French Chocolatines
It doesn’t get much more bougie than these little French Chocolatines! A light genoise sponge, rich buttercream and crunchy chopped nuts make these the perfect decadent bite…or two.
I won’t lie, these aren’t an easy bake. The genoise can be trickier than a traditional sponge and assembling them is fussy but the end result is a delicious dessert with a beautiful presentation.
A few tips up front. You’ll want to let the eggs come up to room temperature before you start, you’ll get a better lift. Also, when melting butter, JUST melt it. Don’t get it bubbling hot. If you do, let it cool down before you use it. Mixing eggs with sizzling butter equals scrambled eggs. In this case, very sweet scrambled eggs but scrambled nonetheless.
So let’s get to it…preheat the oven to 350F and grease a shallow 7″ square tin and line the base with baking parchment.
for the sponge
for the chocolate buttercream
The Genoise Sponge
Melt the butter gently and set aside to cool. In one bowl, sift the flour and cornstarch together. Yes, really. I know sifting a pain and I too generally ignore that step figuring as long as I don’t compress it it’s fine but when making a genoise, sifting is key. Set the flour bowl aside.
In a second, bowl whisk the eggs and sugar until it’s light and mousse like. Now gently fold in half of the flour into the egg mix GENTLY to not knock out the air, then pour half the melted butter around the edge of the mixture and fold that in. Gently is key, the air you’ve whisked into the eggs is what will help prop up the sponge. There are no raising agents in a genoise except what’s in the self-raising flour so don’t knock that air out of the eggs. Repeat with the second halves and pour the batter into the prepared tin.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes until well risen and slightly springs back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, the turn it out of the pan, peeling the parchment off the bottom and finish cooling on a wire rack.
The buttercream
This is a basic buttercream and once you make it, it’s the only frosting you’ll want on anything!
In a small pan gently dissolve the sugar and water over a low heat then boil for 2-3 minutes until it’s clear. (If it starts to caramelize, you’ve gone to far, start over.) Set it aside to cool a bit. Melt you baking chocolate in a separate pan or in the microwave. I use Baker’s bars and they melt perfectly in the microwave.
Break the egg yolks and start whisking as you pour the syrup in a thin stream into the eggs whisking constantly until it makes a thick cool mixture. In another bowl cream your butter until very soft (I used my stand mixer here) and beat in the egg mix slowly. Be sure there are no chunks of butter not blended then stir in the cooled melted chocolate. You can make you buttercream a day ahead and keep it in a sealed container in the fridge. Just let it warm to room temp before you use it.
Assemble!
Cut the sponge horizontally when cooled and apply a thin layer of the buttercream to sandwich the two halves together. Trim the edges so they’re nice and straight. Now cut the sponge sandwich into approximately 2″ squares.
Spread the sides and top with the buttercream and roll in chopped nuts for the sides. I had some walnuts and almonds in the cabinet so I ran them through the food processor and used those, you can use whatever kind you like. Finish the tops by piping rosettes with the butter cream. (For a different spin on these French Chocolatines, dissolve some instant coffee in the sugar solution when making your buttercream and use hazelnuts!)
