Attention chocolate lovers! This dessert is for you. It combines the best of both: a chocolate spongecake and a chocolate mousse with candied orange peel. Add a layer of almond pralin and you're in dessert heaven.
The recipe includes various components available in the Tecniques section of this site, but this is the full recipe. Components are from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume 1", and making this complete dessert will take some time. You can make the mousse and candied orange on a separate day than the cake and chocolate icing to break up the process. Whatever works for you is better. I'll place the preparation in the order I chose to do it.
Chocolate Spongecake
INGREDIENTS
- 3 and 1/2 ounces (squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 2 tablespoons coffee
- 3 and 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 3 eggs, separated
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon sugar, keep separate
- 2/3 cups sifted cake flour
EQUIPMENT
- A round cake pan, 8 inches in diameter and at least 1 and 1/2 inches high
- A saucepan with barely simmering water
- A flour sifter
Place the ingredients for the chocolate spongecake to make sure that they all get to room temperature and for easy reach.
Butter and flour the pan. What I mean by this, in case you were wondering, is to smear the pan with butter, sift a bit of flour over it, move it around so that it covers the area evenly, and then bang it, floured side down, onto the kitchen sink so that it has a nice, even coat.
Making the Chocolate Mixture
- 3 and 1/2 ounces (squares) semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 2 tablespoons coffee
- 3 and 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
Place the chocolate and coffee in a small metal bowl and set it over the barely simmering water. Melt them until smooth, remove from heat and beat in the butter by spoonfuls until it is completely dissolved. Place aside.
Having the butter at room temperature helps to dissolve it faster.
Making the Ribbon with the Yolks and Sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks for a minute and add the sugar slowly. Beat until the mixture turns pale yellow and forms the ribbon, as shown in the picture below.
See how the mixture, when lifted and dropped on itself, creates a slowly dissolving ribbon.
Beating the Egg Whites
- 3 egg whites at room temperature
- A pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
In a metal bowl, start beating the egg whites until foamy. Add the salt and continue beating at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and beat until still peaks form.
This is how you beat egg whites. Avoid getting it to the point where they get overly foamy.
Folding it all together
- 2/3 cups sifted cake flour
Start by folding the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.
The chocolate will tend to go to the bottom, so reach out for it while you fold.
Stir in a quarter of the egg whites. This is done to lighten the mixture before adding the rest of the whites and the flour.
Stir it in, you are not looking for a perfect mixture.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Sift a quarter of the flour, continue folding and add more egg whites, alternating between them as you add more. When folding, make sure that you do not aim for a perfect mixture. The reason you fold the ingredients, and not use a wire whisk of a mixer is because you want to retain as much volume as possible. As you will have noticed at this point, the recipe does not call for baking powder, so the reason the cake will rise is because of the air that you incorporate into it by folding the whites. As you alternate between the flour and the whites, the mixture will eventually happen. And when you're done, pour it into the pan.
Make sure your batter goes all the way to the rim of the pan.
Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 3o minutes. The cake will puff an the surface will break. It is done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 5 minutes.
Leaving it rest for 5 minutes is a good idea before trying to remove it from its pan.
After 5 minutes, the cake will shrink slightly. Loosen the edges by running a knife or icing spatula long the rim and reverse onto the cake rack.
Now it becomes a waiting game. And you can continue with the rest of the components for this recipe.
The chocolate spongecake needs to cool completely. In the meantime, let's move on to making the other components for this recipe.
Candied Orange Peel
INGREDIENTS
- 3 bright coloured oranges
- 1 quart water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
EQUIPMENT
- A vegetable peeler
- A small paring knife
- A candy thermometer
Because you'll be boiling sugar at one point, it's better to have all your ingredients, pots and bowls ready.
Preparing strips of peel
Place the water in a saucepan and bring to the simmer. Take the vegetable peeler and remove the coloured part of the orange. Avoid taking too much of the white part of the skin, as it is quite bitter. Take the strips of skin and with the paring knife, cut into longitudinal strips, a couple of inches long and 1/16 of an inch wide.
