Red Berry Chocolate Entremet – Recipe by Pastry Workshop
Who doesn’t love chocolate and berries? I for one am a huge fan (not necessarily taste wise anymore, I have to admit I find myself longing for fresher tastes lately), but in terms of pastry ingredients and ease to incorporate in desserts. Berries and chocolate are everywhere in pastry! From simple chocolate cakes to cupcakes, cheesecakes, brownies, petit gateaux, tarts and the list goes on and on! What a beautiful world of pastry! To be able to make so many different products from just a few basic ingredients feels like a blessing more than once. That’s where you see creativity, that’s where you have fun.
Taste wise, berries and chocolate work perfectly together, but this combo is not just about taste, the color contrast being another important factor that comes into play. I just love how the bright red contrasts with the dark chocolate, creating a feeling of wanting to eat that dessert right away. Plus, if we think about it even further, there’s a certain appeal to this mix of flavors, it just feels luscious and luxurious, something that only royalty would eat.
This particular recipe was creating starting from a friend’s recipe of flourless chocolate cake, topped with freshly whipped cream and berries. The cake itself is more like a flourless souffle and less like a cake, so this recipe is surely gluten free. I decided I would take full advantage of the cake itself so two layers of flourless sponge cake felt just what the cake needed. Having had flourless cakes before, I know they are incredibly tasty, but lack a certain consistency. So doubling the layers would kinda fix that.
A layer of red berries compote (marmalade) rests between the two chocolate sponges and everything is enclosed in a rich, creamy dark chocolate mousse that felt just what the cake needed to shine. Speaking of shine, I finished everything off with a layer of mirror glaze, because I love the technique and it really gives cakes an elegant look.
The layers of this red berry chocolate entremet are:
- flourless sponge cake
- red berries compote
- dark chocolate mousse
- mirror glaze
The decor is the most simple of the decors – strawberries. Beauty lies in simplicity, don’t you think?
Tips and tricks for making this red berry chocolate entremet
- You can make your own red berry puree at home by cooking red berries with 10% sugar. Once cooked, blend the mix well then pass through a sieve to remove the seeds. Use right away or freeze for later use.
- You can make only one layer of sponge by baking the batter in one cake ring of 16cm diameter, but the slice of the cake will look slightly different. Just as delicious though!
- The best temperature to work the glaze at is between 34 and 40C. The colder the cake, the warmer the glaze!
Other entremet recipes on the blog
Red Berry Chocolate Entremet
Ingrediente
Flourless sponge cake:
- 66 g dark chocolate 75%
- 66 g butter
- 40 g egg yolks
- 33 g white sugarA
- 60 g egg white
- 33 g white sugar B
- 13 g cocoa powder
- 1 g salt
Red berry compote:
- 150 g red berries (frozen)
- 100 g red berry puree
- 50 g white sugar
- 5 g pectin NH
- 1 g citric acid
Dark chocolate mousse:
- 170 g milk
- 80 g egg yolks
- 30 g white sugar
- 3 g gelatin + 18g water
- 180 g dark chocolate 75%
- 250 g heavy cream (whipped)
Dark red mirror glaze:
- 75 g water
- 150 g white sugar
- 150 g glucose syrup
- 10 g gelatin + 60g water
- 100 g sweetened condensed milk
- 150 g dark chocolate (no more than 60%)
- Red food coloring
Instructiuni
Flourless sponge cake:
- Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave or over a double boiler. Place aside.
- Mix the egg yolks with the white sugar A until light and pale.
- Whip the egg whites with the sugar B until foamy and medium peaks form.
- Combine the melted chocolate and butter with the egg yolk foam, then fold in the meringue, also adding the cocoa powder and salt as you fold.
- Split the batter into 2 equal portions and pour into 2 cake rings of 16cm diameter.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 180C for 12-14 minutes or until slightly set. It will rise a lot, but also deflate quite a lot.
- Let the sponge cakes cool down completely.
Red berry compote:
- Combine the berries with the berry puree in a pot and heat up to 40C.
- Separately, mix the sugar with the pectin then add it over the warm berries. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 seconds.
- Remove from heat and stir in the pectin.
- Cool down for 10 minutes.
- Build your insert by placing one sponge cake in a cake ring of 16cm diameter. Pour the marmalade on top then place the second sponge cake and press slightly. Freeze the insert for at least 2 hours.
Dark chocolate mousse:
- Cook a creme anglaise like so: heat up the milk. Separately, mix the egg yolk with the sugar. Pour the hot milk steadily over the egg yolk, then return the mixture on low heat and cook until it reaches 82C.
- Remove from heat, stir in the bloomed gelatin (gelatin and water, mixed together), then pour over the chocolate.
- Let it rest for 2 minutes then blend until the mixture looks smooth and shiny.
