French Baking: Chocolate-Raspberry cake (Patisserie, gateau chocolat-framboise de Christophe Felder)

This recipe is taken from this wonderful book by Christophe Felder: Patisserie! It is THE most amazing baking cookbook. Full of elegant, decadent and delicious french patisserie recipes. If you can read French, I strongly advise you to get this book immediately! Actually, even if you can't. It's just too pretty!

Here's a traduction of the recipe for the gateau chocolat-framboise.



INGREDIENTS:
for the raspberry syrup:
- 100g (3.5 oz) frozen raspberries (the original recipe calls for fresh raspberries, but I just didn't have them on hand :) )
- 5cl (1.7 fl oz) water
- juice of 1/4 lemon
- 50g (1.7 oz) caster sugar

for the chocolate sponge:
- 120g (4.2 oz) egg yolks
- 240g (8.4 oz) egg whites (handily enough, the white weighs about twice as much as the yolk in one egg)
- 150g (5.3 oz) AP flour
- 20g (0.7 oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 180g (6.3 oz) caster sugar

for the rasberry compote:
- 1 jar of raspberry preserves, with pips (375g -13oz)
- 250g (8.8 oz) frozen raspberries (original recipe calls for fresh)

for the chocolate mousse:
- 500g (1 pint) heavy whipping cream (pour in a bowl and keep in the fridge until use - it needs to be very cold)
- 90g (3.2 oz) caster sugar
- 5cl (1.7 fl oz) water
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 220g (7.7 oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

for the assembly:
- 100g (3.5 oz) melted dark chocolate
- 50g (1.7 oz) confectioner sugar

RECIPE
- pre-heat your oven at 180C (350F)

raspberry syrup:
- mix the thawed raspberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl
- crush with a fork and reserve until further use


chocolate sponge:
- whip the egg whites with a mixer
- when the whites start getting fluffy, gradually add the sugar (this is a french meringue)
- when done, the meringue should hold its shape at the tip of the whisk
 
- incorporate the egg yolks

- slowly add the flour and cocoa and stir delicately with a spatula

- spread the batter evenly on a baking sheet covered with a silicone pad or greased parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes
 
- cool the sponge until further use

raspberry compote:
- mix the raspberry preserves and frozen raspberries
 
- cook in a small pan over low heat, stirring often
- reserve until further use


chocolate mousse:
- make a simple syrup: mix the water and sugar in a small pot and bring to a boil (118C/244F reading with a candy thermometer). set aside.
- whip the egg and yolks together with a mixer
- slowly pour the syrup over the eggs while mixing at high speed until fluffy, smooth and creamy
Note: be sure to add the syrup very slowly, otherwise the eggs will curdle and you'll end up with sweet scrambled eggs. eek!

- melt the chocolate in a double boiler, over low heat

- whip the cold heavy cream until firm
Note: be careful not to whip the cream too long, otherwise it will separate into butter and buttermilk... not a bad thing really, because homemade butter is delicious, but you really want whipped cream for this particular recipe ;)

- incorportate the chocolate into the eggs

- then the whipped cream


Assembly:
- melt the chocolate and spread it on the sponge
- sprinkle confectionner sugar and let it firm up in the freezer for a few minutes
Note: I'm not sure why this step is necessary and it does not say in the book. But after thinking it over, I believe this is necessary for the cake to hold its shape once assembled and prevent the sponge layers from getting too soggy from the syrup and mousse filling.

- Cut the sponge into two sheets that fit in a rectangular cake frame
Note: if you do not own a baking frame, you can make your own (my friend actually crafted this for me, out of cardboard, scotch tape and saran wrap)
- place one sponge sheet in the frame, chocolate side down
- using a brush, imbibe the sponge with half of the raspberry syrup
- pour half of the chocolate mousse and even it out with a spatula

- repeat with the second half of the sponge, syrup and mousse
- place a sheet of saran wrap on top of the mousse, weigh down with a cutting board and place in the freezer for 30 minutes (2hrs in the fridge in the original recipe)

- when the cake is cold and firm, remove the plastic wrap and spread the raspberry compote on top

- remove the frame, slice in squares and ENJOY!!!


PS: this goes really really well with Champagne ;)

Homemade tamarind concentrate

Last week, I posted a Malaysian Shrimp with Tamarind, curry leaves and Jasmine rice. If you've been wondering how I made the tamarind paste, here's how.

Don't be repulsed by the unappealing (and sometimes gruesome) photos of this recipe. I promise you, the end result is well worth it!

You can use this tamarind paste in Indian and Southeast Asian dishes.

Have fun!

INGREDIENTS:
- a box of ripe sweet tamarind pods (16oz)
- boiling water (about 2 cups)

RECIPE:
- peel the pods and remove the strings



- soak the fruits (pulp and pits) in just boiled water for at least 15 minutes, or until the pulp gets soft and separates easily from the large pits.
- then the fun begins: when the temperature has cooled enough that you can touch it with your bare hands, drain the fruits and mush them up! Make sure you remove all the pits.

