Fudge brownie, hazelnut crunch and raspberry gel encased in a chocolate mousse on an almond base. A sophisticated dessert in the shape of a heart, perfect for valentines day.
Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are all spending this day with your loved ones <3 In celebration I’ve created this petit gateau filled with classic valentines flavours of chocolate, hazelnut and raspberry. Made up of fudge brownie, hazelnut crunch, raspberry gel and light chocolate mousse, its rich and chocolatey, but not too sweet. If you are feeling extra fancy you why not make this and impress your partner, friends and family!

I don’t usually do much on Valentine’s day… To me it is a day to share love with my friends and family, as well as make everyone chocolate decorated with a ridiculous amount of pink and hearts. To be honest, every holiday is just another excuse to create desserts and cakes for those around me. There is something about making something from scratch, packaging it nicely and gifting it to people that is is so fulfilling and satisfying. Even if it is something small, receiving something homemade always holds so much more meaning and its fun to make too!
I feel like this Valentine’s day people have probably had enough of my heart shaped cookies and desserts which I’ve been giving out for two weeks already :’) Either way they will be getting more today!
If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went.
Also, don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and TikTok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!

📖 Recipe
Valentine's Day Petit Gateau
Fudge brownie, hazelnut crunch and raspberry gel encased in a chocolate mousse on an almond base. A sophisticated dessert in the shape of a heart, perfect for valentines day.
- Prep Time: 120 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 180 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
Brownie
- 30 g Plain flour
- 125 g Unsalted butter
- 100 g Dark chocolate, 70% cocoa
- 40 g Cocoa powder
- ½ tsp Baking powder
- 180 g Caster sugar
- 2 g Eggs
- Large handful of blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
Raspberry Gelee
- 75 g Raspberry puree
- ½ Gelatin sheet
- 10 g Sugar
Gavotte
- 113 g Unsalted butter
- 100 g Sugar
- 64 g Plain flour
- 1 g Egg white
Crunchy Hazelnut Base
- 33 g Dark chocolate, 45% cocoa
- 36 g Hazelnut praline, homemade or bought
- 30 g Gavottes, crushed
Chocolate Mousse
- 108 g Cream
- 16 g Glucose
- 150 g Dark chocolate, semi-sweet
- 1 tsp Gelatin powder
- 8 g Water
- 146 g Whipped cream
Almond Base
- 30 g Almond meal
- 30 g Brown sugar
- 30 g Unsalted butter, softened
- 30 g Plain flour
Red Mirror Glaze
- 25 g Water
- 50 g Sugar
- 50 g Glucose
- 32 g Condensed milk
- 2 Gelatin sheets
- 55 g White chocolate
- Red food colouring
- Gold leaf, decoration
Instructions
Brownie
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Melt chocolate and unsalted butter, add hazelnuts
- Whisk cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar together in a separate bowl
- Add to the melted chocolate mixture
- Beat in the eggs one at a time
- Pour into a 23 x 10cm rectangular cake tin/ring
- Bake for 20-30 minutes- check every 3 minutes after 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few smudges/crumbs
- Cool
- Cut out 8 hearts using a cookie cutter, ensuring it is approx. 1.5 cm tall
- Reserve in fridge until use
Raspberry Gelee
- Soak gelatin in cold water
- Bring sugar and raspberry puree to a boil
- Add gelatin
- Pour halfway into 8 cavities of a hemisphere mould and freeze until solid
Gavotte
- Cream butter and sugar together
- Add flour and mix
- Add egg white and mix until well combined
- Spread thinly on a silicon mat/baking paper
- Bake at 200 degrees for 5 minutes
- Repeat with remaining batter
*This makes about 4 full thin layers, reserve extra in an airtight bag in the freezer for other bases or eat it as it is! (it’s really good…)
Crunchy Hazelnut Base
- Melt the dark chocolate
- Mix in the hazelnut praline and gavottes
- Place the mixture between two baking sheets and roll out to 2mm in thickness
- Freeze for 10 minutes
- Remove and cut out 8 heart shapes with a cookie cutter
- Reserve in the freezer
Chocolate Mousse
- Bloom gelatin in cold water
- Heat cream and glucose until steaming
- Pour over dark chocolate, add bloomed gelatin
- Cool to 25 °C before folding in whipped cream
- Pour into a piping bag
Almond Base
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Place the almond meal, flour, brown sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl
- Using your fingers rub the butter into the flours until the dough comes together
- Roll between two pieces of parchment paper and freeze for 10 minutes
- Remove from freezer and cut out 5cm circles
- Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown
- Cool
Red Mirror Glaze
- Soak gelatin sheets in cold water
- Combine water, sugar and glucose together and cook until 103 °C
- Mix in the gelatin sheets, condensed milk and white chocolate
- Blend with an immersion mixer
- Sieve and chill
- Rewarm to 37 °C before using
Assembly
- Fill heart shaped moulds halfway with chocolate mousse
- Place a hemisphere of raspberry gel in each cavity
- Fill with more chocolate mousse
- Place prepared brownie and chocolate hazelnut crunch on top of the mousse
- Level off the mould, removing excess chocolate mousse
- Freeze overnight, or for at least 6 hours
- Once frozen remove from mould and place on a wire rack
- Pour over prepared glaze
- After excess glaze has dripped off, remove from wire rack and place on a circle of almond base
- Thaw fully in the fridge before serving
Cami
So cute💕💕(^o^)
Luis Sierra-Tenorio
OH my gosh this is so cute and looks so hard to make but so beautiful at the same time, I wish I had the knowledge to make fantastic desserts for my family, even tho I'm only 15.:)
Catherine Zhang
If you build up from the basics and keep baking I'm sure you can!
Luis Sierra-Tenorio
Keep posting new creations Catherine I know Everytime you will make something better than the last and try new things. =)
Catherine Zhang
Thank you! I definitely will 🙂
Angel Arguedas
Increible gracias por todo
Saranya Chinnadurai
I was searching all over for the perfect petite gateau recipe... just love this thanks for sharing.u r soooo talented... n i would love to see more fancy yet easy to make at home recipes from u...
Gabriela Mendoza
Hey Catherine, do you remember where you got those heart-shaped molds?
Catherine
Hi Gabriela, I got the moulds from an Australian supplier https://butterandbright.com.au/ you can get them easily on amazon and ebay as well, just type heart shaped silicone moulds.