Cocoa Sachiyo Takagi so good #35 Yusuke Matsushita

Recipe Asu dessert with chocolate mousse and Incan Berry sauce by RAU Pâtisserie

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It may well be that more people abroad know about RAU (Kyoto) than in Japan itself. Founded by Yusuke Matsushita and Sachiyo Takagi, RAU seems to not only walk a different path from the conventional Japanese patisserie—it runs on a completely different trajectory, moving forward at a speed almost impossible to follow, as we capture in so good.. magazine 35.

Here, the duo began crafting desserts that embodied the landscapes they had seen and the emotions that filled their hearts. Using their solid grounding in French pâtisserie, they reinterpreted it through their own lens. Making a mold from scratch is the best way to reflect their concept.

Their creations, often themed around notions, rarely resemble anything that exists in the real world. This is the case of the Asu dessert, whose recipe we share exclusively on our website.

But how did the idea come about? “At the WCM 2022, where we participated as head judges, the theme was Tomorrow. It was a time when the world, which had come to a halt during the pandemic, was beginning to move again. I asked myself, ‘What role can chocolate play in the world of tomorrow? From that question, Asu—which means ‘tomorrow’ in Japanese—was born. Like the oil that restores movement to rusted gears, I wanted chocolate to become a force that helps the world turn once more. That hope is embedded in this creation,” they explain.

“The brown layer at the bottom represents the “rusted gears”—a world frozen by the pandemic. The gray layer above it symbolizes the world after the pandemic, cleansed of rust, beginning to move anew. Together, they convey the image of countless industries and people interlocking and setting the world’s great mechanism in motion again,” they continue.

At the tasting level, “the chocolate mousse used in this dessert was inspired by Xocolatl, the chocolate drink of the ancient Aztecs. Using water instead of cream, we sought to express the pure aroma and clarity of cacao itself. Golden berries (Incan berries), which grew alongside cacao in ancient civilizations, are combined with spices and cacao nibs. This layer embodies the “aroma of primitive times” and “prayer” from a time when cacao was sacred—symbolizing vitality and ritual rather than indulgence. The interplay of spice and fruit acidity evokes a deeply spiritual flavor that tells the story of cacao’s beginnings. The Cacao Berry sauce represents “grease,” the lubricant that makes the gears turn. Rather than the dark tones of chocolate, we use cacao butter to achieve a bright, radiant red—like the light that illuminates the world.”

Text: Reiko Matsuno / Photos: Noriko Carlow

Discover so good #35

Asu

30 pieces

Four RAU’s original multiple gear-shaped molds:

<upper part> about 6cm x 7cm, 3cm high

<insert for upper part> about 4cm x 2.5cm, 0.3cm high

<lower part> about 9cm x 7cm, 2cm high

<insert for lower part> about 4cm x 3cm, 1.2cm high

Sable Chocolat

41.4 g butter
0.3 g salt
25.3 g pure icing sugar
8.3 g egg whites
4.6 g almond powder
49.5 g cake flour
4.6 g bread flour
16.1 g cocoa powder
25.5 g cacao butter, melted

Beat the butter, salt, and icing sugar until smooth. Add the egg whites gradually until homogenized without lumps. Sift the almond powder, cake flour, bread flour, and cocoa powder together, and add to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough comes together. Make the dough into crumbles and spread it over the baking sheet. Bake at 160℃ for 20 to 30 minutes. Let it cool. Mix the crumble with the cocoa butter, and place 5g each at the bottom of the insert molds for the lower part. Refrigerate it to set.

Crème Anglaise Earl Gray

169.7 ml milk
169.7 ml fresh cream 35%
9.4 g Earl Gray tea leaf
42.7 g cane sugar
26.3 g egg yolks
2.6 g gelatin leaf, hydrated

Put the milk, fresh cream, and Earl Gray tea leaves in a pot and heat it until it just boils. Remove from the heat, cover with a lid, and leave it for 10 minutes. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer. Beat the egg yolks and cane sugar until pale. Add the tea mixture to the egg mixture while it is still warm, and mix well. Heat it to 82℃. Remove from the heat, add the gelatin, and stir until dissolved. Let it cool to 35-40℃. Pour 13g each of the mixture over Sable Chocolat, which has been prepared in the previous step.

