Thursday 20 December 2012

Chocolate Entremet

I first came across this cake on Youtube (one of the few sources that I gain my baking inspirations from). It's quintessentially French and is composed of many different layers of mousse, cream (Cremeux, or Crème Fondante), Croustillant/Feuilleté and sponge. The idea is to produce contrarsting textures from the creaminess of the mousse to the crispiness of the feuilleté, silkiness of the cremeux and finishing off with a  tender sponge base. All these enclosed in a rich and velvety chocolate ganache and coated with a shiny glaze.

The making of an entremet requires a methodical approach. All the layers have to be made individually prior to assembly and frozen before masking with the ganache and the final glazing with the glaçage.

The end result is this:


I have to confess that I did spend HOURS making this. The exact amount of time involved was in the range of 10 hours. Yes, 10 whole hours. Here's the rant: I only had three mixing bowls, work surface the size of an exam desk, fridge space big enough for a packet of crisps and a freezer compartment with a shape that doesn't fit my baking tray. On the other hand, I had to make the seven components of the cake separately and froze them as I went along. That meant I had to wash my mixing bowls seven times and dry them in between washes. Also the... OK I won't bore you further with my endless rant. Essentially it would have only taken me half the time had I had enough mixing bowls to make all the layers in one go and do the washing up at the very end instead of an interrupted work pattern. Extra fridge and freezer space would've helped too. The joys of being student baker who shares one tiny fridge and freeer with three other fellow students.

Surprisingly it turned out pretty close to what I had in mind:




I also made a smaller version of the entremet for my friend who requested something special for her supervisor:


Here is a cross section of the cake: Glaçage, Ganache, Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Cremeux, Crouistillant, Brownie base (Top to bottom)


The bottom layers were almost merged into one in this slice because I didn't have enough fridge space to chill it properly after I brought it back from the audition (my flatmate had brought back even more groceries by then)

Overall, it tasted good, all my friends loved it and to my surprise almost everyone wanted to see more of the croustillant layer in this cake! It was my first time adding a crispy layer to my cake so I didn't want to overdo it. That said, point taken.

It feels great to have finally managed to make this entremet since it's been playing in my head for ages. One ticked and n = ∞ left on my to-bake list.


12 comments:

  1. This is incredible!

    I've building myself up to try and create an entremet, but I honestly think it would pale in comparison with something like this, it honestly looks incredibly professional and elegant.

    I have such a soft spot for patisseries and beautiful desserts that something like this is just perfection! Especially when executed so well!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Véronique! I'd say making an entremet requires a lot of patience and familiarity with the different techniques. And a good freezer. That's a must. Otherwise I believe anyone can create elegant entremets. They're some of my favourite desserts because they will never taste dry unlike some cakes, thanks to the layers of mousse and creams.

      Do give it a go and I look forward to seeing them on your blog!

      Delete
    2. I can't believe you managed to do it with such limited bowls and space! I think I will give it a go, but I'll have to find the right recipe first!

      Still, on tastespotting or foodgawker, that shouldn't be too tough!

      Delete
    3. Those are my two favourite food blog galore! You should visit pinterest too. They've got quite a lot of interesting pictures there as well.

      To be honest I didn't anticipate the need for multiple mixing bowls prior to making this entremet. In fact I could have done with more cake rings too (I only had one). I couldn't prepare the next element until the previous has set because I needed to use that cake ring. It was a good frantic bake though I must say. I started at 9pm and finished at 6am the next morning. :D

      Delete
    4. Aren't they just fab? The sheer number of hours I have spent drooling and adding new recipes to my favourites bar...it just doesn't bear thinking about ^^'
      Pintrest I like for visual aids, but it frustrates me endlessly when I see something wonderful and there's no link to the recipe! </3

      Could I ask which recipe you used for this one?

      Delete
    5. Yeah I know! Although you should be able to find the recipe if you trace back to the original source of that pin.

      The recipe I used is by Fauchon Bakery, posted on this website:

      http://stickofachef.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/the-anatomy-of-an-entremet-%E2%80%93-part-1/

      I must warn you that some of the measurements of ingredients in that recipe were a little bit off and as it's a proper patisserie recipe it calls for ingredients that is hardly available in the UK, such as miroir neutre, praliné paste and feilletine. You could make the praliné paste yourself as long as you own a food processor(which I don't).

      I'm going to write up this recipe properly with all the adjustments when I get the time but it won't be until after my exam in a week's time!

      Meanwhile good luck with the experiment!

      P/S: The design with macaron and chocolate decorations was my own idea. The original recipe requires an air-brush to finish off the cake but clearly that's out of my reach.

      Delete
    6. Thank you! I imagine I'll probably improvise by taking the chocolate cremeux recipe and using that withing a chocolate mousse atop joconde sponge or some such thing ^^'

      It'll be really useful when you do your write up though! {Although time consuiming I'm sure XD}

      The macaron embellishment is so pretty :3

      Good luck with your exam, I'm sure you will do peachy :)

      Delete
    7. Thanks! Funny enough I'm going to be baking a peach and jasmine cake this evening as a farewell gift for the staff at the clinic that I'm currently based in tomorrow.

      Delete
  2. Oooh lovely! Be sure to take photos! {Like I have to say, aha}.

    By the way, a little off topic, but have you ever considered joining in with the monthly daring baker challenges?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I have indeed come across the daring baker challenges but I just don't think I have enough time to do them. I often 'steal' their recipes in the archive on and off though as they're usually tried and tested. Maybe one day, just maybe.

      Delete
  3. Good tip about caramel :) I like this cake... Seen it before somewhere??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha yes you've seen this cake before when we first met. :) I obviously can't mention what event it was publicly due to the forms we've signed. :D

      Delete

Comments and feedback are what keep me going! I'd always be happy to help you with questions you have regarding the recipes in my entries.