- Cool down to 30C then fold in the whipped cream.
To assemble the cake:
- Prepare a 18cm diameter cake ring of 6cm height by lining it with an acetate strip.
- Pour the mousse into the mould just about 3/4 then remove the insert from its mould and drop it into the center of the mousse. Press gently to level it.
- Freeze the cake for at least 6 hours, preferably over night.
Mirror glaze:
- Mix the chocolate with the condensed milk in a jug.
- Combine the water, sugar and glucose in a pot and bring to 103C.
- Take aside then add the bloomed gelatin.
- Pour over the chocolate. Depending on the shade of red you want, you may use a mix of white and dark chocolate. The point is to darken the red, that’s what the dark chocolate is for in the recipe.
- Blend well, adding enough red food coloring to obtain the color you wish for.
- Chill in the fridge for 8 hours then reheat and bring to 34-36C – working temperature.
- Take the cake from the freezer. Pour the glaze evenly over it. Remove the excess glaze.
- Decorate as you wish!
Hello! Thank You for so much wonderful recipes. ❤️ I just wanted to know what kind of gelatine do You use for mirror glaze? Thank You.
Great recipe! When a frozen mousse & glaze are used, does the cake have to be eaten immediately? I’m wondering how early in the day I can make this before serving.
The cake can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days after glazing. So plenty of time to eat it 🙂
Can the cake be frozen instead?
Hi ! Do we have to put the glaze in the fridge for 8 hrs ? Pls clarify .
Yes, it is better to stay in the fridge for at least 8 hours to allow the gelatin to set properly.
What kind of brand of gelatin do you use? I’ve heard that different gelatin sources can very quite a bit? Have you had that experience?
The most important aspect of gelatin is its bloom.
Find out more info here: http://pastry-workshop.com/introduction-to-pastry-gelatin-despre-gelatina/
I use 220bloom gelatin
Great thanks! Do you use powder or sheet gelatin and what is the conversion between the two?
Esti minunata!
Multumesc tare mult pentru ca impartasesti cu noi atat de frumoase,de gustoase,de minunate retete!
Cu drag, Elena!
Hello! This looks amazing. I don’t have a 16 cm tin but do you think it’d be possible to scale it up by 1.75 and use 20 cm tins instead?
For sure you can make a larger batch. I think 1.65 or 1.7 will be enough if you keep the cake at the same height of 6cm, but a diameter of 20cm instead of 16.
Buna, Olguta,
Am facut reteta de mirror glaze de 3 ori si, desi am respectat totul cu strictete, (temperatura, absolut tot) glazura nu este suficient de fluida, este destul de groasa si atunci cand vreau s-o aplic pe tortul inghetat, fiind foarte densa, nu acopera perfect marginile tortului. Practic, se seteaza foarte repede inainte de a acoperi tortul, desi sunt foarte rapida, ca sa zic asa. Am luat toate posibilitatile in calcul si ma gandesc ca singurul lucru care poate fi gresit este gelatina folosita- folosesc dr Oetker foi, si le cantaresc, practic 5 foi au 10 grame, cat cere reteta. Ele sunt Gold, sunt prea puternice pentru reteta? Nu stiu cum sa fac conversia.
Mii de multumiri anticipate,
Andreea Monica
Cel mai probabil are legatura cu ciocolata neagra. Poti adauga 1-2 lingurite de apa pentru a creste fluiditatea.
Poate fi si legat de gelatina, dar gold este ok pentru reteta asta.
Ciocolata este Callebaut 811 cu 3 picaturi, ceea ce stiu ca e perfecta ca fluiditate; am intrat si pe site-ul lor oficial si au mentionat 3 picaturi pentru mirror glaze. O sa incerc si cu apa (extra, ca are deja in reteta), multumesc tare mult 🙂 ps: apa o adaug cand o reincalzesc sau cand fac siropul cu zahar si sirop de glucoza?
Cand reincalzesti si blenduiesti, atunci poti observa vascozitatea si poti interveni cu putina apa.
Olguta, am vazut retetade mai sus pe un alt site si stiind ca este a ta, m-a surprins sa nu vad numele tau specificat nicaieri. Poate stii despre asta , dar in caz ca nu stii , iti las linkul aici .
https://globalportal48h.com/how-to-make-this-gorgeous-red-berry-chocolate-entremet/
Multumesc pentru informatii, nu stiam de acest aspect. Nu am fost intrebata daca se poate publica pe acel site.
Can you use only white chocolate for this recipe.
Thank you
I am guessing you mean for the mousse. If that is so, I recommend finding a different white chocolate mousse.
In case of mousses, chocolates cannot be switched without balancing the recipe.
Thanks for the recipe,it is a wonderful cake
Thanks for the recipe, because of it I won first prize at a local cake competition!
Wow, congrats! Well done!