Hidemi Sugino's Charme シャルム

from bottom : griotte syrup-soaked chocolate joconde sponge, griottes, dark chocolate chantilly, milk chocolate chantilly

having bought a jar of griottes cherries recently, i have been waiting for an opportunity to make this, hidemi sugino's beautiful rendition of the forêt noire (black forest). i decided to do it for my birthday, which fell on the 7th. whenever it comes to making cakes for the extended family, i'll end up choosing chocolate since this is the most readily accepted one and i don't hv to worry whether they'll find matcha too weird or berries too tart if i were to make those flavors. everyone loves chocolate. having macaron orders back-to-back during my birthday week also meant there was just this much time to churn out a cake and this recipe is really one of the easier ones from sugino's book.

the griottes i bought. they're so yum i could just eat them straight from the jar. griottes are morello cherries soaked in kirsch and apparently, the brand griottines is said to be the best (and really expensive too) but the ones i got are not bad and rather cheap as well! a 1L jar for just S$40. as you can see, i used up so much syrup to soak the sponge.

cake is really good, just not a big fan of the choc joconde. i've made this sponge like 3 times now and all attempts turned out dry. not sure what i did wrong or if its supposed to be like this but i thought the chantilly was awesome and could be mistaken for a choc mousse made using the pâte à bombe method. i made this under 2 hrs so this must be one of the easiest entremets to attempt. the only time consuming part was lining the whole surface with griottes one by one coz there must be at least 60-70 of them. i can't imagine making this in its original size!

recipe source : le goût authentique retrouvé by hidemi sugino

** this will be the last time i'm gonna post recipes from this book as i don't think its appropriate for me to keep on posting them. a max. of 3-5 recipes from a single book would be reasonable and this is already the 6th one.

ingredients (makes one 6"/15cm square entremet cut into six 7x4cm individual rects) :

for the biscuit joconde au chocolat :

46g ground almonds

46g powdered sugar

46g egg yolks

20g egg whites

86g egg whites

30g caster sugar

36g cake flour

13g cocoa powder

16.5g melted butter

for the chantilly chocolat :

135g whipping cream, whipped

73g 66% dark choc couverture, melted

for the chantilly chocolat au lait :

75g whipping cream, whipped

35g milk choc couverture, melted

for the sirop imbibage :

58ml griotte syrup

10ml water

10ml kirsch

for the garniture :

100g griottes, drained of syrup

for the decor :

griottes, cocoa powder, gold foil, choc shards

directions :

1. to make the choc joconde, combine powdered sugar and ground almonds in a bowl. add in egg yolks, 1st portion of egg whites and whisk until thick and fluffy. fold in sifted flour & cocoa powder. make meringue with 2nd portion of whites & caster sugar, then fold in two together. fold in melted butter. spread mixture on two 24x16.5cm baking trays with spatula, bake on 230C for 5-6 mins. let cool and cut into two 6" square pieces.

2. to make the chantilly choc, fold whipped cream and melted dark choc together.

3.to make the chantilly choc au lait, fold whipped cream and melted milk choc together.

4. to make the sirop imbibage, combine together griottes syrup, kirsch and water in a bowl.

5. to assemble, place sponge at bottom of the mousse ring, soak with syrup then pour in half of the dark choc chantilly. place griottes all over the surface on top of the chantilly then pour in the rest of the chantilly. smooth with palette knife then add another piece of sponge on top. soak with syrup then pour in milk choc chantilly. smooth surface then freeze until firm. cut into individual slices and dust tops with cocoa powder. decorate with choc shards, griottes & gold foil.