Hidemi Sugino's Fruits Rouges フリュイ・ルーヅュ

biscuit joconde sans beurre avec confiture framboise, gelee aux fruits rouges, mousse aux fruits rouges, glaçage framboise

my first recipe from hidemi sugino's le goût authentique retrouvé and i'm really happy with it. i think i must be crazy to purchase a japanese book when i don't understand a word of it but i just couldn't resist coz first, he's a famous pastry chef, secondly the recipes are all so fantastic! some of my friends were really kind to offer help to translate but i just don't wanna impose on them. they can afterall help translate one but not the whole book, which is frankly what i need. you would wanna fully utilize the book too if you had spent close to a hundred bucks on it. so while half-heartedly trying to memorize all the hiragana & katakana characters, i gave up in the end and went ahead with this recipe. luckily the ingredient portion was written in french as well so i could understand a little. it was not all that difficult since this is not the 1st time i've attempted to make a cake without the given methods/steps.

this recipe has just 3 components so its considered one of the easier ones in his book. while im very familiar with the mousse & gelee, i encountered some problem when making the patterned joconde. the jam is piped on the cake batter before baking but i was horrified to see that the jam lines hv sunken into the cake after baking, making them look like deep slash wounds, really ugly! wasn't sure what went wrong, perhaps the jam i used was too watery or maybe the oven temp was too high. if you've made something similar or are planning on making this, do let me know if you encountered a similar problem like mine.

overall taste is really good, in fact one of the nicer berry entremets i've had. tho' the gelee is rather tart, it complements the mousse well. the joconde, which is butterless, doesn't taste very different from the one that uses butter. i can't taste the difference actually. this is definitely something i'll make again but perhaps next time scale it up to make a big one, which i think will be just as elegant.

and since i don't understand japanese, the steps are based on my experience working with similar recipes. don't think there should be much difference if i had followed the recipe to a tee. mr. sugino also used a combination of groseille (red currants) and raspberry puree in the mousse & gelee but i used ravifruit's mélange de fruits rouges which consist of a medley of red fruits like strawberries, raspberries, cherries, blackberries & blueberries. it tastes wonderful and is really apt for this recipe.

ingredients (makes six 4.5cm(H) x6.5cm(Ø) individual mousse rings) :

for the butterless biscuit joconde with raspberry jam :

50g ground almonds

50g powdered sugar

40g egg yolks

30g egg whites

45g cake flour

100g egg whites

60g caster sugar

storebought raspberry jam, strained

powdered sugar, for dusting

for the 30°B sugar syrup imbibage :

30ml syrup (made by boiling 32.5g sugar & 25ml water together), cooled & measure out 30ml

20ml water

15ml kirsch

for the rouges fruits gelee :

150ml red fruit puree (use a combination of any two red berry puree)

25ml lemon juice

25g sugar

3g sheet gelatin

for the rouges fruits mousse :

150ml red fruit puree

15ml kirsch

50g egg whites

50ml water

100g sugar

5g sheet gelatin

150ml whipping cream, whipped til soft peaks

for the raspberry glaze :

60g neutral glazing gel

few tsps of raspberry or red fruit puree

strawberries & mint leaves, for decor

directions :

1. to make the butterless biscuit joconde, combine powdered sugar and ground almonds in a bowl. add in egg yolks, egg whites and whisk until thick and fluffy. fold in flour. to make the french meringue, whisk egg whites and caster sugar together until stiff peaks then fold into the yolk mixture. spread a thin layer of mixture on 13cm baking tray lined with silpat with spatula, pipe raspberry jam diagonally on sponge and bake on 230C for 5-6 mins until golden. leave to cool then slice sponge into six 2.25cm(H) x 20cm long strips that will fit 1/2 the height of the mousse rings and cut out another 6 pcs to fit the bases of the mousse rings. dust the long strips with powdered sugar. this is to prevent them from sticking to the sides of the mousse rings.

2. to make the 30°B sugar syrup imbibage, combine syrup, water & kirsch in a bowl.

3. to make the fruits rouges gelee, warm half of the red fruit puree with lemon juice and sugar. add in softened gelatin and add the rest of the puree. pour into 14cm round tin and refrigerate until firm.

4. to make the fruits rouges mousse, boil half of the red fruit puree, add in soaked gelatin followed by kirsch and the rest of the puree mixture. to make italian meringue, boil water & sugar until 117C. whisk egg whites until foamy then dribble in syrup and whisk until stiff peaks. measure out 60g. fold whipped cream into the puree mixture followed by the meringue.

5. to make the raspberry glaze, combine neutral glazing gel and raspberry puree in a bowl.

6. to assemble, line sides and bases with sponge, then brush the bases generously with syrup. pour in some mousse into the rings, refrigerate until firm then use a 4cm round cookie cutter and cut out gelee into 6 rounds. place the gelee on top. pour the rest of the mousse into the rings to the rim and level with a spatula to neaten. refrigerate until firm. brush the tops with raspberry glaze, remove the cakes from the rings and brush the rest of the glaze on the strawberries. decorate as desired.