Cherry and elderflower entremet

Instructions

Gluten-free marzipan and cherry sponge biscuit 

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C, ventilation mode. Line a perforated baking tray with silicone baking mat. Wrap both the external edges and the bottom of a 18x18 stainless steel frame with a sheet of aluminium foil. The foil should come up over the edges of the frame. This will assure that no batter escapes from the bottom of the frame during baking.
2. Add chopped marzipan, honey, salt and lemon zest in the bowl of your freestanding mixer, fitted with paddle attachment. Beat for 1 minute on high speed, to combine everything. Meanwhile, break the eggs into a jug and beat them slightly, using a fork. 
3. Add eggs slowly and to wire, beating on medium-high speed. Beat until the eggs are fully incorporated and the batter looks smooth, homogeneous and fluid. Make sure there are no more marzipan chunks remaining. Stop the stand mixer and scrape down the side and the bottom of the bowl if needed.
4. Replace the paddle attachment with the whisk attachment and whip the batter on high speed, until it looks airy and pale. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine together flour, starch and baking powder and mix with a fine whisk.
5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and sieve in the dry ingredients in one motion. Fold them gently through by hand with a spatula.
6. Add in the almonds butter and incorporate it gently with a scooping-and-folding motion.  
7. Pour 300 g of batter into the frame and smooth out the surface with a palette knife. Scatter the cherries on top of the batter.  
8. Bake for 22 minutes, or until the sponge biscuit is puffed, golden in color and dry but still soft to the touch. 
9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down. I suggest to put the baked and still hot sponge biscuit in the freezer (or blast freezer) to stop the cooking and to let it to chill faster.
10. Once the sponge biscuit is chilled and almost frozen, cut around the edge using a small smooth-edged knife to separate the sponge biscuit from the frame. Remove the frame and cut out the sponge biscuit with a Ø16 cm stainless steel cake ring. Wrap the sponge biscuit with clingfilm and place in the freezer until needed.

Gluten-free almond croustillant

1. Preheat the oven to 155°C, ventilation mode. Line a perforated baking tray with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. In a bowl combine together chopped almonds, quinoa, salt and maple syrup. Stir well with a spatula, ensuring that everything is well coated with maple syrup. Spread out the mix evenly onto the prepared baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes, until the almonds and the quinoa are golden and the maple syrup is caramelized and slightly reduced. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely at room temperature. Once cooled, you will obtain a very crunchy mixture.
3. Melt Almond Inspiration in the microwave to 45°C. Add the almonds butter and stir well with a rubber spatula until obtain a smooth and evenly mixture.
4. Add the crunchy and caramelized mix and stir, ensuring that the crunchy mix is well coated with chocolate. 
5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place on top a Ø 16 cm stainless steel cake ring. Spread the croustillant into the ring, ensuring to make an evenly layer of about 2 mm thick. Press the croustillant gently with the back of a spoon, then lift up the ring and freeze until the croustillant is firmed. Once the croustillant is frozen, remove the sponge biscuit from the freezer and place it on top of the croustillant (with the bottom side of the sponge biscuit touching the rough part of the croustillant). Wrap with clingfilm and freeze until the assemblage of the cake. Store the leftover croustillant in an airtight container at room temperature and away from the light. It can be microwaved and used for other recipes. 

Lemon and elderflower crémeux 

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water.
2. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C.
3. Make the crème anglaise. Place the egg yolks in a bowl. In a saucepan brings to simmer the elderflower syrup and the lemon juice. Add the hot liquids to the yolks in 3 times while whisking constantly with a fine whisk. Place everything back into the saucepan and reheat to 82-85°C, stirring continuously with a rubber spatula over low to medium heat.
   A method for determining the doneness is to look closely just as the custard's consistency. When you start stirring, you will see lots of tiny bubbles on the surface of the crème anglaise. But as soon as it is done, these bubbles disappear and they are replaced with ticker and silky waves. The crème anglaise is also done when you can make a line on the rubber spatula with your finger. 
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the soaked gelatin sheets to the crème anglaise and stir to dissolve.
5. Add the cream to the melted chocolate in 3 times, stirring vigorously with the spatula at each addition of liquid, in order to obtain a smooth, fluid and evenly cream.
6. Transfer the crémeux into a mixing glass and mix with an hand blender to stabilize the emulsion and to obtain a shiner and silky-smooth texture.
7. Transfer the crémeux into a Ø16 cm cake mould, to 1 cm thickness. Freeze for at least 2h in a domestic freezer or for about 1h in a blast freezer. Store the leftover crémeux in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.  

