BISCUIT JOCONDE IMPRIME/ENTREMET - MOCHA BAVARIAN CREAM GATEAU

This time I knew I had to do the DB challenge not because it was a cake, but it was something which I had been planning to do this month,otherwise. Then when the DB challenge was announced, I was so thrilled that I almost bounced off the walls. I love trying different techniques, different filling ...basically anything different,everytime! I had written down the recipe for a ribbon strip from the Le Cordon book of Baking and used to show it to Jobin saying this was something I always wanted to try.A Joconde Imprime is a decorative design baked into a light nut-sponge cake providing an elegant finish to desserts/tortes/entremets formed in ring molds.

The first time I ever saw that strip was on a Sweet Chariot's Chocolate Mousse Cake which was almost 8 years ago and my hunt for that 'strip' recipe started right then and it ended in December '10! I had asked many people on how to bake it and I got various answers which included 'spray painting' a sponge sheet cake! I thought, maybe that was it and I have no measures to spray paint a cake at home, so forget it! But I didn't forget it. I hunted our local library for books which could give me some hint to it and I finally found one...and I made up my mind that I am not letting that book go!

The January 2011 Daring Bakers Challenge was hsoted by Asteroshe of the blog Accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremet dessert.

BISCUIT JOCONDE IMPRIME /ENTREMET - MOCHA BAVARIAN CREAM GATEAU
Recipe for the Cigarette Batter & Joconde -Pastry & Sports
Recipe for the Chocolate Genoise - from here
Recipe for the Mocha Bavarian Cream -Le Cordon Book of Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen, pg: 534

Ingredients:
For the Cigarette batter:
30g softened unsalted butter
30g powdered sugar
1 egg white
20g flour
6g cocoa powder

For the Joconde:
75g ground almonds
75g powdered sugar
20g flour
2 whole eggs
30g melted butter
2 egg whites
12g sugar

For the Chocolate Genoise:
Look here.

For the Mocha Bavarian Cream: (I made 1/2 portion)
22g powdered gelatin
150ml cold water

3-4 large egg yolks
125g granulated sugar
500ml milk
8ml vanilla extract
1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee powder

500 ml heavy cream/Amul cream


For Chocolate Ganache:
125g semisweet chocolate/dark chocolate
125 g heavy cream/ Amul cream

Method:
For the Cigarette batter:
Beat the sugar and softened butter together till fluffy.
Beat in the egg white and add flour and cocoa to it.Mix well.
Spread this batter on a parchement paper and make designs on it using your fingers/forks/pastry combs etc.
Freeze this for 15 mins. DO NOT skip this.

For Joconde:
Beat the egg whites stiff by adding the sugar (granulated) towards the end. Reserve.
Beat almonds,sugar,flour,whole eggs together till fluffy and add the melted butter.
Fold in the egg whites carefully and pour this batter over the frozen cigarette batter.
Spread it to an even 1/4" thickness.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 475F/250C for 7 minutes. The cake should spring back when touched lightly.
Let it cool for 5 mins and then carefully transfer it onto a chopping board and trim as needed to fit your moulds.

For Chocolate Genoise:
Look here 

For Mocha Bavarian Cream:
Soak the gelatin in cold water and let it bloom for 5-6 minutes.
Whip the yolks and sugar until light and thick.
Scald milk and slowly add it into the egg mixture,beating constantly.
Cook this mixture over a water bath until it thickens slightly.
Add vanilla extract and coffee powder and mix well to dissolve.
Melt the gelatin and add into the egg mixture.
Let it cool over ice or in the fridge till half set, making sure to stir in every now and then to keep the mixture smooth.
Whip cream to soft peaks,DO NOT over whip.
When the egg custard has thickened, and not yet set, fold in the cream.
Pour in between the cake layers (as mentioned in the 'assembly' below).

For Chocolate Ganache:
Chop the chocolate into small bits and reserve in a stainless steel /glass bowl.
Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate.
Let it sit for 5 mins. Stir till it is smooth. It will be loose now, you can leave it in the fridge for 10 mins to get it slightly thickened.
Pour over the cake and smoothen it with an offset spatula.

