Modern Marjolaine by Sally Camacho Mueller

(This recipe appeared in the Winter 2018 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)

This is my take on a classic Marjolaine, which is one of my favorite historic French gateaux. I love making it in this particular style, since it’s plated individually as opposed to the traditional manner of making it in a framed form and cutting it into rectangles. The layers are assembled à la minute, which ensures a harmonious bite. Generally, I love working with nougatines to add a crisp texture and a pop of salt. You also can’t go wrong with the combination of coffee, hazelnut and chocolate. This has always been a popular dessert of mine and invariably sells well.

Yield: 16 servings

Caramelized Hazelnuts 

• 10 g glucose
• 32 g granulated sugar
• 10 g water
• 170 g hazelnuts, lightly toasted
• 6 g unsalted butter
• 3 g sea salt

1. In a large pot, cook the glucose, sugar and water to 234˚F.
2. Add hazelnuts all at once and stir until caramelized. Add butter and salt and stir well to separate nuts. Spread onto Silpat and cool completely.
3. Chop by hand and set aside.

Flourless Chocolate Biscuit

• 145 g Guittard 64% chocolate
• 20 g Guittard Oban 100% chocolate
• 90 g unsalted butter
• 115 g fresh egg yolks
• 83 g granulated sugar, divided
• 173 g fresh egg whites
• Chopped Caramelized Hazelnuts (above)

1. Melt chocolates with butter over a double boiler.
2. Whip egg yolks with 33 g of the sugar to ribbon stage.
3. Make a cold meringue with the egg whites and remaining 50 g sugar, whipping to medium peaks.
4. While the chocolate mixture is still warm, combine it with the whipped egg yolk mixture. Fold in meringue.
5. Spread batter onto Silpat-lined half sheet pan. Sprinkle with the Caramelized Hazelnuts. Bake at 375˚F for 6 minutes (or until done), turning halfway through baking.

Hazelnut Nougatine 

• 35 g glucose syrup
• 48 g unsalted butter
• 60 g granulated sugar
• 5 g apple pectin
• 60 g hazelnut flour
• 1 g sea salt

1. Melt glucose and butter in a small pot.
2. Combine sugar and pectin well, then add to boiling glucose and butter mixture, whisking to emulsify. Bring to a boil and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add nut flour and salt (do not allow to color).
4. Spread a thin layer of the hot mixture onto a half Silpat. Place a sheet of parchment paper on top and roll thin while the mixture is still hot. Bake at 300˚F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until evenly browned.
5. Invert nougatine onto a sheet of parchment paper and cut into 3” circles (do not cut on Silpat). Work in and out of the oven as needed, working as quickly as possible. Store in airtight container.

Chocolate Cremeux 

• 5 g gelatin sheets
• 116 g whole milk
• 116 g heavy cream
• 47 g egg yolks
• 9 g granulated sugar
• 117 g Guittard 70% Complexité chocolate

1. Bloom gelatin in ice water.
2. In a pot, combine milk and cream. Bring to scalding.
3. Temper in yolks combined with sugar. Cook to nappage or 185˚F.
4. Remove from heat and pour anglaise over chocolate. Add bloomed gelatin and mix with immersion blender. Place in ice bath to chill. Transfer to piping bag fitted with plain round tip. Reserve in cooler.

White Chocolate Espresso Mousse 

• 505 g heavy cream
• 55 g espresso beans, toasted
• 235 g white couverture 35%
• 93 g whole eggs
• 45 g granulated sugar
• 6 g gelatin sheets

1. Heat heavy cream and espresso beans in a small pot. Infuse for 1 hour, then strain through a chinois.
2. Scale cream, adding more cream if necessary to weigh 505 g.
3. Reserve 140 g of the infused cream. Chill the remaining cream to 40˚F.
4. Whip eggs and sugar to ribbon stage.
5. Bloom gelatin in cold water.
6. Warm chocolate in microwave until slightly melted.
7. Scald reserved coffee-infused cream and pour over white chocolate. Combine until smooth.
8. Melt gelatin in microwave and add to ganache mixture. Mix with immersion blender until smooth.
9. Whip remaining infused cream to very soft peaks.
10. Combine the chocolate mixture with the egg mixture, then the whipped cream. Place in a pastry bag fitted with a sultan tip.

