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Surprise!
Temptation, 1877
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Henley, Lionel...
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Chocolate Desserts
by Pierre Herme
Heart and Desire with Hope
at His House
Giclee Print
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Leila, 1892
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Dicksee, Frank...
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La Belle Cuisine
Chocolate Temptation
Adapted from Ladurée
Paris Sweets: Great Desserts
from the City's Best Pastry Shops
by Dorie Greenspan, 2002, Broadway Books/Random House
“I’ve come to think of this cake as ‘the ooh-là- là
dessert’ because the first time I made it – it capped a dinner for slim
fashionable women in Paris – I brought it out
to a chorus of ooh-là- làs. I know
that ‘ooh-là- là’ is not an extraordinary response
to the arrival of dessert,
especially if the dessert is homemade, as it rarely is in Paris, when great
pâtisseries are plentiful. But, while I might concede an ooh-là- là or two to
politesse, there is no doubt that the requests for seconds were sheer childish
delight. The cake lived up to its name: it was irresistible temptation.
This cake is also as elegant as Ladurée, the pâtisserie in which it was created.
It is a tall layer cake, almost American in its looks but completely French in
its conception, composition, and refined good taste. For this cake, pastry chef
Philippe Andrieu starts with a light but richly flavored cocoa cake that is cut
into three layers. Each layer gets saturated with a chocolate syrup – think of
it as bathing the cake in hot cocoa – spread with raspberry jam (choose one that
has seeds; it will have more taste and more interest), and then topped with a
bittersweet chocolate ganache that is made even more alluring by the addition of
raspberry purée – bottled, frozen, or
made from fresh berries with the zap of a
blender. After the cake is constructed, it
is chilled (overnight is best) and
finished with a smooth chocolate glaze – and, if
you want, a tousle of red
raspberries.”
The cake
1/3 cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons (25 grams) potato starch
(available in the
baking or
kosher foods
section of most supermarkets)
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces; 70 grams)
unsalted
butter, melted and cooled
The cocoa syrup
3/4 cup (180 grams) water
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1/4 cup (25 grams) Dutch-processed
cocoa powder
The filling
9 1/2 ounces (270 grams) bittersweet
chocolate,
finely chopped
1 1/2 cups loosely packed (6 1/4 ounces;
180 grams)
fresh
red raspberries or
3/4
cup (6 1/4 ounces; 180 grams)
raspberry purée
3/4 cup (180 grams) heavy cream
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces;100 grams) unsalted
butter, at room temperature
About 1/3 cup (about 115 grams) best-quality
red raspberry jam with seeds
The glaze and finish
4 ounces (115 grams) bittersweet chocolate,
finely chopped
1/2 cup (125 grams) heavy cream
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
2 tablespoons (25 grams) water
Fresh red raspberries for decoration (optional)
1. To make the cake: Center a rack in
the oven and preheat the oven to
350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Butter a 9-inch
(24-cm) springform pan,
dust with flour, shake out the excess, and put the pan
on a parchment-
lined baking sheet. Sift together the cocoa, flour, and potato
starch and
set aside.
2. Working in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites
until they hold soft peaks. Still beating, ad 1/4 cup (50 grams) of the
sugar in
a steady stream, and continue to beat until the whites are firm
but still
glossy.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and the remaining 1/2 cup
(100
grams) sugar together with a whisk until well blended and smooth.
Switch to a
rubber spatula and stir in one-third of the beaten whites to
lighten the batter.
Next, gently fold in the melted butter, followed by
the sifted dry ingredients.
Finally, working with a light touch, fold in
the remaining egg whites.
4. Scrape the batter into the pan, slide the baking sheet into the oven, and
bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is puffed, springy to the
touch,
and just starting to come away from the sides of the pan.
Transfer the cake
to a
cooling rack and, after 10 minutes, remove the
sides of the pan. Invert
the cake
onto another rack, lift off the pan
bottom, then turn the cake over onto the
first rack. Cool the cake right
side up on the rack. (The cake can be wrapped
airtight and kept at
room temperature for a day or frozen for up to
1 month.)
5. To make the syrup: Put the water, sugar, and cocoa in a small sauce-
pan
and bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove
from the heat and cool. (The syrup can be made up to a week
ahead and kept
tightly covered in the refrigerator.)
6. To make the filling: Place the chocolate
in a heatproof bowl. If you have fresh raspberries, purée them in a blender
(traditional or hand-held); you should have about 3/4 cup (about 165 grams)
purée. Put the purée in one small saucepan and put the heavy cram in another;
bring both to a boil.
When the cream is at the boil, pour it over the chocolate.
Wait for 30
seconds, then, using a whisk, stir gently until the chocolate is
melted and smooth. Gently whisk in the hot raspberry purée, followed by the
butter.
The ganache is now ready, and it should be used within about 15 minutes.
(Alternatively, you can press a piece of plastic film against the ganache to
create an airtight seal and chill the ganache for up to 4 days. When you
are
ready to use the ganache, warm it gently over simmering water or
in a microwave
oven on low power.)
7. To assemble the cake: Wash, dry, and reassemble the springform pan. Bring the
raspberry jam to a boil; remove from the heat.
8. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut the cake into 3 even layers. Place
the
bottom layer cut side up in the springform pan and moisten it with
cocoa syrup
(the cake should be very moist, but not wet). Spread a
very thin coating of hot
jam evenly over the cake. Finish this layer by
pouring over one-third of the
ganache. Continue building the cake this
way – cake, syrup (don’t worry if you
don’t use all the syrup), jam
and ganache – placing the last layer of cake cut
side up and pouring
the last third of the ganache over it. Chill the cake for at
least 12
hours, preferably overnight, covering it with plastic wrap once the
ganache is firm.
9. To glaze the cake: Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the
cream, sugar and water to a full boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour
the
hot cream over the chocolate and wait for 30 seconds, then stir very
gently with
a whisk to melt the chocolate and smooth the glaze.
10. Take the cake from the refrigerator and remove the sides of the spring- form
pan. (The easiest way to unmold this cake is to warm the sides of
the springform
pan with a hairdryer before undoing the latch.) It’s up to
you whether you leave
the cake on the pan’s base or remove it. Place the
cake on a cooling rack over a
parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and
pour over the glaze. Using a metal
spatula, smooth the glaze across the
top of the cake and around the sides. If
you are using raspberries, place
them on top of the cake. Slide the cake into
the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set the glaze. If
the cake is very cold
(as it will be if you’ve
chilled it overnight before glazing
it or kept it in
the refrigerator after glazing
it), allow it to remain at room temperature for
about 40 minutes before
serving – the flavors are more
intense when the cake is
less cold.
Keeping: Once the cake is assembled, it needs an
overnight chill, but it can also
be frozen with its glaze, but without its fresh
raspberry topping, for up to 1 month. Freeze until the glaze is set, then wrap
the cake well. Defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.
An American in Paris: This cake is spectacular served in
the French manner,
that is, as its own course followed by espresso, but as
sophisticated as it is, it
is
also wonderful eaten in the kid manner, that is,
accompanied by a tall glass
of cold milk. Just don’t tell any of my French
friends I suggested this.
Featured Archive Recipe:
Chef Keegan's Chocolate Decadence Cake
with Raspberry Coulis
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