My first decent picture!
There are a few cooking shows that really arouse my enthusiasm, to give me the oomph and drive to get up and do something about it. Raymond Blanc's "How To Cook Well" is a marvel, being divided into 6 episodes each based on a particular cooking technique with 'baking" engaging my attention.
I believe that anything and everything we read, look at, purchase or give attention to is to inspire us to become a better version of ourselves. Indeed this cake did for me. Having had this recipe on my mind for a while, it was due time that it was made.
I have always wanted a simple chocolate mousse recipe and alas I found one that is divine to the truth that simplicity is always best. The mousse consisted of egg white, 72% chocolate and sugar... the holy trinity for some devoted dessert fanatics. The bottom half was almost souffle like as it cooked, rising way above the lined tin and cushioning down on itself to settle into a chocolate cake base.
The union of these two desserts, that could hold their own on separate plates, would be thought of being heavy and sickly sweet if the ingredients were unknown. In fact, the coming together of the mousse and cake is like a perfect couple. They both make each other a better half, complement one another and love each other enough to bring the best out of their romance for others to enjoy.
I would be proud to recreate this with the chocolate tuile sitting pretty as a perfect circle on top of the mousse. Also, to create a perfect border for the cake from the tuile, slightly higher than the mousse or even more so a mountainous border using the tuile with sharp jagged edges and lines. Creating this border would allow for the perfect accompaniment of strawberries to be pooled inside. Creating a tuile white in colour would be a very interesting challenge as well. Creating the same cake with a white chocolate mousse would be aesthetically pleasing with the two desserts meeting along the side going up and down in the manner of a wave.
A small note for tuile making enthusiasts, cover each layer of tuile with baking paper and store in a sealed container in the fridge as this prevents the tuiles from becoming moist and hard to handle.
The instructions and simplicity of this cake allowed for my first attempt to come out near perfect.
The recipe can be found here.
The recipe provides quantities for two cakes each of 14 cm diameter or one cake of about 25c m in diameter.
The cake was made as a thank you for the peeps at Devon Cafe, Surry Hills which made a special treat for a friend as her father had passed away. Being such a capable team, I doubt if any non professionals would give a gift of food to them...I hope they liked it.
Over the same weekend, an engagement was announce by two dear friends as I started making this cake, I couldn't help but think of them as I put it all together.
As I mentioned before and will do in many a next posts, keeping someone or people in my mind whilst creating anything will always help me achieve my desired outcome.
- Mith
Hi there! The recipe seems to be offline..Have you by any chance kept a copy of it?
ReplyDeletethanks
Hi, I have not kept a copy at all!
DeleteIt was easy enough to find the recipe from another blog though...
http://doughmydear.com/?p=651
Please post a link to any comments/photos if you decide to give this a crack = )
hi, can you repost the recipe, please? I've been trying to get the recipe but its not in the whole internet anymore :)
DeleteHello, The link for the BBC says the recipe can’t be found and the doughmydear link no longer exists.
ReplyDeleteWhen you find s great recipe, or a great anything, for that matter, it is generally a good idea to print it on paper or save it as a pdf, otherwise when you want it again, you are stuffed, because despite Raymond saying he wants to teach us all his little secrets, the Cretins st the BBC remove the videos and the recipes.
For anyone who is desperate to prepare the Raymond Blanc Flourless Chocolate Cake, I do have the recipe in full, but, its on my external hard drive which is currently with my computer tech wiz guy. As soon as I have it to hand, I'll post it here.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime you can see the man himself preparing it in this video: http://tubevd.net/video/x2j9gz4
I need to make the cake for a lunch on Monday so here is a guesstimation which should work:
The base.
Whisk 4 egg whites to soft peaks, then add 125g caster or icing sugar and whisk to firm peaks.
Now whisk in 4 egg yolks very lightly and finish by folding in with a metal spoon.
Now gently fold in 65g of sifted good quality bitter cocoa powder. Pour this into a cake mould lined with buttered grease proof baking paper.
Bake for about 15 minutes at 200c until just done but still moist. Allow to cool completely.
The mousse.
Gently melt 200g 72% dark chocolate.
Whisk 4 egg whites to soft peaks and then gradually add 75g caster sugar whisking to firm peaks.
Working quickly whisk 1/3rd of the egg white sugar mixture to the still warm chocolate and then fold in the remaining 2/3rds. Pour the mousse on to the cooled cake base which is now back in its freshly cleaned mould
And set in the fridge for 2 hours to chill and set.
