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Mini Vanilla Tropezians
Guest Chef Recipe by Florence Lesage

Florence Lesage Recipe

At Le Cordon Bleu Paris institute, we have welcomed many talented Chefs through our doors to demonstrate their skill and share their knowledge with our students. Le Club Des Amis is made up of those Chefs who we have become friends of Le Cordon Bleu and we are excited to share some of their incredible recipes with you. 

This recipe is from The Westin Paris Vendôme hotel’s pastry Chef, Florence Lesage, runner-up in the pastry/ confectionery World Championships and silver medallist at the final of the 2015 Worldskills competition in São Paulo. In 2018, she performed a demonstration for students at Le Cordon Bleu Paris students. Chef Lesage shared her Mini Vanilla Tropezians recipe with a hazelnut crumble, brioche “rich yeast dough”, vanilla cream, preserved raspberries and hazelnut sweet pastry dough.

Mini Vanilla Tropezians
20 mini vanilla tropezians
Preparation time:
Cooking time: 35
Total time: 2

Ingredients

Hazelnut crumble
  • 50 g ground hazelnuts
  • 50 g butter
  • 50 g unrefined raw sugar
  • 50 g flour T55

Brioche "rich yeast dough"
  • 250 flour T45
  • 5 g salt
  • 25 g sugar
  • 12,5 g fresh compressed yeast
  • 50 ml whole milk
  • 100 g eggs (2)
  • 100 g butter
  • egg wash
Vanilla cream
  • 190 ml whole milk
  •  1 vanilla pod (bean)
  •  45 g sugar
  •  15 g custard powder (cornflour/cornstarch)
  •  38 g egg yolks
  • 18 g egg
  • 18 g butter
  • 21 g gelatine mass
  • 125 ml whipping cream
Preserved (confit) raspberries
  • 250 g raspberry purée
  • 3,5 g pectin NH
  • 25 g sugar
  • 11,25 g dextrose
Hazelnut sweet pastry dough
  • 300 flour T55
  • 160 icing (powdered) sugar
  • 60 g ground toasted hazelnuts
  • 4 g salt
  • 240 g butter
  • 80 g eggs
  • 100 g flour T55
Light syrup
  • 100 ml water
  • 25 g sugar
  • 1 used vanilla pod (bean)
Decoration
  • icing (powdered) sugar
  • fresh raspberries or blueberries
  • gold leaf

Method

Hazelnut crumble

Mix all the ingredients together. Freeze.

Brioche "rich yeast dough"

Place all the ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Knead for about 4 to 5 minutes until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl. Add the butter then knead again until a smooth dough becomes comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Prove the dough for 30 minutes. Fold the dough and refrigerate.

When the dough is firm and cold, weigh 18 g pieces and shape into balls. Brush with egg wash and leave to prove for about 45 minutes to 1 hour at 27°C. Egg wash again. Grate the frozen hazelnut crumble on top.

Bake at 150°C for 25 minutes.

Vanilla cream

Make a pastry cream. Add the gelatine and butter to the hot cream. Mix well and cool quickly.

Whip the cream and fold into the cold pastry cream. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Preserved (confit) raspberries

Warm the raspberry purée. Sprinkle in the dry ingredients and bring to the boil. Blend well.

Cool in a hotel pan with plastic film in direct contact with the mixture. Blend before using.

Hazelnut sweet pastry dough

Using the paddle attachment mix together the 300 g of flour, icing sugar, ground hazelnuts, salt and butter. Take care not to over work. Add the eggs and the second quantity of flour.

Roll out to 2 mm thick. Stamp out discs the same size as the balls of brioche.

Bake on a silpain at 165°C for about 10 minutes.

Light sirup

Bring the water, sugar and vanilla to the boil.

Assembly

Cut off the top of the brioche to make lids. Dust the lids with icing sugar. Use a brush to imbibe the brioche with the light syrup. Make shallow wells in the brioche and fill with a spoonful of preserved raspberries.

Pipe a dome of vanilla cream on top. Place the hats on top and set each onto a hazelnut sweet pastry disc.

Decorate with raspberries or blueberries and gold leaf.

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