- filter the thick paste through a sieve. This is your tamarind concentrate.

- it will keep for a few days in the fridge, but you can also freeze it in an ice cube tray for longer storage :)

Malaysian shrimp with curry leaves, tamarind and jasmine rice

A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a shrimp recipe. Something new. Something different. Something I'd never come across before. I found this mouth-watering malaysian recipe online which I immediately decided to try. I tweaked it a bit: used frozen shrimp without the heads, replaced fresh chillies with pepper flakes and added green onions. It was so good I'm sharing it with you here :) Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb raw large shrimp, shell-on (next time, I'll use fresh whole shrimp with heads, it should give it an amazing taste!)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons oil
- leaves from 4 sprigs of curry leaves
- a sprinkle of red pepper flakes (or a few fresh bird's eye chillies -if you can take that kind of heat-, chopped)
- 4 small shallots, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate (if you can't find it in stores, you can make your own -here's my recipe-)
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 3 cups of water

RECIPE
- bring the water to a boil and add the rice. lower the heat and cover. cook for 15 minutes exactly.
- during this time, pat dry the shrimp and sprinkle with salt.
- heat 3 tbsp of oil in a wok.

- add salted shrimp and curry leaves and fry until shrimp changes color and gets slightly golden. They should not be completely cooked at that stage, they will cook again later. 

- Reserve in a bowl.

- add the remaining tbsp of oil in the wok and saute the shallots, garlic and pepper for one minute.

- add the reserved shrimp and leaves, turmeric, sugar and tamarind concentrate.

- stir fry for a few minutes to cook the turmeric and finish cooking the shrimp. Reserve in a bowl.

- serve over perfectly cooked jasmine rice, and sprinkle with sliced green onions.

- Bon app'!

Mushroom ravioli

Fun! Fun! Fun times it is to make your own ravioli! Mine are largely inspired from this original recipe.

INGREDIENTS (for the filling, 2-3 people)

- 1 pack dried porcini mushrooms (1/2 ounce)

- 4 oz fresh cremini mushrooms (portobello or ceps would work really well too), chopped finely

- 1 tbsp evoo

- 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

- 2 small cloves of garlic, chopped finely (if you don't like chunks of garlic, you can grate it)

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

- 1 egg yolk

- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (whole milk will make a silkier, creamier filling than low-fat)

RECIPE:

- cover the dried porcini in boiling water and let soak until soft (about 10-15 minutes should be enough).

- drain the soaking liquid and either discard, or reserve (if you want to use it in a sauce for example).

- squeeze out any residual liquid from the mushrooms (otherwise the filling will be too moist and the resulting ravioli will be soggy and won't hold their shape).

- finely chop the reconstituted porcini and reserve.

- in a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high and saute the fresh cremini for a few minutes. They will release a lot of moisture.

- let the moisture evaporate, but keep an eye on the skillet so the mushrooms don't burn!

- add the porcini, parsley, garlicsalt and pepper and cook for another minute. Reserve in a bowl.

- when the mushroom mixture is cool, mix in the egg yolk and the ricotta. 

- Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

- for information on how to make and roll your fresh pasta dough, I refer you to my AP flour recipe or my semolina recipe :) a little self-promotion can't hurt ;)

MAKING THE RAVIOLI: 

- I use two different methods to make the ravioli: (1) with a ravioli tray and (2) with ravioli stamps. The ones I use are very similar to those here, here and here.

The ravioli tray: 

- Lay a sheet of pasta on the heavily (really heavily) floured tray, and lightly press in each well (be careful not to pierce the dough with sharp nails!).

- Scoop some filling into each well, about the size of a large pea. If you put too much, it will be a hot mess when you try to roll the top pasta sheet, believe me!

Note: I put WAY too much in this photo, but you get the idea.

- Lay another pasta sheet on top.

- Carefully seal the two pasta sheets together by applying pressure with a rolling pin.

- Ta-da!!!

The ravioli stamps:

- Lay a sheet of pasta on a floured flat surface.

- Put small spoonfuls of filling on the pasta sheet, leaving about an inch between each. 

- Wet the pasta sheet with your finger or a small brush and place a second sheet of pasta on top of the filling. Carefully press with your fingers and try to chase any air trapped inside the ravioli.

Note: if there is too much air inside a ravioli, it will explode when you cook it and the filling will just disperse in the water.

- Using a ravioli stamp, just cut out any shape you want. 

- You can either cook your fresh ravioli right away in a large pot of boiling water (about 2-3 minutes, or until they float back to the surface), or freeze the ravioli on a flat tray. When they are hardened enough, you can put the pasta in a container, or bag, and keep them in the freezer until ready to use :)

- Have fun!!!