Petit GÂteau Recipes

Steps:

• To make the mint chocolate mojito: Use 12 rings to cut out 3-inch circles in the cocoa genoise and place them at the bottom of each mold. Place the brown sugar, water, mint and spices in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Let the mixture cool and steep overnight. Strain and add the rum and lime juice. Reserve half of the liquid for the glaze. Brush a little of the syrup onto each cake. Pipe a tablespoon of chocolate ganache onto each cake and press a round chocolate cookie onto the ganache and fill with mint Bavarian mousse.
• To make the mint Bavarian mousse: Soak the gelatin leaves in water for 5 minutes, squeeze out excess water and microwave for 1 minute or until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in a spoonful of cream anglaise and then mix in the rest. Fold in the whipped cream. Fill entremet rings with the mousse and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
• To finish the cakes melt 2 leaves of gelatin and add to reserved syrup. Place a spoonful on each cake and garnish with chocolate shard or shavings.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Combine the eggs and sugar together in a mixing bowl. Over simmering water, whip the eggs with a whisk until sugar is dissolved. Place the warm eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip on high until ribbon forms. Fold the butter and sifted dry ingredients into the whipped eggs. Pour onto a greased, parchment lined half sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.
• Combine the glucose and cocoa powder in a saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth. Temper in the cream and stir until cream comes to a boil. Pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool.;
• Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and eggs to combine. Add the flour, salt, and cocoa and mix until just combined and smooth. Wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Roll out and cut into desired shapes and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool.
• Combine the milk, cream, vanilla bean, and mint in a saucepan and set on medium heat to bring just to a boil. Combine the yolks and sugar together just before the liquid is hot.
• Temper the hot milk/cream into the yolks and return to the stove to cook until thickened, and the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Strain and chill completely.

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally spray an 18-by13-inch sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Stack the lined sheet pan inside a second sheet pan, to avoid extra browning when baking.
• In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
• In a food processor, pulse together the almond paste, granulated sugar and honey. Pulse until well combined. Open the food processor and scrape the sides and bottom with a metal spoon to check that the almond paste is completely incorporated. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing to combine after each addition.
• Add the eggs one by one, pulsing until each is completely incorporated. After the last addition, scrape down the bowl and then pulse until the batter is completely smooth and slightly fluffy. Pulse in the flour mixture until blended.
• Spread the batter evenly in the prepared sheet pan. Bake until the cake is golden brown and springs back when gently poked, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely.
• While the cakes are cooling, color the Royal Icing in the colors of your choosing and add each color to a pastry bag fitted with a #2 tip. Pipe tiny flowers on a piece of parchment by making small closed spirals in one color, then add leaves to either side in the other color. Set aside to set up and harden, about 1 hour.
• Remove the cake from the sheet pan and cut in half widthwise. Spread the jam on top of one half and top with the second half. Freeze for 10 minutes to set.
• Use a serrated knife to cut the cake into 1-inch squares. Place onto a parchment-covered sheet pan and freeze for at least 1 hour.
• For the coating icing: In the meantime, add the white chocolate chips to a heatproof bowl and set over a pot of simmering water (the bowl should sit above and not touch the water). Heat, stirring, until melted and smooth.
• Sift the confectioners' sugar into a separate large bowl. Stir in the hot water and corn syrup until smooth. Stir in the melted chocolate. If the icing is too thick (it should be pourable), add more hot water 1 teaspoon at a time. Use while warm; you can reheat it in the microwave if necessary as you are working.
• Put the little cakes on a wire rack fitted inside a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Coat the cakes with the icing using a spoon and small offset spatula, or add icing to a pastry bag, snip the corner and use to coat each cake. Top each with a hardened royal icing decoration. Allow the icing to set up before transferring to a serving platter.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment, add the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder and beat to combine. Beat in 4 tablespoons of warm water to combine. Raise the paddle head to check the consistency of the icing; the icing should be thick and smooth but not dripping from the paddle. Add more water until the desired consistency is reached. (You can add slightly more water to achieve a flooding consistency icing to completely cover cookies. Use a stiffer consistency to pipe decorations and details.)

Steps:

• Place the flour on the counter and make a well. Cut up the butter and place the sifted sugars, butter, yolks, rum, and vanilla powder in the well. Work the well together.
• Work in the flour then "fraisage" the dough, pushing it away from you on the counter with the heel of your hand. This helps schmear the butter into thin layers to make the cake flakey in the end. Chill the dough 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 360 degrees F.
• Butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment and butter the paper. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to an 8-inch disk about 1/2-inch thick. Flip it over onto your hand and brush off the excess flour then place it in the pan. Brush the top with egg wash; then egg wash it again to get a thicker coating. Using a knife, decorate it with the traditional cross-hatching, or for restaurant presentation you carve a map of Brittany on the surface and do some angled lines all around the edge. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan and serve in wedges.
• I kept this recipe in the original metric measurements I was taught it in to show the relationship between the ingredients. Quatre-Quarts (meaning "four quarters") is a French cake shaped like a rectangle and all the ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, and eggs-oooo that would make a good book title, don't you think?) are of equal weights. My teacher, Chef Claude at La Varenne said you weigh the eggs and then match that measurement with the other ingredients.
• If you look this up in the dictionary, Quarte-quarts translates to pound cake, the American version of a pound of 4 equal ingredients, but with air whipped in for leavening. This cake is dense and buttery with a big crumb, more like a shortbread than a cake.
• You can do the mixing in a food processor but this recipe is the traditional way.

Steps:

• Break the chocolate and butter into small pieces, melt them on the microwave under"defrost" for about two minutes, Don't let it stand too long on the microwave to avoid burning the chocolate.
• With a spoon mix the melted chocolate and butter until smooth.
• Reserve.
• On a separate bowl, mix the eggs, egg's yolks and sugar.
• Beat the mixture on a mixer until almost doubled its size and has a firm consistency.
• Get the melted chocolate and butter mixture and start pouring it in small bits into the bowl with the beaten eggs and keeping beating it gentle and slowly, until it forms one smooth uniform mixture.
• While you still beating the mixture (in a low speed), sprinkles the flour on it and stop the beating after the flour gets incorporated in the mixture.
• turn off the mixer and stir in the cointreau.
• Reserve.
• Get the muffin baking sheet with 6/8 holes, rub a little bit of butter and sprinkle flour on the sides of each hole, It will help to get the mini cake out of the mold later(use induvidual muffins sheets, it gives a little bit of more work to do but it is much easier to take the muffin out of the mold).
• Pour the mixture into the mold almost to the top(leave 1cm or so, just for precaution of spelling the dough.
• Pre-heat the oven for about 15 minutes.(low temperature, around 180C.
• On the low heat(180c) put the muffin sheet for about 5 minutes, 7 on the most.(Keep trying to find out the perfect timing that works for you)
• After taking the baking sheet out of the oven let it rest of 2 to 3 minutes and then turn it upside down on a plate (The mini cakes should be hard on the outside enough to hold its original shape and all creamy and melted inside)Get each little cake with caution for not breaking them and put on individual plates.
• Put a ball of vanilla ice-cream on the side, Serve while it is hot!
• P.S.when you spoon the mini cake it will open and a rich creamy filling will pour out.