Off the Map

Housewarming gift for friends who like citrusy and chocolate cake flavors. Thought about making Valencia cake (orange and chocolate flavor) at first, but since I have a jar of fig jam and a box of fresh fig, pivoted to make a fig & chocolate cake instead. However, Fig & chocolate crisp bottom is so “chocolate” heavy, completely covering the fig flavor, I decided to make the other layers fig flavor rather than chocolate + fig flavors, and only have a mirror glaze of pure chocolate flavor.

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QUICK TAKEAWAYS

• Crisp: crisp mix should be spread thinly on parchment paper, otherwise it will take too long to bake, and bake unevenly
• Fig & chocolate crisp bottom: let chocolate mixture cools down before adding in the crisp, otherwise the crisp will be soften
• Gelatin:
  • volume: usually liquid to gelatin mix should be 40:1; mousse is 16:1.
  • blooming: gelatin sheet can absorb 5-10x its volume’s water, can weigh the cold water before and after blooming gelatin
  • temperature: should not warm liquid over 80C when adding in gelatin sheet; gelatin starts to solidify around 30-40C, work fast when working with gelatin
  • Ingredients: fruits with high acidity like kiwi, fig, would counter the effect of gelatin, cook them over 80C to help decrease acidity before adding gelatin
• Fig cream: butter can help smoothen the texture; and do not overcook egg yolk and jam, it will taste like egg soup
• Mousse: ideally sieve the blend fruit for puree before adding to the heavy whipping cream. If fruit is too dense after blending, add in milk. Puree will give mousse smoother texture
• Mirror glaze: cannot decrease sugar amount unfortunately, very needed for the “mirror effect”; if the cake is frozen, can start pouring at temperature slightly higher than 33-35C/90F

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RECIPE

Butter crisp

• butter : powder sugar : egg white : AP flour = 1:1:1:1

Fig & chocolate crisp bottom

• 90g dark chocolate
• 60g praline
• 75g butter crisp (from 35g of each ingredients)
• 2tbsp fig jam

Coffee chiffon cake (1-2 layers) (source)

• 2 egg yolks
• 20g sugar
• 1/4tsp salt
• 17g oil
• 35g – coffee volume = milk volume
• 50g cake flour
• 2 egg white
• 10g sugar
• a few drops of vinegar or lemon

Fig cream (source)

• 4g gelatin sheet, bloom in 65g cold water
• 155g whole milk
• 40g egg yolk
• 30g fig jam
• 50g chopped fig
• 70g butter (should have added butter to smoothen the texture)

Fig mousse

• 10g gelatin sheet
• 150g freshly chopped fig
• 30g fig jam
• 20g sugar
• 75g milk
• 250g heavy whipping cream
• 15g sugar

Chocolate mirror glaze

• 50g water
• 45g dark cocoa powder
• 120g sugar
• 100g heavy whipping cream
• 4g gelatin

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DETAILED STEPS

Butter crisp

1. soften 35g butter in room temperature; if butter is not soften enough, it may form clogs
2. whisk softened butter and 35g sugar till texture is consistent
3. whisk in 35g egg white till large bubbles form
4. fold in 35g AP flour
5. spread the butter crisp thinly on parchment paper
6. bake at 160C/320F for 5-10mins or till browned
7. cool down and break into small pieces, ready for use

Fig & chocolate crisp bottom

1. over hot water bath, melt 90g dark chocolate, 60g praline, 2tbsp fig gem
2. cool down, and mix in the crisp. If mixing before it cools down, the heat may soften the crisp
3. spread evenly across the cake mold, ideally just a thin layer

Coffee cake (1-2 layers)

1. mix 2 egg yolks, 20g sugar, 1/4tsp salt; put 2 egg white in another whisking bowl, store in freezer
2. add in oil, whisk enough till large bubble form
3. add in coffee (2 expresso shot) and 35g-coffee milk, whisk well
4. sieve through 50g cake flour, mix till no visible cake flour; put in fridge and take out the egg white
5. add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice to egg white
6. whisk egg white from low to high speed, add 10g sugar in 3 different time, till soft peak firm (not whisking till firmer as we need to chiffon cake to be moist in the mousse, rather than dry and absorbing mousse moisture)
7. bring out coffee cake mix, scoop 1/3 egg white to the cake mix, fold to mix
8. transfer all cake mix, pouring slowly into the egg white, fold to mix
9. transfer cake mix to the cake mold, bake for 170C for 40-50mins
10. remove from oven and reverse cake mold to prevent cake from shrinking
11. cut cake for 2 even slices for use

Fig cream

1. bloom gelatin sheet in cold water
2. boil 155g whole milk
3. mix 40g egg yolk and 30g fig jam
4. pour boiling milk over egg yolk and jam, stir and cook till 82C
5. add gelatin and 50g chopped fig to the cream mix, mix and dissolve gelatin, chill till 35-40C
6. gently pour the mixture into cake mold (didn’t pour it straight onto the cake as I am not sure if cake will absorb the fig cream moist)
7. chill and set in fridge for at least 4 hours

Fig mousse

1. bloom 10g gelatin in cold water, move whisking bowl to freezer so the heavy whipping cream can be whipped faster
2. heat up 150g freshly chopped fig, 30g fig jam,20g sugar and 75g milk in a pot to decrease fig acidity which can counter gelatin’s effect
3. fig jam mix in mixer
4. sieve for puree, record weight: 182g
5. when it cools down to ~50-60C, add in bloomed gelatin, mix till dissolve
6. whisk 250g cold heavy whipping cream and 15g sugar in a cold whisking bowl till soft pattern and soft peak form; firmer pattern/peak will make the mousse mix harder to flow into the cake mold
7. transfer fig jam mix to whipped cream in 3 different time, fold and mix quickly
8. pour to the cake mold, shake and drop to flatten mousse
9. store in fridge for at least 12 hours
10. move to freezer when starting to make the mirror glaze

Chocolate mirror glaze (source)

1. bloom 4g gelatin in cold water
2. mix 45g cocoa powder and 120g sugar
3. add them to a pot with 50g water, whisk while heating up over medium heat
4. change from whisk to spatula once the mixture is smooth, break down all cocoa powder or sugar chunks
5. once it starts boiling with big bubbles, add 100g heavy cream, continue to mix, bring to boil
6. remove from heat, sieve to remove any cocoa chunks
7. once it cools down to ~60-70C, add in gelatin to dissolve
8. place plastic wrap on top of the glaze to remove bubble to ensure mirror texture, cool down till 33-35C before pouring over cake. Temperature could be a tad higher if the cake is frozen, mirror glaze solidifies very fast