Chocolate cake Entremet Recipes so good #23 Soft Caramel Yusuke Aoki

Milk Chocolate Earl Grey Caramel Orange entremet by Yusuke Aoki

Photo: Noriko Carlow – Contents: Reiko Matsuno

Pastry-making is not easy in a tropical climate. Japan, though not located in the tropical zone, is noticeably hot and humid, especially in summer, and Japanese pastry chefs who come back home from their apprentice training in France are often annoyed with it saying that chocolate never gets set or icing never dries, missing the dry air in Europe. However, Yusuke Aoki, a 37-year-old Japanese pâtissier has worked to make desserts at Ritz Carlton in a dessert country, Qatar. It was his own choice, after the experience at Ritz Carton in Japan and Canada, with MOF chef, Stéphane Glacier. And now, where is he? He is in Bali, Indonesia as an executive pastry chef of Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay, a luxurious hotel by the sea.

‘Oh, I didn’t particularly choose hot weather countries of course. My workplace in Qatar was fully air-conditioned and there was no need to worry about what to serve, but in this hotel where guests enjoy open-air dining, plated desserts start melting as soon as they are served. I had to adjust my recipes for temperature-controlled patisserie,’ says Aoki. Working in remote countries means you don’t get ingredients which you can have in Japan or Europe without efforts. You can’t find a wide range of gelatin and agar products, for example. He adds some pectin or cornstarch to keep the shape of jelly or crémeux in such hot weather. Or a limited selection of fruits encourages him to use exotic spices and homemade praliné instead of accenting the flavors and textures.

And Bali might have inspired him to participate in Valrhona’s C3 competition, too. After winning the regional semifinal in Asia, he became a world champion in Brooklyn, New York. All the experience, creativity and global mindset he gained from different people, different cultures and different countries made him a world-class pastry chef.

‘There is a saying here which says that if the god of Bali doesn’t like you, you don’t get a chance to be in Bali. Maybe he gave me a chance,’ he smiles. He came here by the Balinese god’s invitation, but now he seems to give Aoki another duty. Right after this interview included in so good 23, he was assigned to Four Seasons Otemachi in Tokyo. Back to Japan after three years in Bali. With his sense and skill sharpened in Asia, North America and Europe, he will show his ability to the fullest for sure in Tokyo, where people will gather from all over the world for the Olympic Games in 2020.

One of the challenges he poses himself is to create something unique without mold. in this Milk Chocolate Earl Grey Entremet he pipes the whipped ganache over the cylindrical cake in an irregular fashion.

Milk Chocolate Earl Grey Caramel Orange Entremet

Calculated for 14 pieces

Flourless Chocolate Sponge

140 g Egg white
80 g Egg yolk
80 g Sugar
50 g Dark chocolate (Manjari)
20 g Unsalted butter
45 g Cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate and the butter together, mix well with the egg yolk. Keep warm.In another bowl, make smooth meringue with the egg white and the sugar, fold into the chocolate mixture. Fold the cocoa powder. Spread onto a baking tray, bake at 190C for 9min.

Orange Caramel Cremeux

48 g Sugar
126 g Orange puree
1 u Orange zest
126 g Whipping cream 35% fat
72 g Egg yolk
30 g Sugar
4 g Gelatin leaf 200 bloom

Mix the egg yolk and the 48g of sugar in a bowl, keep aside. Warm the orange puree, zest and the cream in a saucepan, keep aside. Make dry caramel with 30g of sugar, stop the caramel by adding the hot cream puree mixture. Pour over the egg yolk mixture, mix well. Place back into the saucepan, cook at 84C. Add the softened gelatin, mix well. Let cool.

Pressed Tart Base

25 g Butter
25 g Cassonade sugar
25 g Almond powder
25 g Rice Flour
40 g Dark Chocolate Manjari
26 g Hazelnut praline paste

Cream the butter and the cassonade sugar in a bowl. Add the rice flour and the almond powder, mix until obtain crumble texture. Spread on a baking tray, bake at 160C for 17min. Once comes out from the oven, mix with the chocolate and the praline in a bowl. Spread on a silpat, roll out into 3mm. Cut into round shape, keep in chiller.

Manjari Earl Grey mousse

280 g Milk
10 g Earl grey tea leaf
245 g Tea infusion
4,5 g Gelatin leaf 200 bloom
300 g Dark chocolate (Manjari)
490 g Whipping cream 35% fat

Warm the milk in a pot, remove from the heat, add the tea leaf, infuse for 3 min. Remove the tea leaf, scale the mixture to obtain 245g. Warm the infusion again in a saucepan, add the softened gelatin. Pour over the chocolate, mix well with a hand blender to obtain nice emulsion. Let cool at 35C, then add the whipped cream, fold.

Jivara earl grey whipped ganache

260 g Whipping cream 35% fat
10 g Earl Grey Tea Leaf
225 g Tea infusion
50 g Glucose
305 g Milk chocolate (Jivara Lactee)
375 g Whipping cream
3,5 g Gelatin leaf 200 bloom

Boil the 260g of cream, then add the tea, infuse for 3min. Strain out the tea leaf, scale 225g of tea-infused cream, boil with the glucose in a pot. Add the softened gelatin, pour into the chocolate, mix well with a hand blender to obtain nice emulsion. Add the whipping cream, mix well. Keep in chiller for overnight.

Chocolate sablé

350 g Rice flour
190 g Butter
120 g Icing sugar
20 g Almond powder
25 g Cocoa powder
80 g Eggs

Place the rice flour and the soft butter in a mixing bowl, mix with the paddle until obtain powdery texture. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix to incorporate the dough. Cover with plastic film, keep in chiller overnight. Bring the dough back to room temperature, sheet the dough into 2mm-thick. Keep in chiller. Cut into desired shape, bake at 160C for 8min.

Fig confiture

60 g Semi dried figs
1 pc Star anis
32 g Honey
64 g Red wine (Pinot noir)
0,2 g Lemon zest

Cook all the ingredients in a pot for 2min, remove from the heat, cover with plastic film, then infuse for 10min. Remove the star anis, blend with a hand blender to make it like paste. Keep in chiller.

Chocolate spray mixture

200 g Dark chocolate (Manjari)
100 g Cocoa butter
5 g Red cocoa butter
Dulcey chocolate for deco
Dark chocolate Manjari for deco

Melt together at 40C.

Montage

For making the insert, place 120g of the pressed tart base into a cake frame 18cm x 18cm, spread evenly. Pour 200g of the orange caramel cremeux on the pressed tart base, spread. Place the flourless chocolate sponge on top, freeze. Spread 120g of the fig confiture, freeze. Cut the insert into 12cm x 1.5cm, keep in freezer. Pipe Manjari earl grey mousse into a silicon mould, place the insert, freeze. Once the cakes are frozen, take out of the mould, whip the Jivara earl grey whipped ganache, pipe onto the cakes using round piping nozzle, keep them in freezer. Spray the chocolate spray mixture, deco with the chocolate decoration and baked sable.