Incan Berry sauce

71.4 g orange flesh
71.4 g tomato, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
23.2 g passion fruit puree
17.8 g dried Incan berry
19.5 g granulated sugar
19.5 g cane sugar
1.4 g HM pectin
0.3 g black pepper, coarsely milled
3.4 g glucose syrup
0.5 u lime juice
3.5 ml lemon juice
0.4 g cinnamon powder
0.4 g ginger powder
0.04 g coriander seed powder
0.1 g nutmeg powder
0.1 g cardamom powder
0.1 g allspice powder
0.004 g clove powder
0.008 g star anise powder
0.042 g citric acid
1.7 g vanilla bean paste
1.7 g cacao nibs
12.5 g honey
1.7 g lemon zest
0.8 g orange zest
27.3 g water

Put all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil until Incan berries get tender. Process it with a hand blender. Boil it down over medium heat until it reaches jam consistency (about Brix 45°). Pour 3.5g of sauce into the insert molds for the upper part, and 5.5g into the smallest semi-sphere molds. Put them in the freezer.

Mousse Xocolatl

504 g water (1)
20.3 g cocoa powder
194.9 g bitter chocolate (70%)
194.9 g banana, mashed
29.2 g rum
39.8 g gelatin leaf, hydrated
40 g egg white
59 g granulated sugar
12.8 g water (2)
328.8 ml fresh cream 35%, lightly whipped

Put the first water, cocoa powder, and banana in a pot, and bring it to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the gelatin, and stir until dissolved. Pour it into the chocolate and emulsify. Add the rum. Put the granulated sugar and the second water in another pot, and heat to 117℃ to make a syrup. Beat the egg whites and pour the syrup gradually to make Italian meringue. Add the Italian meringue to the ganache and mix gently. Add the whipped cream and mix gently. Pour 20 g each into the upper part molds, and place the Incan Berry sauce frozen in an insert and a small semi-sphere mold in it by pressing. Pour 30g each into the lower part molds, and press the Crème Anglaise Earl Gray inserts into them. Put them in the freezer.

Coating

412.4 g white chocolate, melted
14.8 g cacao butter, melted
41.2 g feuillantine, crushed

Combine the ingredients. Use at 45℃.

Cocoa Berry Sauce

105 g raspberry
17.7 g granulated sugar
17.7 g trehalose
3.5 g pectin HM
8 g cacao butter, melted

Combine the raspberry and granulated sugar in a pot, and bring to boil. Add the trehalose and pectin, previously mixed well, and boil down to Brix 40°. Remove from the heat and combine it with the cacao butter. Emulsify it with a hand blender, and refrigerate. Put it in a piping bag.

Black color spray

20.2 g cacao butter, melted
40.4 g bitter chocolate 70%, melted

Mix the ingredients well.

Gray color spray

19.8 g cacao butter, melted
39.6 g white chocolate, melted
1.1 g bamboo charcoal powder

Mix the ingredients well.

Matcha powder

28.5 g egg yolks
26.5 g egg whites
18.8 g granulated sugar
13.1 g cake flour, sifted
7.8 g grape seed oil
3.2 g Matcha from Gion Tsujiri, sifted

Whisk the granulated sugar, egg yolks, and egg whites. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well until smooth. Pour into a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake at 170℃ for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 70℃ and dry. Once it cools, process it into a powder in a food processor.

Passion powder

43.4 g passion fruit puree
5.2 g egg whites (1)
6.3 g egg yolks
7.8 g almond powder, sifted
3.9 g pure icing sugar
15.5 g egg whites (2)
6.8 g granulated sugar
7.1 g cake flour, sifted
0.1 ml lemon juice

Beat the egg yolks and whites (1), and add the passion fruit puree. Combine the egg white (2), granulated sugar, icing sugar, and lemon juice, and whisk to make meringue in another bowl. Add the almond powder and cake flour, and mix until smooth. Pour into a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, and bake at 170℃ for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 70℃ and dry. Once it cools, process it into a powder in a food processor.

Finish

gold leaf
Oxalis

Assembly

Unmold the Mousse Xocolatl, and coat with the Coating. Coat the lower gear-shaped one with Black color spray, and coat the upper gear-shaped one with Gray color spray. Place the lower part on a plate, and place the upper part on it. Pipe the Cacao Berry sauce and decorate with Matcha and Passionfruit powders. Finish it with gold leaf and Oxalis.

Discover these creations by Yusuke Matsushita and Sachiyo Takagi in so good.. magazine 35