Mocha Sauce

• 50 g whole milk
• 25 g heavy cream
• 25 g water
• 4 g instant espresso
• 85 g 70% Complexité chocolate
• 25 g glucose syrup

1. In a pot, combine milk, cream, water, and espresso. Bring to scalding.
2. Pour hot liquid over chocolate and glucose. Hand blend until smooth. Use slightly warm for plating.

Espresso Ice Cream

• 115 g espresso beans
• 925 g whole milk
• 225 g heavy cream
• 190 g granulated sugar
• 60 g atomized glucose
• 50 g non-fat dry milk powder
• 3 g ice cream stabilizer
• 45 g pasteurized egg yolks

1. Roast the espresso beans on a sheet pan at 350˚F for 10 minutes. Rotate pan and stir and bake for another 5 minutes.
2. In a pot, bring milk and cream to scalding. Toss in hot espresso beans. Let infuse off heat for 30 minutes.
3. Burmix the hot milk mixture to bruise the beans.
4. In a bowl, combine sugar, atomized glucose, milk powder, and stabilizer.
5. Turn pot back on to medium heat. Rain dry mixture into milk mixture. Continue to whisk. Allow the dry mixture to dissolve. Once dissolved, temper in egg yolks. Stir with a heat-safe spatula. Bring to 185˚F. Remove from heat. Allow to sit and steep for 30 minutes.
6. Strain through china cap, then strain through chinois. Burmix final product to insure smoothness and place in ice bath to chill.
7. Let mature for a minimum of 4 hours.
8. Spin in gelato machine 7-10 minutes. Extract into frozen smell-free stainless steel containers.

Coffee Meringue

• 100 g egg whites
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 50 g confectioners’ sugar
• 10 g cornstarch
• 5 g ground coffee
• Toasted hazelnuts, as needed

1. Make a cold meringue with the egg whites and granulated sugar. Whip to stiff peaks.
2. Sift confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch together and blend. Fold into meringue. Fold in ground coffee. Spread onto acetate sheet. Sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts. Dry in dehydrator overnight until crispy. (Meringue should have very little to no color.)

Coffee Gel

• 100 g water
• 5 g instant espresso
• 2 g agar agar
• 25 g coffee liqueur
• 2 g gelatin sheets, bloomed in ice water

1. In a pot, bring water, instant espresso and agar agar to a boil. Remove from heat. Add liqueur and bloomed gelatin. Pour into a stainless steel container to allow to set.
2. Once set, blend in a Vita Prep blender until smooth. Cryovac mixture to remove bubbles. Place in a squeeze bottle for plate up.

Tempered Chocolate Plaques

• Guittard L’etoile 64% chocolate
• Caramel luster dust

1. Temper the chocolate to 88 to 89˚F. Use a stamp, or makeshift your own from cake cardboard. Stamp 3” circle chocolate onto acetate, then allow to crystallize. Brush with caramel luster color.

Plating

1. Use a brush to sauce the plate with Mocha Sauce. Place a 3” round of biscuit off-center on plate. Pipe Chocolate Cremeux onto biscuit. Pipe a full sultan tip of white chocolate espresso mousse onto two pieces of nougatine. Place one nougatine on top of piped cremeux. Fill center with mocha sauce. Place a chocolate plaque onto mousse. Pipe more Chocolate Cremeux onto plaque. Place nougatine with piped mousse onto cremeux. Fill mousse center with Coffee Gel. Top off with another chocolate plaque. Place a piece of meringue onto plate where sauce is. Quenelle ice cream and place on meringue. Top off with a broken piece of meringue.

About Sally Camacho Mueller

Sally Camacho Mueller is the Executive Pastry Chef & Partner at Tesse Restaurant in West Hollywood, California. Her early influence was watching Julia Child and Jacques Pepin on T.V., and since has evolved her style to be “French pastry technique with Pacific Islander influence.”