Another special occasion, another entremet … this time for my friend Jam’s birthday!  It felt like the perfect occasion to try and improve some of the recipes I’ve developed over the past year.  Everyone was very complimentary of the flavours, and my hubby reckons it’s my best creation so far – I’ll take that as a win! However, I do think the cherry was a little too subtle against the pistachio and white chocolate, so next time around I’ll likely spread a little cherry jam on the genoise to make that flavour a bit more prominent.

Cherry, Pistachio and White Chocolate Entremet

Makes: 10” round cake that serves 12

Time: 6hrs + chilling time

Elements:

• Genoise sponge
• Kirsch liquor
• Cherry mousse
• Insert:

• • Pistachio genoise
  • White Chocolate Bavarois
  • Pistachio Bavarois

• Kirsch glaze
• Chopped pistachios

Recipe:

Genoise sponge:

• 300g whole eggs
• 300g caster sugar
• 300g plain flour
• 125g unsalted butter melted
• 1 Tbsp. Pistachio cream

Preheat the oven to 190°C and line two 30 x 40cm flat baking trays with a non-stick baking paper.

Make a sabayon by putting the eggs and sugar in a clean bowl and whisking the mix over a bain-marie to 37°C. Remove the bowl from the pan of water and continue to whisk until it reaches the ribbon stage (lift the whisk and the mix should fall back on itself and a trail will be left across the surface that should hold shape for a moment, before sinking back into the mix).

Carefully fold the sifted flour into the sabayon using a spatula. When it is around three quarters folded through, take two large scoops of the sabayon and mix it into the melted butter. Then add the butter mix into the sabayon and fold through until fully incorporated.

Pour half the mix onto one lined baking tray, spreading evenly with a palette knife. Then fold in 1 tbsp. of pistachio cream carefully and pour onto the other lined tray. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 12-15 mins. You will know when it’s done as the sponge will be golden brown and spring back when pressed gently.  Leave to cool and then use immediately or freeze for up to a month.

White chocolate bavarois:

• 1 gelatine leaf
• 72g white chocolate (min 29% cocoa solids) chopped
• 72g full fat milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 5g caster sugar
• 95g whipping or double cream

Start by making a custard: Put the milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile in a mixing bowl start whisking together the egg yolks and sugar until they are well combined and light in colour.  Pour half of the boiled milk onto the eggs and mix well. Return to the saucepan of milk and stir with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking until it thickens (coats the back of a spoon) and reaches a temp of 82-84 °C.

Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes until it softens. Squeeze out excess water and add to custard. Strain the custard into a bowl with the chopped white chocolate and mix well. Pop in an ice bain-marie and whisk for a couple minutes. Once the custard has cooled down take it out of the ice, otherwise it will set too fast. In a separate bowl, whip the cream to ribbon stage and then fold this into the cooled custard. Use immediately.

Pistachio bavarois cream:

• 2 medium egg yolks
• 30 g caster sugar
• 20 g pistachio paste
• 120ml milk
• 1/4 vanilla bean seeds
• 2g gelatine leaves
• 90 g whipping cream

Place your gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, pistachio paste and caster sugar for a few minutes until it thickens and turns a pale colour.  Gently heat milk and vanilla seeds in small saucepan until it simmers then turn off the heat. Take a little of the milk mix and pour it into the bowl and whisk it. Then pour the mix in the bowl into the saucepan and heat gently until it reaches 82°C, whisking all the while. When the mixture has thickened take the gelatine, squeeze out any excess liquid, and add to the mix.  Whisk until fully incorporated and then run through a sieve and leave to cool over a little ice. In a clean bowl whisk the whipping cream to ribbon stage and fold in the cooled mix.

Cherry mousse:

• 6 gelatine leaves
• 400g frozen pitted sweet cherries
• 15g caster sugar
• Italian meringue
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 45ml water
  • 3 medium egg whites
• 1 tsp of Pink food gel
• 150ml double cream

Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes until it softens. Squeeze out excess water and put aside.

Puree the cherries in a blender and then push through a fine sieve until you have removed all the skin/pulp.  Heat half of the puree in a pan on medium heat with the sugar until dissolved, then whisk in the gelatine. Stir this mix into the rest of the pureed cherries and put aside to cool.

Start making the Italian meringue put heating sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar has dissolved and has formed a colourless syrup and there are small bubbles forming, it’ll be ready when it hits 121°C, which normally takes 5-10mins.  Whilst that’s heating whisk your egg whites until they form soft foamy peaks (don’t over whisk them!). When the sugar syrup is ready you want to the pour this into your egg whites in a steady stream, whisking with your other hand.  Keep whisking until you have a silky, glossy meringue. Mix in the food colouring and then fold into the puree and use immediately.

Kirsch glaze:

• 2 gelatine leaves
• 50g caster sugar
• 150ml Kirsch Liquor (if colourless add some red food colouring)

Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for a few minutes until it softens. Squeeze out excess water and put aside.  Heat the sugar and the Kirsch in a pan until the sugar has fully dissolved, take off the heat and whisk in the gelatine. Leave to cool down to room temperature before using.

To assemble:

• Cut the plain genoise sponge into an 8″ round using the cake ring as a guide. Cut the pistachio genoise sponge into an 6” round using the cake ring as a guide.
• Place the pistachio genoise sponge on a cake board, and pop your cake ring around it loosely and then tighten the cake ring around the sponge so it’s snug.
• Brush the sponge with some Kirsch.
• Pour your white chocolate bavarois over the jam and make sure it’s spread evenly with a palette knife.  Cover and pop in the fridge for minimum 1hr to set.
• Remove from the fridge and pour the pistachio bavarois over the white chocolate layer, again spreading evenly with a palette knife. Cover and pop in the freezer for 1.5hrs.
• Remove the cake from the freezer and take off the cake ring and pop to one side. Clean your cake ring.
• Place the remaining 8” genoise sponge on a cake board, and pop your cake ring around it loosely. Line the inside with some baking acetate and then tighten the cake ring around the sponge so it’s snug.
• Brush the sponge with some Kirsch.
• Pour 1/3 of the cherry mousse over the sponge and the pop the smaller cake in the middle. Pour the remaining 2/3 of the cherry mousse around and over the top of the cake. Cover and freeze for min 6 hours.
• Remove from the freezer and dab any wet condensation spots off the mousse with a bit of paper towel.
• Bring the Kirsch glaze up to room temperature and pour over the mousse (make sure it’s definitely cool as anything warmer will melt the mousse!). Pop back in the fridge for minimum 1-2hrs.
• Decorate with chopped pistachios.