Top Chef: Just Dessert

Now this has got to be one of my favourite shows of all time. If you haven't heard of the Top Chef series, it's a reality based cooking competition for professional chefs and Top Chef: Just Dessert is a spin-off featuring pastry chefs. Watching the show never fails to make me hungry.

This cake was part of the finale in the 2nd season of the show. The final challenge was to create a display case that includes a display piece, an entremet cake, a savory bread piece, bonbons and a plated dessert for a special person in the chef's life. In case you're wondering, an entremet is just a fancy term for a multi-layered mousse cake. This entremet was created by Sally Camacho. She's one of my favourites and  I was really glad that she made it to the finals. With no name to this cake, it's simply called: 

Entremet- Chocolate Mousse, Mango Vanilla Cream, Caramel Crémeux, Lime, Almond Sponge

 This entremet has 7 components in total and if you followed the original recipe it would have 11 layers. I'll have to confess that what I've made is nothing compared to Sally's original creation. I've skipped a few components and layers just out of pure laziness. Sooo... check this out to see how awesome it'll be if you've followed her every step. Her recipe might be a tad technical so if you're a beginner, I suggest you save this recipe and try it again when you've got a barrage of baking techniques up your sleeves. 

I'll have to add that the almond sponge tasted rather weird? But maybe it's just because my oven died on me just when I was about to put the sponge in. I had to bake it in a toaster oven instead which isn't very ideal. It's also the first time I've tried out this technique of baking a sponge: making a paste first and folding it into the meringue. 

The mango vanilla cream wasn't mango-y enough for my taste so I doubled the amount of mango. And if you haven't realised, this cake uses heaps of cream. So if you're on a diet, you might want to skip this. :)

Entremet- Chocolate Mousse, Mango Vanilla Cream, Caramel Crémeux, Lime, Almond Sponge 

by Top Chef:Just Desssert contestant, Sally Camacho

Ingredients

Lime Jam:
200 grams water
10 limes, juiced and zested
100 grams sugar
1 grams salt
1/2 vanilla bean
8 grams apple pectin

Mango Vanilla Cream:
100 grams mango puree (you might want to double this)
75 grams inverted sugar
4 vanilla beans
100 grams egg yolks
6 grams gelatin, bloomed
300 grams heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Caramel Cremeux:
3 vanilla beans
450 grams heavy cream
100 grams sugar
100 grams yolks
6 grams gelatin
1.25 grams Sel Gris

Chocolate Mousse:
115 grams sugar
368 grams heavy cream, scalding + 800 grams heavy cream, soft whip
80 grams yolks
256 grams Manjari chocolate
8 grams gelatin, bloomed 

 
Caramel Glaze:
500 grams sugar
450 grams cream
450 grams water
20 g rams cornstarch
22 grams gelatin, bloomed

Almond Sponge:
100 grams almond flour
85 grams powdered sugar
50 grams cake flour
60 grams egg whites + 160 grams
20 grams heavy cream
100 grams sugar
4 grams Fleur de sel

Almond Petite Beurre:
200 grams pastry flour
100 grams powdered sugar
150 grams almonds
135 grams butter
3 grams sea salt

Instructions

Lime Jam:
Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stir to prevent burning. Allow to boil and cook for 1 minute. Take off heat and allow to cool.

Mango Vanilla Cream:
In a small saucepan, place mango puree, inverted sugar, and vanilla beans. Cook over low-medium heat. Temper in yolks, cook over low heat to make anglaise. Cook to 85 degrees Celsius. Take off heat, add gelatin. Remove vanilla beans.

Blend to smooth. Chill to 40 degrees Celsius. Fold in soft cream. Pour mixture into insert fleximolds. Freeze

Caramel Cremeux
In a small saucepan, place scraped vanilla beans and cream. Bring to scald. Reserve and keep warm.

In a medium saucepan, make a dry caramel by adding 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time to the hot pot to caramelize. Bring to dark caramel. Break caramel by adding warm cream to caramel. Cook over low heat to dissolve caramel. Temper in egg yolks. Cook over low heat to make anglaise. Cook to 85 degrees Celsius.

Take off heat, add gelatin and Sel. Remove vanilla beans. Blend to smooth. Pour into insert fleximolds. Place frozen disk of mango cream right on top to kiss cremeux. Freeze

Chocolate Mousse:
In a small pot, keep heavy cream warm. In a medium pot.

Make a dry caramel with the sugar. Once caramel is dark, break with hot cream. Temper in yolks to make anglaise. Cook to 85 degrees Celsius. Pour over chocolate and gelatin. Blend to smooth. Cool chocolate mixture to 40 degrees Celsius. Fold in soft cream. Place in piping bag for assembly.

Caramel Glaze:
In a small pot, bring cream to scald and reserve warm.

In a medium pot make a dry caramel with the sugar. Once caramel is dark, break with hot cream. Cook on low heat to dissolve caramel.

Mix water and cornstarch to create slurry. Add to caramel. Bring mixture to a boil. Allow to boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add bloomed gelatin. Burmix to smooth. Ice bath to chill glaze to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Reserve to glaze entremet.

Almond Sponge:
In a Robot Coupe, combine almond flour, powdered sugar, cake flour, 60 grams of egg whites, and heavy cream. Robot to make a paste.

In a kitchen aide mixer, with the whip attachment, mix 160 grams of egg whites on medium. Slowly add the sugar to make a medium peak meringue. Fold meringue into paste. Spread onto a silpat lined sheet tray and bake in a pre heated 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 8-10 minutes or until evenly browned. Allow to cool. Then cut 2-7 inch circles and spread one side with lime jam and sprinkle with Fleur de sel.

Almond Petite Beurre:
Place all ingredients in Robot Coupe. Blend to form dough. Press into 7 3/4- inch ring. Remove ring. Bake in preheated 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15-18 minutes or until evenly golden brown.

Assembly:
Build upside down. Place acetate on a flat sheet tray. Place 8-inch stainless steal ring on sheet tray. Pipe chocolate mousse all over bottom first. Use a spatula to spread it evenly and up the sides of the ring. 

Next press frozen insert of mango cream and caramel cremeux into mousse. Press an almond sponge circle jam side down onto frozen insert. Top with more chocolate mousse and spread mousse to cover evenly. 

Then repeat with another frozen insert of mango cream and caramel cremeux into mousse and press an almond sponge circle jam side down onto frozen insert again. Top with more chocolate mousse to cover. 

Then top with almond petite beurre. Freeze entremet in blast freezer. Once totally frozen. Torch outer part of the ring and remove ring from entremet. Glaze entremet immediately with caramel glaze. Garnish sides of entremet with tempered manjari plaques.

Pssst: If you notice in the 1st and 2nd picture, the layers are in a different order. And that's because I was stupid enough to not notice which way is the right side up when pouring the glaze over.