tang to the mousse.
Mascarpone is a very smooth, creamy cheese often used in desserts such as tiramasu. It adds body as well as flavor. It can be expensive depending upon where you buy it. I find Trader Joe's has the best price.
Heavy cream is used for its ability to whip up tighter and higher.
Don't over beat the cream for the mousse. If it is too stiff the air will be diminished when folding into the other ingredients resulting in a heavy mousse.
The use of food coloring enhances the looks of the mousse which will naturally be purplish.
It is important to have the mascarpone at room temperature to prevent curdling when whipping it.
Make the template for the meringue discs so they are all the same size and will stack nicely.
The discs can be made days ahead and stored in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Serving: 6servings | Calories: 747kcal | Carbohydrates: 96g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 87mg | Potassium: 186mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 80g | Vitamin A: 1114IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 1mg
