Bonjour mes amis! All everyone seems to talk about right now is vacation. And all these talk of vacation is making me look forward to my imminent trip back to Auckland even more! I will be there for a couple of weeks before commencing my internship at a hotel in Champs Elysees in late September. It has been a little more than a year since I've left, and I cannot begin to list all the things I've missed about NZ. The flights will be about 26 hours each way - which I am not too happy about. But the thought of seeing all my friends, going to gigs and eating all the delicious foods I've missed will definitely get me through them no problem.
Two of the faces I simply cannot wait to see again are those of Rosie and Sarah from The Bread and Butter Letter. They have been very supportive with my baking even since the Teacups' Cake Stall days, that when I needed inspiration for my next cake they were an easy email away. To my delight, they proposed a pair of their new super-cute geometric earrings for me to muse upon. Though their triangle-shaped earrings gave me an indication of what form the cakes are going to take, I had no idea what kind of flavors they could possibly have. So I decided to play a little game:
Triangles have three sides, so I will choose three flavors. To narrow it down even more, I chose elements that begin with the third letter of the alphabet: "C". So dear friends, behold the Chocolate, Chai and Caramel cake!
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My White Chocolate, Chai Tea and Caramel Pyramid Cake |
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A pair of cakes to go with the earrings |
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Yes, that is a gooey caramel center |
With this cake I really wanted to experiment more with white chocolate. It was a huge learning experience trying to get the tempered triangle pieces to stick together neatly. A really fun part was when I got to spray cocoa butter at my chocolate pyramids with my newly-acquired paint sprayer for a velvet effect.
I think the end result looks pretty neat.
Here's the recipe if you're curious..
Talita's White Chocolate, Chai and Caramel cake
-inspired by Bread and Butter Letter's geometric earrings
Makes 6 (with 7 cm pyramid silicon molds)
White chocolate cream
95 g white chocolate - melted
85 ml heavy cream
pinch of vanilla powder or a little vanilla extract
- - -
250 g cold whipped heavy cream
Warm up 85 g of cream and vanilla to a gentle simmer, stir into melted white chocolate
Cool mixture to 23 degrees C
Add in a cupful of whipped heavy cream into the mixture and whisk in to incorporate
Place mixture into the whipped cream and fold carefully with a rubber spatula until just incorporated
Caramel sauce
50 ml water
125 g sugar
140 ml heavy cream
Combine water and sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil
Keep heating until a dark brown colour is obtained
Deglaze with cream and stir to dissolve bits of caramel
Strain into a bowl and place in the fridge to cool completely
Chai crème brulée
400 ml heavy cream
20 g brown sugar
65 ml chai syrup (I used Monin)
6 egg yolks
2 sheets of gelatin - soaked and drained
pinch of cinnamon
Warm up cream and cinnamon to a simmer
Blanche egg yolks and sugar, add to cream and cook to 84 degrees C
Add in the gelatin and syrup off heat, strain if needed
Cool to 35 degrees C before piping into moulds
Praline, white chocolate, streusel square
250 g of almond and cinnamon streusel (click for recipe)
100 g white chocolate
85 g praline paste
Process streusel into fine crumbs
Melt white chocolate with praline paste atop a hot water bath (bain marie), stir to combine
Stir praline/white chocolate mixture into streusel crumbs to form a dough like mass
Place onto a silpat and roll out with the aid of wax paper
Peel off wax paper (don't worry if it looks dimply) and cool completely in the fridge
Cut into 8 cm squares and use smooth side up
White chocolate pyramids
200 gr white couverture chocolate
Prepare triangles out of firm plastic sheets with a base of 8 cm and height of 7.5 cm (you will need 4 per cake)
To temper white chocolate, melt over a hot water bath to a temperature of 38-40 degrees C
By stirring over an ice bath or by leaving it out on room temperature, bring the temperature down to 26 degrees C
Bring temperature back up to 28-29 degrees C by placing it back onto the hot water bath
Using a piping bag, pipe out tempered chocolate over the plastic pieces
Remove triangle pieces before the chocolate sets and place onto another flat surface
When chocolate no longer sticks to fingers, cover with wax paper and place a weight on top so chocolate pieces won't deform while crystallizing
When completely set, peel plastic backing off carefully from the corners
Using more tempered chocolate in the piping bag, stick four triangles together into a pyramid and smooth out the edges with the warmth of your fingers
Place pyramids in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before quickly spraying with white cocoa butter
Montage
Pipe out white chocolate cream onto the onto the bottom and sides of pyramid molds
Place into the freezer to set before piping out a little cooled caramel sauce in each
Place back into the freezer to firm up, then pipe out the chai crème brulée to the very top
Freeze completely!
Unmold, place onto a streusel square
Pop on a white chocolate pyramid and finish with golden powder and a gold leaf
Well that's it. Gotta go, I've got to see about this pyramid cake that needs eating.
x Tal
Holy hell you are amazing Talita! Seriously, every time you post I die a little inside (the good kind).
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to read my posts Claudia! :)
DeleteHoly moly!
ReplyDeleteYou've blown my mind with the cocoa butter sprayer.
That's dedication!
Wan eat it.
I finally bought one! Yay! Super fun.
DeleteHi Talita, you mix style and food effortlessly! Definitely a brilliant niche. Once you have a book -no pressure he he!! seriously though I do hope to attend your book launch (if you plan one). Would be lovely to meet you!
ReplyDeletePolly xx
Whoah! I will get to meet you before that I hope..!!!
DeleteI think I just died and went to white chocolate caramel heaven.
ReplyDeleteIncredible! x
thanks for reading missy! hope to see you soon x
DeleteIf you visit London let me know :)
ReplyDeletePolly x
Where do you buy your moulds?
ReplyDeleteI buy my moulds at "Mora" in Paris' Rue Montmartre. However, they could be found online here: http://www.pastrychef.com/SILICONE-MOLD--PYRAMID_p_1312.html :)
Deleteoh my god! i have few friends im sending his blog to 'genius'! Annliese
ReplyDeleteThat's very kind of you! Thanks for supporting my blog! :) Tal
DeleteHi Talita! I have loved your site for a while now and i am finally making one of your delicious creations :) What bloom strength are your gelatin sheets? The world of gelatin is so confusing..
ReplyDeleteHi Talita! This looks beautiful -- I'm going to try it this weekend. Just wanted to make sure that it is actually 400 ml of heavy cream for the chai creme brulee? It just seemed like a lot -- wanted to make sure it wasn't a typo. Thank you!
ReplyDelete