Vanilla Bean (Inspired by Cédric Grolet)

If you love vanilla, you've come to the right place! You have certainly seen Cedric Grolet's vanilla pod, one of his trompe-l’œil; he hasn't published the recipe but the composition of this dessert is available on his site, so I made my version based on this description and the assembly video available on his Instagram account. The recipe is quite simple in the end, the most difficult part is giving the dessert the appearance of a pod, but if you are short on time, you can also serve it in verrines, the result will be just as good even if less visual. Finally, the quantities for the praline are too high, you can decrease them, but otherwise, the praline keeps very well for several weeks in an airtight container at room temperature 😊
 
Equipment:
Piping bags

Ingredients:
I used Norohy Madagascar vanilla extract and vanilla & Valrhona's Waina and Caribbean chocolates: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 20% off the entire site (affiliate).
I used Koro cocoa butter: code ILETAITUNGATEAU for 5% off the entire site (non-affiliate).

Preparation time: 1h30 + freezing
For 10 to 12 vanilla pods depending on their size:

 Vanilla whipped ganache:

 110g of liquid cream with 35% fat content
 1 vanilla pod
 12g of glucose
 12g of inverted sugar or neutral honey like acacia
 150g of Waina chocolate or other white chocolate like Ivoire
 290g of liquid cream with 35% fat content
 
 Heat the cream (1) with the grains of the vanilla pod, glucose, and honey.
 Meanwhile, melt the chocolate. Pour the hot liquid over the melted chocolate mixing well to get a smooth and shiny ganache. Then, add the cold cream and use an immersion blender for the ganache. Cover it with film, and let it cool in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, possibly overnight.
 
 

 
 Vanilla praline:

 15 to 20g of exhausted vanilla pods + vanilla extract or powder
 150g of hazelnuts
 150g of almonds
 120g of sugar
 25g of water
 
 Toast the almonds, hazelnuts, and exhausted vanilla pods for 10 to 15 minutes at 150°C.
 
 

 
 Prepare caramel with the sugar and water. When amber, pour it over the nuts and vanilla pods.
 
 

 

 
 Let cool completely, then blend the mixture (adding vanilla extract or powder if you like) until it becomes a paste.
 
 

 
 Be careful not to blend too much, you need a fairly "solid" praline for this recipe, if it's too liquid you won't be able to pipe it.
 
 

 
 Vanilla gel:

 110g of water
 135g of sugar
 4.5g of NH pectin
 1 vanilla pod
 
 Mix the pectin with a tablespoon of sugar.
 Bring to a boil the water, remaining sugar, and grains of the vanilla pod.
 
 

 
 Pour in the sugar/pectin mixture whisking well, then continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Let cool completely.
 
 

 
 Assembly:
 
Whip the ganache until a whipped cream-like texture is obtained.
 
 

 
 Place it in a piping bag, and also pour the praline and vanilla gel each in a piping bag
 
 Pipe the different preparations alternately (relatively little vanilla gel compared to the other two to avoid having a too sweet dessert) on a sheet of cling film.
 The pods should be around 15 to 20 cm long, and not very wide.
 
 

 
 Close the cling film while eliminating all air bubbles, forming a pod shape.
 

 
 Dark chocolate coating:

 300g of dark chocolate  
 300g of cocoa butter  
 Optional: a little black food coloring
 Unsweetened cocoa powder  
 
 Melt the chocolate with the cocoa butter, and add a little black food coloring if you want a more realistic trompe-l’œil.  
 
 

 
 Dip the frozen pods in the melted chocolate, then scrape them with a knife to make them less smooth. Add some cocoa powder with a brush, and finally, use a blowtorch to slightly blacken the pods in some places. Place them in the refrigerator for about 1 to 2 hours to let them thaw, then enjoy!