Trompe-l’Œil Easter Eggs
A chocolate shell, whipped cream, a passion fruit coulis and a mango center standing in for the yolk. The surprise at the table is guaranteed.
Some recipes you picture for a long time before bringing them to life. This trompe-l’œil Easter egg is one of them. I had wanted to make it for ages — original, elegant and just a little daring.
Behind the look of an egg hides a real treat: a delicate plant-based milk chocolate shell, filled with a silky whipped cream and a passion fruit coulis, topped with a mango center that mimics a yolk almost perfectly.
And beyond the visual illusion, it is above all the pairing of flavors that won me over. The sweetness of the chocolate, the lightness of the cream, the delicate acidity of the passion fruit and the round fruitiness of the mango create a balance I find particularly successful.
This is a creation I am genuinely pleased with, as much for how it looks as for how it tastes. I can picture it perfectly in the window of a pastry shop willing to step off the beaten path.
It does take a little technique, patience and time to assemble, but nothing insurmountable. And when the moment comes to present it to your guests, the surprise is guaranteed.
An original way to celebrate Easter, to shake up the conventions of traditional pastry and to show, once again, everything that is possible in fully plant-based, gluten-free baking.
Ingredients
Mango yolks
- 100 g dried mango
- 60 g hot water
For 12 shells
- 100 g vegan white chocolate
- 2 squares dark chocolate
Whipped cream
- 100 g whippable plant-based cream, such as Schlagcreme or Flora
- 10 g sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Coulis
- 5 passion fruit, or 180 g frozen passion fruit
- 15 g sugar
- ½ tbsp lemon juice
- 60 ml mango purée
- ¼ tsp cornstarch
- ½ tbsp water
Method
- 1
Rehydrate the dried mango in the hot water for about 2 hours. Drain, blend until smooth, pipe into round molds and freeze. Keep the soaking water — it is delicious to drink.
- 2
Blend the passion fruit and strain it through a fine sieve. Heat it with the mango purée, the sugar and the lemon juice for 3 to 4 minutes at a gentle boil. Add the cornstarch slaked in the water, then cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring. Cool and refrigerate.
- 3
Melt the two chocolates together and stir. Brush the molds to form the shells, let set in the refrigerator, then apply a second coat.
- 4
Whip the cream, then fold in the sugar and the vanilla.
- 5
Unmold the shells. Line the sides with whipped cream, fill the center with coulis, cover with more cream and smooth the top. Set a frozen mango half-sphere on each shell and press it in lightly. Return to the refrigerator and let rest for one hour.
I have to admit this is one of the creations I am most proud of.
Proud of having brought to life an idea I had carried for a long time, proud of the result, but above all happy to be able to share it with you today.
I find it a perfect illustration of what I love about my work: exploring, experimenting, reworking techniques and showing that plant-based, gluten-free pastry can be daring, refined and surprising too.
This trompe-l’œil is something of a singular object, particularly in plant-based gluten-free pastry, where this kind of creation is still rare.
This recipe is also a chance to show you a technique I am especially fond of: rehydrating dried fruit.
We naturally think of using fresh or frozen mango, but we sometimes forget that drying — that ancient method of preservation — offers wonderful possibilities in pastry too.
By rehydrating dried mango, you bring the fruit back to life while exploring new textures and new ways of working with it. It is a world I love to explore, and it holds some very fine surprises.
Because to me, pastry is not only about reproducing recipes. It is also about being curious, looking elsewhere, discovering techniques that are sometimes overlooked, and above all taking pleasure in passing them on.
I hope you will take as much pleasure in making and eating this trompe-l’œil as I took in imagining and creating it.
And if, through this recipe, I manage to surprise you and give you the urge to explore new possibilities in pastry, that will be my finest reward.
With all my passion for a pastry that is different, creative and within everyone’s reach.
Emmanuelle Grillet-Aubert
Original post: see it on Instagram
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