Days 17 and 18: Plaisir

My sister Jex recently mentioned that she feels like I haven't been baking as many items this term as last term, but the truth is while we'd generally bake more than one item each class in Basic Pastry we only create one cake each class in Intermediate Pastry because there are so many different elements going into one small cake.

One of the more complicated cakes we've made is called a Plaisir.  Literally translated plaisir means pleasure.  While this cake is a pleasure to eat with a very smooth and velvety texture it is a pain in the neck to make.

The first step is to bake a joconde sponge biscuit which is a more dense cake then some of the others we've made.  While the cake part is cooking in the oven you have to make a vanilla supreme mousse and a chocolate mousse.

The first layer of cake is covered with the vanilla mousse and then put in the freezer to set.  After the vanilla mousse has set the chocolate mousse is poured on top of that and the cake is put back in the freezer to set again.  Once the chocolate mousse has set the cake is layered with another square piece of the joconde sponge biscuit.  Finally the top layer is painted with a heated egg and sugar glaze which is fired with a torch until it resembles the top of a Creme Brulee.

My Plaisir

The layers of my Plaisir

Very time consuming and a lot of very temperamental mousses and glazes involved, but the side view is kind of cool.

Until next time Au Revoir and Bon Appetit!