Assembly:
1.Make a soaking syrup: Make a soaking syrup by dissolving 1cup granulated sugar in 1cup warm water. Add 1 tbsp of rum to it, if you wish to. I added it because I like the combination of rum and coffee.

2.Split the Chocolate genoise into 3, horizontally.

3.Cut the joconde into the size of the springform pan (diameter) to fit snuggly. There should be no gaps.

4.Place a layer of genoise at the bottom and soak it generously with 1/4 c of soaking syrup. Top it with half of the bavarian cream. Repeat. The last layer should be the genoise.

5.Top it with chocolate ganache and level it using a spatula, preferably offset.

6.Wrap the whole assembly with a cling film and let it set in the refigerator for 2 hours.

7.Decorate the top of the cake as you need and serve chilled.

This cake lasts really long, we had it for over a week! :)

Verdict:
I made this cake in one go and it took me 4 hours. I wanted to finish it by the time Jobin got back home from work, so that I could surprise him and indeed he was surprised! ' Mmmm...no one would believe that it's made at home!' was his comment as soon as he took a bite of it.That was enough to keep me going for another week! :-D

It was a very very delicious cake! We couldn't help but dig into each other's plate for an extra bite. The filling was a breeze to make and it was very tasty! The Joconde Imprime gave the cake a very professional finish.

This is one of the best gateau's I have made till date! It is definately a lenghty recipe,but it's really easy to make.If you plan ahead,unlike me, you can make the cake on the previous day, wrap it well and leave it one the counter. Next day start with the joconde, cream and the ganache. If you happen to make this cake, trust me, you will be hooked to it! :)

ALMOND MACARONS with SALTED CARAMEL GANACHE #23

It was in Dec '95 that she and her family came to our house to spend their X'mas vacation with us. My dad and I were promtly at the railway station to recieve them. And I waited to see that face which I have heard a lot about from my Grandmother. I waited patiently as the train pulled in to the station.I could feel my eyes moving in all directions to see who could she be? Then I felt a soft tug on my hand, my dad was tugging me to stop dreaming and go with him to the AC sleeper compartment.

She jumped out of the train, wearing a cute white salwar kameez with some sort of pink print on it. She even had a dupatta on! I envied her so much, because I was never allowed to wear one then! It was only for big girls, so was she bigger than me? No, we were of the same age, 10. And she even had a traveller's pouch on her waist! I must admit I was shy to wear them, but still, I envied her for that as well! After all the introductions, we headed home.

During their stay with us, we grew closer and after our delicious lunch everyday, she used to go to her room and lie on the bed and read! She finished a book , cover to cover, in a days time. I was AMAZED! Me and books , were opposite poles till then. So finally, I asked her about what the story was and who are those people on the cover etc. She patiently explained everything to me in detail and gave me one of her books to read. And that's it...I was hooked onto Enid Blyton!

She was a step ahead than me, she was reading Nancy Drew Files. Nevertheless, I went ahead with the book she gave me...there was no looking back since then!

My Dad had a tough time once, because of me and Famous Five/Secret Seven. Remember , this was back in 90's and no ginger-ale was ever heard in India then. And I used to give him a list which consisted of food items like Ginger-Ale, Sardine sandwiches etc, whenever he went to Bangalore. My cousin sister in Bangalore used to help my Dad in hunting for those stuff :) We still laugh over it!

I must admit, I am still at the Enid Blyton's stage. I have not grown out of it, rather I don't want to! The immensely delicious food items they mention in it...like thickly buttered bread, lemonade, sardine sandwiches,scone,pastries and what not! Ooooh! I want to go camping like them on the moors!

When we were moving from Virginia to Minneapolis, we drove down all the way! And we passed by through many many countrysides and I spotted so many dairy farms and farmhouses! And everytime I saw them, I told Jobin that I wanted to spend a day or two in such a bed and breakfast inn/farmhouse and feel what I felt and I still feel when I read Famous Five. And yes, I am hoping for an adventure to happen too!

I usually draw out the images/houses/landscape that I like when I read a book. I promise you , I can draw out a Kirrin Cottage if you want me to! Gosh! I am still so hooked onto it! I have even started watching the Famous Five serials on the web! :) I am ADDICTED!

