Intensement Chocolat

Feel like baking something complicated as well as want to get rid of my 2.5 kg of chocolate I bought back from Singapore, once I saw "Intensement Chocolat", the elegant looking cake in Laduree Sucre book, I knew I had to make it !

This decoration was not my first plan, I wanted to do it like the one in the book. But because I glazed the cake not so neat, I had to conceal it by making some tempered chocolate which you can see in the picture... another failure...haha. When I took it out from the acetate, it was broken :P

One more thing, the recipe is called for 70% dark chocolate but I had only 57% one, that is why my cake looks more lighter in colour. I also reduced the sugar a bit but the cake still was too sweet for my liking but very okay for others. They all love it !

Put a macaron on top might make it look better. Which one do you prefer?

The original, perfecto !

Just took it out from the fridge, so you can see the white chilled glaze, but can't help. I need to cut it after this.

Now... I am revealing the recipe... which took me more than 30 minutes to type >< (seriously they are 10 pages in the book !!!!!)

Intensement Chocolat

For 8 people

Preparation: 4 hours Cooking time: 37 minutes Resting time: 2 hours and 50 minutes

Chocolate macaron

85 g ground almonds (almond flour)

80 g confectioners’ (icing) sugar

5 g unsweetened cocoa powder

20 g chocolate (minimum 70% cacao solids)

2 egg whites + 1tbsp whipped egg white (I just mixed it all together)

70 g granulated sugar

Dark chocolate sponge cake

20 g all-purpose flour

15 g potato starch (I used corn starch)

10 g unsweetened cocoa powder

2 eggs

50 g granulated sugar

Cocoa syrup

25 g granulated sugar

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

5 tbsp water

Dark chocolate ganache

125 g chocolate (minimum 70% cacao solids)

125 ml heavy (double) cream

30 g butter

Chocolate mousse

4 eggs

40 g granulated sugar

160 g chocolate (minimum 70% cacao solids)

40 g butter

1 pinch of salt

Dark chocolate glaze

100 g chocolate (minimum 70% cacao solids)

80 ml heavy (double) cream

40 g whole milk

20 g granulated sugar

20 butter

Dark chocolate flakes for decoration

Equipment

Round ring mould 8-inch diameter, 1.5 inches high (I used 7-inch diameter, 3 inches high)

Piping bag fitted with a 10-mm plain tip

Round cardboard cake board

Pastry brush

CHOCOLATE MACARON

1. a. Combine the ground almonds, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor and pulse to obtain a fine powder. Sift through a sieve to remove any lumps.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water or in the microwave oven until it is lukewarm (35c)

b. In a clean, dry bowl, whisk the 2 egg whites to a foam. Once they are frothy, add a third of the granulated sugar and whip until sugar is dissolved; add another third of the granulated sugar, whip for another minute; finally add the remaining granulated sugar and whip for 1 more minute. Pour the melted chocolate over the whipped egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, roughly incorporate the chocolate, and then immediately and delicately fold the sifted mixture of ground almonds, confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder into the chocolate and egg white mixture. In a separate small bowl, beat the remaining 1 tbsp egg white until just frothy. Then add to the final mixture, folding gently to slightly loosen the batter.

c. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and draw an 8-inch diameter circle on each. Transfer macaron batter to the piping bag fitted with a plain tip and pipe a disk onto one of the sheets, filling in the drawn circle. Bake for approximately 25 minutes (at 300F l 150c l gas mark 2). Allow to cool.


DARK CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE

2. Preheat the oven to 340F l 170c l gas mark 3.Sift together the flour, potato starch and cocoa powder.
Separate the egg yolks and egg whites. In a bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks to liquefy.

3. In a large clean, dry bowl, whip the egg whites to a foam. Once they are white and frothy, incorporate the sugar and continue to whip until firm. Immediately add the egg yolks, lightly folding in with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle in the flour, potato starch and cocoa powder mixture and gently combine.

Transfer batter to a clean piping bag fitted with a plain tip. On the second prepared baking sheet, pipe another 8-inch diameter disk. Place in oven and bake for 12 minutes.


COCOA SYRUP

4. In a saucepan, mix together the sugar and cocoa powder. Add the water and bring to a boil. Allow to cool.


DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE

5. Using a knife, finely chop the chocolate on a cutting board and transfer to a large bowl. In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chopped chocolate in 3 parts, making sure to combine well with a wooden spatula after each addition. Mix until homogenous. Cut the butter into small pieces and stir into the ganache until smooth.


BEGINNING OF ASSEMBLY

6. Cut the disks of chocolate macaron and chocolate cake to fit properly in the mould. Place a cake board the size of the mould on a round platter. Line the mould with aluminum foil to make unmoulding easier and place on the cardboard. Place the macaron disk in the mould and pour in the ganache. Put this assembled preparation in the refrigerator.


CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

7. a. Using a knife, chop the chocolate on a cutting board and place in a large heatproof bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to bowl. Place over a pan of gently simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter, stirring together.When the mixture has melted, remove from heat and allow to cool to barely lukewarm (18c to 20c)

b. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and place in a bowl. Set egg whites a side.

c. Lightly beat the egg yolks to liquefy.
Place the egg whites in a large clean, dry bowl with a pinch of salt. Whip to a foam. Once they are white and frothy, add the sugar and continue to whip until firm. Immediately add the egg yolks, incorporating delicately with a whisk, but do not whisk; simply start with the whisk in the center of the bowl, work up the sides of the bowl and bring back down towards the center, all the while turning the bowl regularly. This will result in a smooth and homogenous mixture.

d. Incorporate ¼ of the egg mixture into the butter and chocolate, by gently folding in with a rubber spatula. Pour this entire mixture back over the remaining ¾ of the eggs, always mixing gently, by starting with the spatula in the center of the bowl, working up the sides and bringing the preparation back down towards the center.

e. Remove the assembled preparation from the refrigerator. Transfer the chocolate mousse to a clean piping bag fitted with a plain tip. Pipe a thin layer of mousse in a spiral into the mould. Place the chocolate cake on top. Using a pastry brush, soak the cake with cocoa syrup.
Fill with remaining chocolate mousse to the top of the mould and smooth the surface. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Take out of the refrigerator and remove the mould and aluminum foil.
Cover cake with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill.


DARK CHOCOLATE GLAZE

8. Using a knife, chop the dark chocolate on a cutting board and transfer to a large bowl. In a saucepan, bring the cream, milk and sugar to a boil, then pour this hot liquid over the chopped chocolate. Add the butter and combine until smooth. Allow to cool to lukewarm.

9. Place a wire rack on a clean baking sheet.
When the glaze is barely lukewarm, remove cake from the freezer and place on the rack. Remove plastic wrap. Using a ladle, immediately coat the entire cake with glaze. Use a palette knife (or offset spatula) to spread the glaze and smooth the surface. Allow to rest for 2 minutes to set.
Slide the tip of a knife between the cake board and the wire rack to slightly lift the cake. Using the knife, scrape the excess glaze off the bottom and apply chocolate flakes around the base.
Decorate the top with a line of white chocolate and dark chocolate shavings.

The texture was incredible ! The whole process is not too difficult to attempt, just a bit more works.. I think I would make it again only when I got 70% dark chocolate, just to make sure how delicious this recipe can be :)

YUM !