The Chocolate tuille is a bit tricky without the recipe, but here's my guess which works, cos I just made a mini test version:
Put 250g caster sugar, 100g water, 65g cocoa powder, 110g butter, 50g grated dark chocolate and 25g glucose in a saucepan and gently melt until combined. Give it a stir and then cool the mix down by sitting the saucepan in cold water. As soon as its cold and starts to thicken pour it on to a sheet of baking paper. Place another sheet on top and roll it out with a rolling pin until paper thin.
Now seperate the two sheets of baking paper to reveal two very thin coatings of the tuile mix.
Cook in the oven preheated to 170c for 5 minutes until it starts to bubble, then allow the two sheets to cool completely and set.
Melt some more dark chocolate and spread it out quite thinly on a sheet of acetate film which you have already cut to fit all the way round the cake and about 1 inch higher than the top of the mousse.
Now unmould the cake and gently place the chocolate coated acetate around (chocolate coating on the inside, obviously, for them what gets easily confused :-), drizzle some melted chocolate in a zigzag pattern all across the mousse to decorate and allow to set in a cool place for an hour.
When ready to serve gently remove the acetate film and break the chocolate tuile into shards to stick in the surface of the mousse.
Thats my best guess but I'll post the full recipe here when I have it.
Have fun and enjoy.
You can't imagine for how long I've been looking for this recipe. I'm going to try it this weekend. All your mesurements make sense for what I've seen in the show. thank you so much.
DeleteThis is the most fantastic cooking blog I have ever read. Thank Heaven I have finally found this elusive recipe - the ultimate tea party! Eternally grateful.
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeletehere is the recipe from doughmydear
ReplyDeleteIngredients
For flourless chocolate cake
4 eggs, separated
125 g (1/2 cup + 2tbsp) caster sugar
35 g (2 tbsp + 1 tsp)cocoa powder, sifted
For chocolate mousse
5 eggs, whites only
165 g dark chocolate, chopped (70% cocoa solids)
25 g caster sugar
For chocolate tuile
150 g caster sugar
50 g pure chocolate, chopped
1 tsp cocoa powder
50 g butter
40 g liquid glucose (usually available in pharmacies)
Note: The original recipe calls for using two 7 inch ring moulds to prepare to portions of cakes. I used one 8″ ring mould to make one portion of cake instead.
Method
Cake
Preheat oven to 170 C. You will need a 8 ” ring mould to bake this cake. Wrap the sides and base of the ring with aluminium foil. Now, line the base and sides of the ring with parchment paper again. Butter the base and sides of the parchment. Set aside.
Whip the egg whites until frothy (2 minutes). Gradually add the sugar and whip the (4-5 minutes). Add the egg yolks to the egg whites and whisk until combined. Now fold well. Dust the cocoa powder into the egg mixture through a sieve. Fold gingerly, just until the ingredients are combined. Pour into the ring mould. Bake for 15 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool for an hour.
Mousse
Melt the chopped chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water. The base of the chocolate dish should not touch the water.
Whip the egg whites to a frothy texture. Add the sugar. Whip to stiff peaks.
Fold 1/3rd of the egg whites to the melted chocolate. Fold just until combined. Fold the remaining chocolate. Fold well.
Cut the top crust of the cooled cake. Place it back into the ring. Pour the prepared mousse on top. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours.
Tuile
Preheat oven to 170 C.
Combine 80 ml water, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan. Place saucepan in low heat and wait until the sugar dissolves. Add the butter, chopped chocolate and glucose. Bring it to boil (10 -20 seconds). Allow to cool.
Pour the tuile mixture on a parchment paper. Fold the parchment paper in half and roll the paper using a rolling pin so that the mixture spreads. Tear the parchment paper in halves, place them on a baking sheet and bake the tuile for 5 minutes.
Allow the tuile to cool and they will harden.
Assembling.
Once the cake is set, splash some melted chocolate over it to create an abstract design. Pierce the tuiles into the cake, so they stand, without damaging the cake.
Well thanks I looked for 30 mins to find Raymond's recipe. well done.
ReplyDeleteMy cake mix completely filled an 8 inch spring form pan and has been in the oven for like 40 minutes already....
ReplyDeleteHi all, thanks for taking the time to share all this. I find it super weird that this recipe has had so much interest, I am so curious... how and why are you so interested in this recipe? Every now and then I check this blog to see more comments added. Its great that the recipe has been shared, if anyone else has made it, please share a photo or link or something. Also, let me know if you are interested in a video of me making the cake, I'll use the above recipes to piece it together, should be interesting or entertaining at the least lol.
ReplyDelete