Here’s the recipe of my birthday cake. It’s a very rich and luxurious chocolate cake filled and covered with a buttercream made pasteurising egg yolks with hot syrup. This method could seem tricky and not very easy but it’s not that difficult and in a few steps you’ll have a buttercream with a lighter taste than the usual one made only with icing sugar and butter. To finish the decoration I prepared a mirror glaze that gives that cake a sumptuous look but it’s really easy, trust me 😉
Gateau au chocolat de la Maréchale de Lannes - Chocolate cake
Ingredients
- For the cake
- dark chocolate melted: 90 grams
- eggs: 4
- caster sugar: 200 grams
- plain flour: 1 grams
- For the butter cream
- dark chocolate melted: 125 grams
- caster sugar: 100 grams
- water: 175 milliliters
- egg yolks: 3
- butter at room temperature: 400 grams
- For the mirror glaze
- water: 110 milliliters
- caster sugar: 190 grams
- double cream: 100 grams
- leaf gelatine: 10 grams
- water: 50 grams
- cocoa powder: 60 grams
Instructions
- For the cake: divide the egg yolks from the whites and whip the yolks with the sugar until you have a pale and fluffy mixture.Slowly add the melted chocolate then the flour, sifted. Whisk the egg whites until firm peaks then fold them into the chocolate batter. Pour the batter into a round 18 cm cake pan lined with baking parchment and bake into the preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- For the chocolate buttercream: put the sugar and the water into a small saucepan and cook it on low heat until you have a smooth and clear syrup (about 10 minutes). In the meanwhile start beating the egg yolks and once the syrup is ready pour it slowly over the egg yolks continuing to mix until you have an airy and pale mixture. Whisk the butter until creamy, add the melted chocolate and then the yolk mixture mixing with a rubber spatula.
- Cut the cake in 3 layers and use the butter cream to spread them. Cover all the cake with the remaining buttercream. Set into the fridge for 2 hours.
- For the mirror glaze: soak the leaf gelatine with the 50 grams of water; in the meanwhile put the 110 grams of water, the cream and the caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to boil, then turn off the heat, add the cocoa powder and whisk well. Let it cool down (about 50°) and add the gelatine with its water, whisk well again to dissolve the gelatine then pass through a sieve and let it cool down. Use the glaze when it reaches about 27/29° pouring it onto the cake
