Sadaharu Aoki's Valencia

sadaharu aoki is undoubtedly one of the world's most recognized pastry chefs. when i visit tokyo next year, not only am i going for pierre herme and laduree but i'm gonna visit sadaharu aoki (and hidemi sugino) as well. so far, i've not been able to find any of his recipes (not even in books) therefore i was elated and somewhat surprised to come across this recipe for one of his best sellers, the valencia entremet. orange chocolate, as you know, is my favorite dessert combination and probably one of the widely used as well when it comes to entremets, so i couldn't wait to try it out!

components from top : light orange mousse, almond cocoa sponge, milk choc mousse, hazelnut praline feuilletine & hazelnut dacquoise.

of coz, my rendition is nothing compared to that of the pastry chef's. i thought i could slice the cake better when its frozen, turned out that i was wrong. the feuilletine & dacquoise layer at the bottom was really hard and i couldn't make a clean cut. i ended up with jagged edges and bits of nuts flying here and there :( nevertheless this is a good cake though i would say its more chocolate than orange compared to this one that i made for my mom's birthday. i used grand marnier instead of cognac which was originally stated for the orange mousse and i find it too overpowering that i couldn't really taste any orange at all. i guess this is one time where the substitution didn't work out well so its better to stick to the recipe in future. one thing for sure, making entremets is really easy now! having made it so many times, i feel that the steps and components are pretty predictable and i could breeze through each component without any difficulty. if you approach it step-by-step, its really quite simple!

recipe source : eG forum

ingredients (makes one 6" square entremet) :

for the light orange mousse :

50g orange marmalade

30ml cognac

105ml orange juice

25g orange puree/blended orange flesh

5g orange zest

2g lemon zest

3g milk powder

15g sugar (A)

45g egg yolks

5g gelatine (2.5 sheets)

20g egg whites

30g sugar (B)

10ml water

for the almond cocoa sponge :

115g almond paste

65g icing sugar

52.5g egg yolks

50g eggs

82.5g egg whites

23g sugar

26.5g butter, melted

25g cocoa powder

13g flour

13g corn flour

for the orange cognac syrup :

75ml water

50g sugar

50g cognac

for the milk choc mousse :

31g milk

31g whipping cream

13g egg yolks

6g sugar

112.5g milk choc

125g whipping cream

for the hazelnut praline feuilletine :

30g milk choc

125g hazelnut praline paste or nutella

12.5g butter, melted & cooled

25g roasted hazelnuts, chopped

62.5g pailleté feuilletine (feuilletine flakes)

for the hazelnut dacquoise :

125g egg whites

50g sugar

90g ground almonds

30g ground hazelnuts

100g icing sugar

10g roasted hazelnuts, halve

directions :

1. to make the light orange mousse, mix marmalade & cognac together in a bowl. strain & freeze. to make the creme anglaise, combine orange juice, concentrated orange puree, orange zest, lemon zest, milk powder in a saucepan and heat until boiling. in another bowl lightly whisk together sugar (A) and egg yolks and pour the orange mixture into egg yolks while stirring constantly. pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook until 84C. soak gelatine sheets in cold water for a few secs until soft, squeeze off excess water and add into the above and mix well. to make the italian meringue, cook the sugar (B) and water until 120C. in another bowl whisk the egg whites until foamy then pour in the hot sugar syrup and whisk on high speed until stiff peaks. mix frozen jam into the custard, then fold in the meringue.

2. to make the almond cocoa sponge, sift the cocoa powder, flour & cornflour together and set aside. beat the almond paste and the icing sugar in a bowl until well combined, then add the egg yolks and the whole eggs and whisk until pale and fluffy. in another bowl whisk together egg whites and sugar to make the french meringue, then fold the two mixture together. add the melted butter followed by the flour mixture. pour it into a 7 inch baking tin and bake in the oven of 200°C for 15 minutes.

3. to make the cognac syrup, boil together water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved completely. leave to cool then add in the cognac.

4. to make the milk choc cream, make the creme anglaise by boiling the whipping cream & milk in a saucepan. in another bowl lightly whisk egg yolks & sugar together then pour the cream/milk mixture over while whisking constantly. return mixture to pan and cook until 84C. pour mixture into milk choc, mix well and fold in whipped cream.

5. to make the hazelnut praline feuilletine, melt the milk chocolate in a double boiler and mix with the hazelnut praline paste or nutella followed by melted butter. add in the hazelnuts and feuilletine flakes and mix gently.

6. to make the hazelnut dacquoise, whisk the egg whites and sugar until stiff peaks. sift together ground almonds, ground hazelnuts & icing sugar and fold it into the egg white mixture. pour mixture into a 7 inch baking tin, smooth the surface and scatter the chopped hazelnuts. bake in a preheated oven of 180C for 15 mins or until golden.

7. to assemble, trim the dacquoise to fit the base of 6" square mousse ring or removable baking tin. it should be 1cm in height. place it at the bottom of the ring, then spread the praline feuilletine evenly onto the dacquoise. pour the milk choc mousse over and smoothen the top with a pastry scraper or palette knife. trim the sponge and slice it into 1cm in height and place it on top of the milk choc mousse. brush the sponge generously with the cognac syrup until the sponge is damp and well-soaked. pour the light orange mousse on top and smoothen the top. refrigerate until firm. to remove the cake, heat the sides of the mousse ring with a heat gun, hair dryer or blow torch, then slice and decorate as desired.

notes :

- start by working your way from bottom to the top ie. make dacquoise first.

- ingredients are in precise measurements so for best results, get ready a digital weighing scale and candy thermometer.

- feuilletine flakes are dried french crepes laced with rum. they can be purchased in baking stores like sun lik. for substitution, you can either use cornflakes or crushed love letters though the taste will not be the same.

- instead of cognac, you can use cointreau, grand marnier or any other orange-flavored liqueuer. i used grand marnier but i find the scent too overpowering.