VALENTINE'S DAY CAKE
Elena Raymond
Time of realization: 4 hours
Die: from about 24-26 cm
Ingredients
Sponge cake by Luca Montersino
250 g of whole eggs
175 g of granulated sugar
150 g of 00 flour
50 g of potato starch
1 vanilla bean, or vanilla essence
Pasteurized tiramisu base
(patè à bombe) by Luca Montersino
85 g of egg yolks (about 4)
170 g of granulated sugar
50 g of water
vanilla
250 g of mascarpone
250 of fresh liquid cream
8 g of isinglass
Cocoa shortcrust pastry by Ernest Knam
140 g of 00 flour
30 g of cocoa
90g soft butter
90 g of granulated sugar
1uov0
2 g salt
1 vanilla bean
5 g of baking powder
Crunchy bottom
180 g of almond or hazelnut flour (you can also finely chop them with the help of an electric food processor)
90 g of vitasnella type cereal flakes
60 g of milk chocolate
Chocolate ganache (to be prepared at the time of the cake assembly so I recommend it as the penultimate step)
150 g of 60% dark chocolate
150 ml of fresh liquid cream
Soak with instant coffee and rum
500 ml of warm water
3 teaspoons of instant coffee (also deca if you wish)
2 tablespoons sugar
30 ml of rum
Salted caramel
200 g of granulated sugar
250 g of fresh liquid cream
180 g of soft butter
5 g of fleur de sel (or coarse salt)
Dark chocolate glaze
100 ml of water
100 g of fresh cream
100 g of sugar
30 g of bitter cocoa
4 g of isinglass
Method
Sponge cake by Luca Montersino
In a saucepan, heat the whole eggs with the sugar and vanilla, until they reach a temperature of 45 ° C. obtain a frothy and clear mixture.
Then add the sifted flour together with the potato starch by hand with a rubber spoon, mixing everything gently from the bottom up.
Pour the mixture obtained immediately into the greased and floured mold. Bake in the oven at 190 ° C for about 20 minutes.
Let it cool on a wire rack and cut it in half to get two discs of equal thickness.
Pasteurized tiramisu base
Place the egg yolks in the mixer, or in a bowl together with the vanilla seeds, then whip it with the help of an electric mixer if you are not in possession of the mixer. Important: the yolks must be at room temperature, even better if you manage to heat them first in a saucepan, taking care not to exceed 40 ° C. Assemble slowly at medium speed. Separately, put the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat everything over medium heat. With a food thermometer, reach a temperature of 121 ° C.
As soon as they are reached, pour the syrup into the yolks mixture and continue to whisk until the mixture has cooled (about 10 minutes).
It is important that the mixture must be absolutely cold. The procedure is the same as for the Italian meringue.
for the pasteurized tiramisu cream
Soak the gelatine sheets in cold water for approx. 8-10 minutes.
Heat half of the tiramisu base in the microwave for a few minutes. Once it has become hot enough, add the squeezed and dried gelatin with paper towels. Mix carefully until it dissolves completely. Incorporate the tiramisu base with the jelly into the remaining tiramisu base. Separately whip the mascarpone with the fresh liquid cream (together). Be careful not to incorporate the buttermilk that forms at the bottom of the mascarpone package. Add the mascarpone and cream to the tiramisu base and mix "by hand" with movements from top to bottom.
Cocoa shortcrust pastry by Ernest Knam
Mix the softened butter with the sugar and vanilla in the planetary mixer or in a food processor in order to get a sandy consistency, you can also do this by hand. Once the ingredients have been blended, add the egg, flour, cocoa, yeast and salt. Mix the powders to form a stick (even if sticky do not be scared) and wrap in plastic wrap. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 3 hours. After the resting time, preheat the oven, 175 ° C in ventilated mode, and butter a steel ring with a diameter of about 24-26 cm (if you don't have it, you can use a classic tart mold).
Roll out the pastry and form a disk about 2,5 mm thick and cut it out with the help of a ring mold or your classic pan in order to have a perfectly round bottom. cook it by placing it on a baking tray covered with parchment paper for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool.
Salted caramel
In a nice tall saucepan, pour the sugar, a little at a time, and let it caramelize. Once you have a blond caramel, add the cream that you have previously heated, it must be boiling, boil for 5 minutes over high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. Be very careful, the caramel will begin to foam, and be very careful not to burn yourself. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the softened butter and fleur de sel. If there are lumps do not worry use an immersion blender to remove them easily, then transfer to a jar and use if necessary. It can be kept in the fridge for about 2 weeks.
Crunchy bottom
In a bowl, pour the chopped cereal flakes, the melted chocolate and the almond or hazelnut flour. Spread this mixture between two sheets of baking paper and with a rolling pin make a 2-3 mm thick disc. Cool for 10 minutes in the refrigerator. Coppare about 22 cm in size and put it back in the fridge, when the disc has hardened wrap it with plastic wrap and put it in the freezer to be ready for use.
Chocolate ganache
Bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan, add the chopped chocolate with a knife (or mixer), and mix with a whisk until all the ingredients are well emulsified. Wait for the ganache to reach room temperature to use it when assembling the cake.
Soak with instant coffee and rum
In the warm water, dissolve the instant coffee and sugar, mix and add the rum.
Dark chocolate glaze
Prepare the glaze by mixing the sugar and unsweetened cocoa in a saucepan, then add the water and cream a little at a time, stirring well so as not to form lumps. Heat the mixture by stirring until it reaches a temperature of 104 ° C. Remove from the heat and let it cool down to 50 ° C., Then add the isinglass (soaked in cold water and squeezed). As soon as the temperature of the icing reaches 35 ° C, use the icing to decorate your cake as you like, I also used the icing to glaze the heart-shaped cookies.
Cake assembly
Cover a cake ring with acetate both on the edges and on the base, letting everything rest on a plate. Arrange the chocolate shortcrust pastry at the base, cover with a layer of tiramisu cream with the help of a pastry bag with a smooth nozzle, sprinkle with cocoa powder, place a disc of sponge cake and wet it with the coffee and rum syrup, pour over the chocolate ganache and place the crunchy base on top, place another layer of sponge cake on top, wet it, pour over the salted caramel, decorate with a new layer of tiramisu cream, decorate as desired, making six cords and drawings, some decorative grids where you will then pour, after having generously sprinkled with bitter cocoa, with the liquid chocolate icing and the iced heart biscuits.
Place in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving.
Link to the blog: https://cookandlove.it/…/valentines-every-day-cake…/