Notice how the far edges are removed so that you end up with even, thin strips of orange peel.
You should end up with a handful of strips which you then simmer in water for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just tender. Remove from water, place on a drainer, rinse with cold water and leave to drain.
Preparing the syrup
In a saucepan on medium high heat, boil sugar and water until it reaches 230˚F. A good technique to avoid the sugar from caramelizing at the bottom is to move the saucepan by its handle in a circular motion over the burner. But be extra careful, as anything that spills out will be pretty hot. Once it starts becoming clear you can let boil to the required temperature.
Boiling to 230˚F is also referred to as boiling to the thread stage. You can tell this to your friends and sound smart, of just like a huge geek. I'd google what that means, in case some smarta** asks.
Once the sugar reaches the required temperature, remove from heat and stir in the dry peel and the vanilla. Leave soaking for at least 30 minutes.
You can leave this as long as you want, and even prepare in advance and put it in a jar once it's cooled down if you don't plan on using the peel right away.
Drain once more and leave out to dry. For this recipe, chop half of the orange peel and leave the other half in long strips.
The chopped part will become part of the chocolate mousse, the strips can be used to decorate the cake and to snack on while you make the rest of the cake.
Preparing the Almond Pralin
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
EQUIPMENT
- A saucepan
- One marble slab or a large baking sheet (parchment paper will be useful)
- A grinder, rolling pin, mallet, or any other object to crush the pralin (optional)
I placed the almonds over aluminum to keep the baking sheet clean.
Preheat your oven to 350˚F and toast the almonds until they are a light brown colour. Remove from the oven and let cool. Put the almonds in a bowl.
Prepare your baking sheet or marble slab with a sheet of parchment paper. Or oil any of these surfaces.
In a saucepan, boil sugar and water until it turns a light caramel colour. Be careful not to burn it too much, as it will develop a bitter flavour. The moment I see a hint of caramel colour, I remove the sugar from the heat.
Immediately place the almonds in the caramel and coat evenly with metal spoon. Pour over the parchment paper or over the oiled surface and let cool.
This will cool in a couple of minutes. Do not touch.
Once the pralin has cooled, you can cut it up, crush it, or leave as large slabs. You can also use other nuts instead of the almonds, or your own combination of nuts. In the recipes I use, I prefer to grind it using a mortar.
For this recipe, it's good to have bits of the almond pralin of different sizes. The pralin will add crunch and texture to your recipe, so you don't want it all to be the same size, or worse, turn unto dust.
Chocolate Mousse Time
INGREDIENTS
- 4 eggs, separated
- 3/4 cups instant-dissolving sugar
- 1/4 cup orange liqueur
- 6 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 4 tablespoons strong coffee
- 12 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks)
- Optional: 1/4 cup finely diced candied orange peel (get the recipe here)
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
We start with the mise en place for the dessert. It's important that the eggs get to room temperature. You will also be needing the following equipment: a mixing bowl, a wire whip or beater, a pan of barely simmering water, a basin of cold water and a small saucepan.
Don't drink the orange liqueur just yet, but save some for then the dessert is ready.
Preparing the Cream Base
- 4 egg yolks
- 3/4 cups instant-dissolving sugar
- 1/4 cup orange liqueur
Beat the egg yolks and sugar until they gain volume and become yellow, forming the ribbon, as you did with the chocolate spongecake.
Add the orange liqueur and set the mixing bowl over the almost simmering water and beat for 3 to 4 minutes until it becomes too hot for the touch. Immediately place in a basin of cold water and beat for another 4 minutes or until it gains the consistency of mayonnaise.
Looks like mayo, but tastes like heaven. And look, another ribbon!
