Banana, Caramel and Hazelnut Entremet

I haven't been making lots of entremet lately since it takes quite some time to make and time is very precious to me lately. I went back to work last December after my 4-month maternity leave, and I am busier than ever.

Before I was back to work, I managed to make this banana, caramel, and hazelnut entremet for my nephew's birthday. I wasn't actually in the mood of spending a great deal in the kitchen since sleep was always my preferred action whenever I have any time, but I had some leftover cake components in the freezer that I wanted to use up before they go bad. And I am glad I did because the cake turned out to be delicious! One of the cake I am proud of.

 

I've always loved the combination of banana and caramel, I love banana in a cake in general, but I have been curious how it might be if I combine it with hazelnut. I've seen some people did it, and in my mind, it would taste great. So what's a better occasion to experiment than your own family's birthday :). When people heard caramel, the first thing they think (at least me) is sweet, sweet, sweet. It is true, caramel is sweet but you can balance it out with salt (LOVE salted caramel!) or make it into a mousse where you can adjust the amount of caramel goes in there.

I had a couple layers of chocolate layer cake available in the freezer, as well as a layer of chocolate hazelnut mousse, so that's going to be the base of my cake. I made a crunchy feuilletine layer (this is a must for me everytime I make any kind of chocolate or hazelnut cake), then I made caramelized bananas and rum raisin filling fromthis recipe as well as the caramel mousse. I had to adjust the caramel mousse to my liking. I used less caramel in the mousse, and added vanilla bean sea salt in it.

Everyone who ate the cake really liked it. It wasn't too sweet, it was very aromatic with banana, and the feuilletine added a perfect crunch which is always great in a cake. Sadly, I didn't write down the adjustment I made to the caramel mousse. I was just keep adding the caramel and tasting it at the same time until it reached my desired sweetness. Same thing with the salt. Next time I make this (which I will), I will make everything again from the beginning, no leftover stuff so that I can really write down the recipe.

I broke the leftover feuilletine into pieces and used it as decoration. For the top, I put some caramel randomly, pour some clear glaze, and smear it with a metal spatula. I really liked how it turned out.

Since then, I have made a couple more but not too many. I am mostly making a simple cake that I can enjoy as a snack these days.