A bit of a mouthful, hey? Well, let me tell you – once you’ve tried a slice of this pure happiness, you’re gonna want to learn the name too double-quick!
In other words, a sponge cake where a pattern is imprinted in it and is used to create the surrounding shell of a filled dessert.
This was the Daring Baker’s Challenge for January 2011. When I saw the challenge, I was soo excited. How fancy schmancy is this for a dinner party! It’s a pure showstopper and you can play around with the cake wrap with colours, designs and size. The choices were countless. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the challenge as I had to travel to South England when we heard my Grandma had had a brain haemorrhage and passed away the next day.
But I knew it was something that I just had to do at some point and just needed an occasion. I had seen so many amazing pieces of work by all the fellow Daring Bakers, they really had exceled on this challenge. I was in total awe of every single one of them!
I made a gift basket for my sister-in-law’s new addition (see Baby Shower cupcakes) but felt a tad bad for the three nephews so I thought I’d make a cake for them. And I knew exactly which cake I wanted to make…
I also made it nut-free so my sister-in-law could have some too. That was a bit of a hurdle as the recipe specifically asked for almond/hazelnut meal, and I guess that added to the flexibility needed to wrap the cake around the entremet. I threw caution to the wind and used the recipe for the decor paste (which didn’t need any nuts) to do the design and also the sponge layer. Put it in the oven and prayed to God that it would come out right.
And it did. Wahey!!
Don’t you just love the spun sugar squiggle, love it! And the gold dust, so beautiful with the chocolate ganache layer.
It’s not exactly how I had envisioned it as I really wanted the white chocolate mousse showing over the biscuit Joconde imprime but I guess my measurements weren’t right and I needed to make more of the white chocolate mousse than the milk chocolate mousse. Oh well, tasted just as gorgeous. And I would definately like a glossy smooth finish next time.
The layers are (from bottom to top): 1. Biscuit Joconde Imprime 2. Rich dense chocolate cake 3. Milk Chocolate mousse 4. White chocolate mousse 5. Chocolate Ganache
I will definately be making this again, possible with a strawberry twist to it. I loooove my strawberries… or maybe something totally wacky. You’ll need to wait and see, lol.
The recipe is quite lengthy but don’t let that put you off, it’s so totally worth it!
Click down for recipe xx