- 6 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 4 tablespoons strong coffee
- 12 tablespoons softened unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks)
- 1/4 cup finely diced candied orange peel
In a bowl over a small saucepan with simmering water, melt the chocolate and coffee until you get a smooth cream. Remove from heat and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until it is all evenly melted. Mix into the yolk mixture and add the optional orange peel. The orange peel is the secret ingredient, so it's worth the extra effort. Save some for decorating.
Here I'm putting it back into the basin of cold water to get the right consistency.
Whipping the Whites to Make the Mousse
- 4 egg whites
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Using your mixer, beat the egg whites until it becomes foamy. Add a pinch of salt and continue beating until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue beating until you get stiff peaks as you did with the chocolate spongecake.
Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture by first stirring a large dollop, followed by additions in quarters. Each time you should fold a bit, but not completely, so that you can keep the volume.
See how they're not completely folded in. We will add more.
Once all the whites are folded in, it will look like this. It will be airy and creamy.
This is ready to be molded, or to go into the refrigerator.
Place the bowl in the refrigerator while you return to the cake.
Assembling the Components
If you're following the recipe in the same order, then the cake should be cooled by now. The next step is to cut the sides of the spongecake with a small knife, to ensure that you have even edges. I place it on a cake stand with the puffed side down and with a knife at a 90 degree angle, go for it. Very important, I place strips of wax or parchment paper to allow for cleanup.
Try to keep them even, and use the bottom of the cake as a guide to keep the circular shape.
Once the edges are cut (and you can eat them of course), slice it in half. To do this, I place toothpicks on the sides as a guide, and use a long bread knife to make sure that I do a long, even cut. Lift the cut portion and place aside.
The toothpicks help you guide the knife as you cut. You can use a large spatula or a couple of them to move the other side of the cake.
I fill the cake by placing a very think layer of mousse, followed by a thick layer of pralin and a thick layer of mousse after that. You will have leftover mousse and pralin (thank you) that you can place in separate bowls and chill overnight. The cake will look something like this.
Use a thick layer, but don't overdo it.
Place the top piece of cake and, if needed, place long strips of parchment paper or wax paper to hold the mousse in place. Refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight.
The tape will barely hold but as you can see, the mousse will be held in place.
By now, you've been working for a while. Take a break as the mousse has to be well set before you continue with the dessert.
Making the Perfect Chocolate Icing
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 2 tablespoons rum (of coffee)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
EQUIPMENT
- Wooden spoon
- Bowl over saucepan with barely simmering water
- Bowl of cold water
Simple ingredients to make an extraordinary icing
In the bowl over the saucepan, melt the chocolate and the rum (or coffee) until you have a smooth mixture. Remove chocolate from the pan and start beating the butter in, one tablespoon at a time. This will take some beating, you can use a whisk or an electric beater set to low-medium to get an even mix.
Once the butter has been incorporated into the chocolate, place the bowl over the cold water and continue mixing until it reaches the consistency of a thick mayonnaise, and is ready for spreading.
It is very important to get it the right consistency.
The mixture has to thicken to the point where it will be easy to spread on the cake. You can keep the icing on the cold water while you work, or refrigerate it until you are ready to use it.
Final Decorations
Take your cake out of the refrigerator, remove the parchment paper strips and with a spatula, even out the mousse.
Filling those nooks and crannies will make it easier to spread the icing.
Brush off the crumbs. Apply a "primer" coat of icing. This is a coat that you apply on the sides and the top of the cake to make sure that any loose crumbs stay in place. It will look something like this.
Don't aim for pretty at this point.
Chill the cake for a good 10 minutes, allowing the primer to harden. Remove from refrigerator and apply your icing, decorating as you wish. There will be enough icing for a second layer and some small decorations using a piping bag. For special tips on how to decorate, read these tips.
This is the second layer with some random lines made with the spatula on top.
I used some of the icing to make pearls at the bottom and used the strips of orange peel to place on top.
The cake will taste amazing.
And there it is, you've made an incredible dessert. A strong coffee will go well with this cake, as will an orange liqueur. But any way you have it, you're sure to enjoy this dessert.
Bon appétit!