Hidemi Sugino's B-Caraibe

This is my first attempt at using a recipe from Hidemi Sugino's book, Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé.

 Hidemi Sugino's B-Caraibe

 Citrusy zest and confit; Leftovers

There were plenty of leftover ingredients as a 7" square ring was used (the biggest I have on hand). A 8" or 9" ring would be better to use up all the materials, if not, you could always use some 2.5" mousse rings like I did to make individual portions. 

 The tale of the unripe bananas...

One day before our baking date, I drove out to the mart, just to get bananas for the entremet. Alas, all the bananas were green in colour, thus I drove out to the nearby wet market as I thought that the fruit seller there would be bound to have bunches of bananas of varying ripeness. What a disappointment, it was the same story over at the wet market fruit stall. In the end, I bought the "ripest" green bunch there and head home. My helper suggested ways to help ripen the bananas quickly - we wrapped the bananas in a plastic bag, then with a cloth, and place it in a warm place overnight. 

It did worked, but only slightly. So, for the entremet, we used sorta-starting-to-ripe bananas, and I wished that I had gotten the bananas earlier cos really, bananas taste best when they are at their peak (browny browny bananas...). But I was in Batam over the weekend and thus, couldn't get the bananas till I came home. Be sure to plan ahead and get your bananas in advance if you're planning to make this. I reckon there should be a difference to the final product...

"Wow!", was what I might say the cake was. The joconde was perfect, the best I've ever eaten. I normally just sprinkle syrup sparingly over the cake layers and it would always turn out dry. Not anymore! I learnt something new.

And I'm now officially a orange-chocolate combo fan. I never was one, cos I rarely eat anything orange-chocolatey. But sneaking a lick of the orange chocolate that we made (dark chocolate plus orange zest), I was hooked. The banana sauce was alrights, I thought that it was still a tad sour (sigh, my fault). The vanilla chantilly cream was so fluffy light soft. Yums.

Even my dad thought that it was good, he said the sweetness level was just right for him. And how apt! Cos after my first mouthful, my first thought was that it would be perfect for my dad cos it was not overtly sweet. And it was also rare that he ate a second piece (the next day) cos he normally only ever eats one piece of whatever I make (maybe it's also cos I only always offer it once haha). I can't wait to try out more of Hidemi's recipes...

B-Caraibe (adapted from Hidemi Sugino's Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé)
(makes a 7" square cake - sliced into 14 individual portions, and 4 2.5" individual rings)

Biscuit Joconde
100g almond meal
100g icing sugar
90g cake flour
80g egg yolks
60g egg whites
200g egg whites
120g granulated sugar

Combine almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl. Add the yolks and whites (80g) and beat till thick and fluffy. Add the flour and beat to combine. Set aside.
In another big bowl, whip the egg whites (200g), gradually add the sugar in when foamy stage and continue beating till stiff peaks form.
Slowly fold the beaten egg whites into the almond meal mixture and mix till there are no white streaks.
Pour into two trays, spread it out evenly using a scraper and bake at 230°C for 5-6 minutes. Cool.

Soaking Syrup
65g sugar
50g water
60g rum

Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan over the stove and cook till sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, leave to cool before adding the rum.

Orange Confit
100g sugar
100g water
zest of 2 medium oranges

Heat water and sugar in a saucepan. Add the zest and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, cool and store in container.

Chocolate Chantilly cream
250g whipping cream
150g orange chocolate (we used a mix of dark and milk chocolate, and freshly grated zest from one orange)
25g orange confit

Melt the chocolate in a microwave for a few minutes, stirring every 20 seconds. Add the orange zest (if using). Set aside to cool slightly.
Whip the cream till soft peaks, gradually fold into melted chocolate. Add in the orange confit and fold together.

Banana Sauce
475g banana puree (we used fresh bananas)
25g lemon juice
10g gelatin sheets
35g caster sugar
10g rum

Combine banana and lemon juice together in a saucepan, blend together using a hand blender. Add in the sugar and place on stove. Cook over low heat till thicken. Remove from heat, add the presoaked gelatin sheets and whisk to mix. Add the rum and stir to mix.

Vanilla Chantilly cream
266g whipping cream
26g vanilla sugar
a drop of vanilla bean paste

Combine above all in a mixing bowl, whip till soft peaks form.

Chocolate decoration
35g dark chocolate
4g vegetable oil

Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stir in vegetable oil.

Glaze
100g mirror glaze
7.5g rum

Combine both in a small bowl and stir to combine.

Assemble
1. Cut out three 7" square pieces from the two trays of cooled joconde. Place one piece into the ring mold and brush rum syrup liberally on it.
2. Pour the chocolate orange chantilly cream into the ring and smooth flat. Place second piece of cake above the chocolate layer and press down to remove any empty spaces in between the layers. Brush with rum syrup.
3. Pour the banana sauce into the ring, place third piece of cake on top of it. Brush with rum syrup.
4. Pour the vanilla chantilly cream into the ring. Use a scraper, smoothen out the top so that the layer is even. Refrigerate to chill. (we stuck it in the freezer)
5. Brush the chocolate over the top, freeze for 10 minutes before pouring the glaze over.
6. Unmold and slice into individual portions. Decorate with gold foil if desired.
7. If making 2.5" small cakes, repeat with above steps.