I've been going back in forth in my mind as to whether this is my favorite Baking Bouchon recipe so far or not. As far as the cakes go, this is definitely my favorite. The only other recipe that is giving me pause is
Paris-New York but those were peanut butter cream filled round of pastry and this is some serious chocolate business. Let's call it a tie - but if you're looking at a dessert that tricks everyone into believe that you went to culinary school, this is it. Did I mention it has chocolate in it?
Palet d'or, when translated from French, means Golden Puck, which, given the way I prepared this dessert makes very little sense. Essentially we're talking about Devils Food Cake layered with Chocolate Mousse and covered in Chocolate Ganache. I told you there was chocolate. It's all assembled into a round shaped cake, hence the "puck" and it supposed to be decorated with gold leaf, hence the "golden". Mine was definitely round and puckish, but it was not gold.
Remember when I bought silver leaf thinking it was silver leaf gelatin? Well, I FINALLY got to use it in a way that was less embarrassing. I decorated my cake in silver rather than gold. Gold is so 2012. Let's call this Palet d'argent. You can thank Google Translate for that.
First stop - Devil's Food Cake. The chocolate in this component comes from cocoa powder. It's pretty standard cake stuff until you stop in your tracks because it has mayonnaise in it. Gross. I hate mayonnaise. I was raised on Miracle Whip which is far less disgusting. CA disagrees with me but he is wrong. Regardless, I will not let a mere 1/4 cup of mayonnaise deter me from something with twice as much sugar in it. The cake is caked in a thin layer on a sheet pan and cut into 2 circles. Thomas Keller advised that "the trimmings make great snacks" which I read to mean "eat all the trimmings." Thanks TK, I wholeheartedly agree.
The 2nd chocolately component of this cake is chocolate cream but I like to call it chocolate mouse because that's what it is. Eggs and sugar are cooked on the stove until thick, melted chocolate is folded into a bit of heavy cream, the cooked eggs are added to the chocolate mixture and then every more whipped heavy cream is added. The results is a fluffy, chocolately cloud of deliciousness.
Before we prep the 3rd part of the chocolate happiness trifecta each of the devils food cake circles get coated which melted chocolate on one side. This seems like a small detail but when this cake is served the crunch of the thin chocolate layer is a huge component to how the cake slices and feels when you bite into it. It's not to be skipped. The base layer of this cake is one of two circles of devil's food cake. Next comes half of the chocolate mouse, then another layer of cake and the other half of the chocolate mouse. All of that gets frozen while the final chocolate miracle is made. (If you haven't noticed by now I kind of like all the chocolate.)
The final layer is the chocolate glaze which is like a thick ganache. I wish I could describe to you what CA says every time someone says the word ganache. He always repeats it 3 times in a very high pitched, girly voice. I have no idea why. Marriage must always contain some level of mystery.
The glaze is made from cream, sugar and water which is boiled. To that you add cocoa powder and cook it for a bit longer. Once it reduces a bit you remove it from the heat and add gelatin. The result is a completely silky chocolate glaze that, once cooled thickens enough to hold up to slicing but actually never hardens.
If I weren't as ladylike as I am, I would have simply eaten this straight out of the pot. Plus I would have eaten all the leftovers with a spoon out of the refrigerator. Wait... I totally did that.
The final assembly drizzles the chocolate glaze all over the assembled cake. I can't describe to you how shiny the glaze it when it coats that cake. It's the stuff of fairy tails... too bad they only write fairy tails about sleeping princesses who have to scrub floors and grow their hair really long. They should totally write fairy tails about women who make perfect desserts.
If you haven't been able to tell yet, I'm a huge fan of this dessert. It's incredibly chocolate and super rich but it's not overly sweet which makes it incredibly palatable. It's like the difference between milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
CA commented that this is a "restaurant dessert" meaning that he would expect this if he ordered a dessert at a restaurant which I rarely do because I'm too often disappointed (that or I stuff myself with appetizers and entrees and can't possibly eat dessert without obtaining some kind of a tape worm).
Minus the less than stellar job I did at accessorizing this cake with silver leaf, it's ridiculously pretty. The glaze is super shiny (and stayed that way for days). I hesitated to give any of this away but eventually relented when I realized that I would eat every single slice of it if it remained in my house. Pretty & delicious gives this a top rating so far in this cookbook.
Enjoy!
Julie
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