OK! So you must be wondering what's with Ria and Famous Five? It's MAC Tell Me a Story at Mac Tweet's this month!  So we get to re-create our memories of our fave books with a Macaron! How exciting is that! 

ALMOND MACARONS with SALTED CARAMEL GANACHE
Recipe source for the macs : Ottolenghi Cookbook  via Meeta's blog
Recipe source for the filling: Aran's blog

Ingredients:
For the shells:
Icing sugar-110g
Almond meal -60g
Egg whites -60g (I aged them for 48 hours on counter top)
Castor sugar-40g
Coloured sugar -for sprinkling

Method:
Please refer to her blog for the detailed instructions.

For the filling:
Ingredients:
60g sugar
110 g cream
165 g bittersweet chocolate
15g salted butter
a pinch of salt 

Method:

• Make a dry caramel with the sugar. In the meantime, heat the cream and when the caramel is starting to turn fairly dark, deglaze it with the cream.
• Have the  chocolate chopped in a separate bowl. Strain the caramel mixture over the chocolate. Let it sit untouched for a minute. The caramel will start to slowly melt the chocolate. Whisk gently until all the chocolate is dissolved and the ganache has formed an emulsion. When it has coioled a bit, which will happen quickly since it's a small batch, add the soft butter and mix keeping the emulsion. Add the salt.
• Let the ganache sit at room temperature until it hardens enough to be pipeable. Place in a pastry bag and pipe in between almond macarons.

 Verdict:

This is my 3 trial and my 3rd successful batch of making macs and I must say I liked this one the best! They tasted better than the others that I have tried. Jobin loved them and I gave a bag-full to our friends and they loved it too! So I guess, this is a winner! The salted caramel ganache was too good to be true! Will be using it more often.


And for all those who have been wondering , who that 'she' was...it's my cousin Roshini :) We are good friends since those hols. We lived far away from each other , so we were pen friends for a while . I was a good pen friend, sending her letters every now and then, but she was a lazy one! :) Nevermind, we are very close friends now! Thank you Roshini, for taking me into a dreamworld, in which I still am!

NO-BAKE TIRAMISU CHEESECAKE #24

As I mentioned in my previous post, I didn't make a dessert for his birthday. Instead, I made it the next day. I always wanted to try my own recipe for cakes & desserts and also I had to use up some heavy cream and mascarpone cheese before they hit their expiry date. That's how this dessert was born.

I am not boasting, but this is one of the creamiest cheesecakes I have ever tasted. The flavours in it are so subtle but it will keep you wanting for more! And this can be made in no-time!

NO-BAKE TIRAMISU CHEESECAKE
My own recipe

Ingredients:
For the crust:
Glucose/Marie/Digestive biscuits-200g ( I used Parle-G )
Melted butter- 100g
Sugar-2 tbsp

Method:

• Crush the biscuits and mix it very well with the melted butter till it resembles coarse sand.
• Add the sugar and give it a quick mix.
• Pat it into the bottom of an 8" round loose bottom /springform tin. If you want, you can build up a bit on the sides too, like I did.
• Refrigerate it for 30 mins while you prepare the batter.

For the cheesecake batter:
Heavy cream/Amul cream-400g
Sugar-6-7 tbsp or to taste
Home made Mascarpone cheese-400g
Gelatin-1tbsp dissolved in 1 cup of water
Strong coffee- 3 tbsp
Rum-2 tbsp (optional)

Method:

• Whip the cream and sugar into stiff peaks. Fold in the mascarpone cheese into it.
• Melt gelatin either using the double boiling method or by in the microwave for 10 secs.
• Add the gelatin, rum and coffee and fold in carefully.
• Pour over the base and leave it to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
• Drizzle chocolate ganache on top and decorate as you wish.

Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:
Chocolate-25 g ,chopped
Fresh cream/Heavy cream-25 ml


Method:

• Chop the chocolate and reserve it in a metal/glass bowl.
• Heat the cream till it starts to bubble over the edges.
• Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for minute or two.
• Stir it well with a spoon.
• Use as desired.  

Verdict : It was really delicious! And I was jumping with joy when I cut through it...it set perfectly and the crust behaved so well! Now I know the secret to get a well behaving crust...add melted butter to it! Jobin's eyes widened with delight as he took the first bite...it was really good!