Cordon Bleu Diary- Entremets aux Marrons 栗子慕思蛋糕

Due to the Easter holiday I had this lesson a bit earlier. Here is the delicious Chestnut Mousse Cake that I made. 

(因為復活節的關係, 藍帶中級的第五堂的實作課被提前了一周, 所以可口的栗子慕思蛋糕也就被提早享用啦！yum yum!!!)

There are two main points that influence the result of this fine cake. The first is the setting point of the mousse and the second is the decoration on the surface.

The cake is basically a combination of biscuit sponge and chestnut mousse.

When making the biscuit sponge, to give it a beautiful figure, we pipe the sponge onto a silicon mat.

As in my diagram, I piped the biscuit long enough to fit around a 7" ring mould for the outside and also one for the base and a smaller one for the middle part. Chef said that it is really important that after baking, the biscuit still holds the piping shape. This means that the sponge wasn't over folded and it gives a nice decoration. 

（其實biscuit sponge這就是所謂的手指餅乾喔！）

I think I just want to show off my beautiful biscuit sponge! HaHaHa!

For the chestnut mousse, as I mentioned before, it is all about the setting point. Before you start to add the gelatine or begin any of the other steps, remember to prepare everything you need at the beginning. If you don't finish making your mousse and the temperature decreases to the setting point, the texture won't be as good.

(做慕思的時候, 要小心他凝固的溫度,不然會影響慕思之後的口感喔！）

Tala! Here is the cross-section of the layers!!! 

The marzipan decoration is new for me. I have never worked with marzipan before. In Taiwan it is really rare to see a cake covered with marzipan, normally we like it more plain looking, or with just some whipped cream as decoration. But this is just the beginning, there are many more cakes with marzipan waiting for me in the coming practicals!

(所謂的marzipan 就是杏仁膏,在台灣我們比較少使用,英國可是流行的喔！ 婚禮蛋糕或生日蛋糕都會用它來做裝飾!)

When pouring the ganache onto the surface of the cake you need to do it really fast and efficiently! It doesn't allow you to use your pallet knife to go back and forth as you want! The trick is to do it in one  or it will show the marks left by the knife after it has dried. In my personal experience, you need to pour enough so you can do it in one go!!

Hope everyone is having a nice day!!

Fang xx