For a recent dinner party, I decided to try baking a cake from the book,
Desserts by Pierre Hermé by Dorie Greenspan. The
recipe was involved, but seemed manageable. Here is a pictorial of the steps:
Mise en place for the cinnamon dough. The unusual ingredient is the cooked egg yolks, which is an Austrian technique, hence the naming of the cake.
![Mozart Cake (2)](http://static.flickr.com/33/64956199_e82b9fcee8_t.jpg)
After combining all the ingredients in the mixer, the dough resembles a peanut butter cookie dough. I divided it into three discs, wrapped the discs in plastic wrap and refrigerated them.
![Mozart Cake (3)](http://static.flickr.com/30/65506115_9e79ae25e5_t.jpg)
This was a very tricky dough to roll out: when it was too cold, it cracked, but as it warmed it required a lot of flour to prevent sticking. It's also very thin, making it a challenge to transfer to the parchment-lined sheet. After baking, the pastry was very fragile. A brief glance was almost enough to make it crumble.
![Mozart Cake (4)](http://static.flickr.com/34/65506101_2d9007cf9d_t.jpg)
I sautéed small cubes of Granny Smith apples until they developed a crust. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I misread the directions and quadrupled the amount of sugar. Whoops.
![Mozart Cake (5)](http://static.flickr.com/24/65506076_6e545c05be_t.jpg)
For the mousse, I melted chocolate, then whisked in cinnamon-infused whipping cream. The mixture needed to cool to 104°F (the directions actually say this), before egg whites whipped to stiff peaks were added. I left the mixer on too long, so the whites became grainy. The apples were folded in as well.
![Mozart Cake (6)](http://static.flickr.com/31/65506045_6b358a5619_t.jpg)
For assembly, the three cake layers alternated with the chocolate mousse. All of them did not survive the trip between baking sheet and cake ring. Every one broke.
![Mozart Cake (7)](http://static.flickr.com/35/65506001_27174f4057_t.jpg)
To unmold, I used a hair dryer (the book tells you to do this) to warm the ring. A bit of cocoa powder around the edges, and some thinly sliced apples with a bit of quince jam brushed on top were the prescribed garnish. The directions crack me up: you're supposed to place the cinnamon sticks so that they cross and touch the apples. I dutifully followed suit.
![Mozart Cake (8)](http://static.flickr.com/26/65506021_d849e39acc_t.jpg)
The pastry is very tasty, like a soft shortbread. The trio of chocolate, cinnamon and apple work beautifully together and the overall taste is balanced. Well worth the effort.
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