Pumpkin mousse tartlets with chocolate and hazelnut sponge

Slowly melt 250 g of white couverture in a bain-marie or in the microwave. Stir in 90 g of Glucose syrup with a dough scraper until a dough-like mass forms, and color it with Powder color. Wrap it flat in cling film and let it rest for at least 24 hours so the fat crystals can crystallise.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C top/bottom heat. Spread 50 g ground and 100 g coarsely chopped hazelnuts separately on a Roulade mat and roast them for 10 bis 15 minutes. Leave the oven switched on afterwards.

Whip 3 eggs, 2 tbsp water and 1 tsp vanilla aroma on the highest setting for about 1 minute until foamy. Sprinkle in 100 g sugar while stirring over 1 minute and whip the mixture for a further 2 minutes.

Mix 100 g flour with 1 tsp Baking powder and the roasted ground hazelnuts. Stir everything in briefly on the lowest setting and finish folding the mixture gently with the Dough scraper so it does not collapse.

Smooth the batter onto the mat with an Angled spatula and spread the chopped hazelnuts over it. If you like, sprinkle everything with 20 bis 30 g icing sugar for a fine caramel note. Bake the sponge on a perforated tray in the lower third of the oven for 20 bis 25 minutes, turn it out onto baking paper and let it cool on a Cake rack.

Peel a Hokkaido or butternut squash (approx. 1300 g), cut it into small pieces and cook it in a large pot with a little water for about 20 minutes until soft. Drain off the water, purée everything with a hand blender and let the purée cool. You will need 250 g of it.

Soak 2.5 sheets of Gelatine in cold water. Bring 100 g of full cream to the boil, take it off the heat and dissolve the squeezed-out Gelatine in it. Pour the hot cream over 100 g of dark couverture in 3 portions and stir everything with the Whisk, so the Ganache does not separate. Let it cool at room temperature.

Whip the remaining 200 g of full cream with 80 g of icing sugar until creamy and carefully fold it into the cooled Ganache.

Finally, stir in 250 g of firm pumpkin purée with the Whisk until the pumpkin mousse is even and smooth.

Using round cookie cutters, cut 6 small and 6 large discs each from the hazelnut sponge. Choose the sizes to match your mold: the large disc should be slightly smaller than the opening of the cavity, and the small one about 1.5 cm smaller than the large one. The sponge offcuts make a wonderful snack for in between.

Fill the mousse into a 40 cm Piping bag and pipe it halfway into the 6 cavities of the Delica pumpkin Silicone mold. Place the small sponges inside and press them in gently.

Fill the molds about ⅔ full with mousse, tap the tray gently on the work surface so that air bubbles escape, and place the large sponges on top. Any leftover mousse tastes wonderful in small dessert glasses. Put the mold in the freezer for at least 6 hours, or better still overnight.

Colour the Mirror glaze Ivoire with orange gel color and warm it in 30-second steps to approx. 30 °C. For glazing it should be between 28 and 32 °C: if it is colder, the layer becomes too thick, if it is hotter, it does not adhere properly.

Lay cling film on the table and place a cake rack on top, this way you can catch the excess icing. Release the frozen pumpkins from the mould, set them on the rack and glaze them individually with circular movements.

Put green and brown gel color on a small plate, dip a firm brush in and flick it with your finger over the pumpkins, this creates the natural speckled look. Lift the tartlets onto small cake boards with a small Angled spatula.

Knead the Modeling chocolate in your hand until smooth and form a ball into a cone for the stem. Roll out a portion and cut out leaves with the smallest leaf Cookie cutter; if needed, a little Magic roll-out powder helps. For the tendrils, roll a long strand around a wooden stick and pull it out again.

Place stems, leaves and tendrils on the pumpkins: the Mirror glaze holds everything by itself. Your little works of art are done!