Rochica’s Coffee Brandy Snaps

Method

Step 1
Make the hazelnut praline. Tip the sugar into a small, heavy-based saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water and place it over a low heat. Heat, gently swirling the pan from time to time (but don’t stir), until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat, bring the syrup to the boil and continue to cook, without stirring, until it turns an amber colour, then take the pan off the heat. Stir in the hazelnuts and salt and pour the praline onto the lined baking sheet. Leave to cool and harden, then break up the praline and blitz it in a food processor to a powder.

Step 2
Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.

Step 3
Make the brandy snaps. Melt the butter, demerara sugar and golden syrup in a pan over a low heat. Remove from the heat, and stir in the flour, espresso powder and coffee extract until fully incorporated.

Step 4
Put 4 teaspoons of the mixture onto the lined baking sheet, spacing them well apart. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until lacy. Leave to rest for about 1 minute, until they are cool enough to handle but still pliable.

Step 5
One by one, wrap the brandy snaps around a cone mould, with the lacy side uppermost. Leave until set (only a few minutes). Then remove the cones from the moulds and set aside.

Step 6
Repeat steps 4 and 5 three more times until you have 12 cones altogether.

Step 7
Make the filling. Using an electric hand whisk, whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract together to soft peaks. On a low speed, whisk in the cocoa powder and mascarpone, then, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisk in the Irish cream liqueur. Spoon the filling into the piping bag fitted with the star nozzle and twist the end to seal.

Step 8
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth and remove from the heat. Dip the rim of each cone into the chocolate and sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts. Set the cones into a cone-holder if using, to set (otherwise, lay them on a lined baking sheet). Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the praline powder into each cone.

Step 9
Pipe the cream filling into the cones, finishing with a sprinkle of the remaining praline powder over the cream filling. Serve immediately.