Cherry and elderflower whipped ganache

1. The day before, place 30 g of freshly picked elderflowers in a bowl and cover them with 400 g of cold heavy cream. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill it in the fridge for up to 12h (overnight). 
2. The next day, soak the gelatin sheets in cold water. Strain the flavored heavy cream through a colander, squeezing out as much heavy cream (and flavor) as you can.  Weigh the strained heavy cream to obtain 116 g (A) and 234 g (B), respectively. Pour 234 g of heavy cream in a jug and place in the fridge. Heat 116 g of heavy cream in the microwave without boiling, then add in the soaked gelatin sheets and stir through to dissolve.
3. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave to 45°C. 
4. Add the warm heavy cream (A) to the melted chocolate in 3 times and stir vigorously with a rubber spatula, forming circular patterns, in order to obtain a smooth and fluid ganache.
5. Transfer the ganache into a mixing glass and emulsify with an hand blender to stabilize the emulsion and to make the ganache even more smooth and homogeneous.
6. Add slowly and to wire 234 g of cold heavy cream (B), blending contemporarily with the mixer.
7. Add slowly and to wire the cherry puree, blending contemporarily with the mixer.
8. Add slowly and to wire the elderflower syrup, blending contemporarily with the mixer.
9. Add finally the natural food coloring to enhance the rose color of the ganache and emulsify once more, until the food coloring has evenly dissolved.
10. Transfer the ganache into a baking dish, cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the ganache and chill overnight (12h).
11. Transfer the cold ganache in the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Whip the ganache on medium-high speed until it is soft, slightly airy and pale. If it looks too much soft, no worries. It should be smoother than a regular whipped ganache. If you over-whip the ganache it will start to separate, to become grainy and to lose its shiny and silken texture.
12. Transfer a little of whipped ganache into a Ø 18cm x h 5 cm round silicone cake mould (I used the Universo silicone mould from Silikomart). Use a spoon to spread the whipped ganache up the sides of the mould to eliminate any air bubbles and to avoid whitespace. Place the crémeux on top and press it gently and slightly down so that it is almost submerged in the whipped ganache. Cover the crémeux with a thin layer of whipped ganache and place the insert formed by the sponge biscuit-croustillant (with the sponge biscuit touching the whipped ganache and the croustillant upwards) and press it gently and slightly down so that it is level with the top of the mould. Remove any excess whipped ganache with a palette knife and freeze for at least 4-5 h in a domestic freezer or for about 2h in a blast freezer.

Cherry mirror glaze (white chocolate based) 

1. Soak the gelatin sheets in 50 g cold water for at least 10 minutes.
2. Heat the white chocolate in the microwave until it is partially melted. 
3. Heat cherry puree, caster sugar, trehalose sugar and glucose syrup in a saucepan to 104°C.
4. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Emulsify with an hand blender without adding air bubbles and in order to obtain a smooth and shiny glaze.
5. Heat the Absolu Cristal in the microwave to 65°C and add into the glaze, followed by the drained gelatin sheets (add only the gelatin sheets and not the soaked water). Emulsify once more without adding air bubbles. Add the food colorings and blend once again. 
6. Pass the glaze through a sieve and pour into a baking dish. Cover with clingfilm pressed on top of the glaze and chill in the fridge for at least 12h or overnight.
7. Heat the glaze in the microwave to 45°C then pour into a mixing glass and emulsify with the hand blender, ensuring the blade is submerged in the glaze and not showing, to avoid air bubbles. If you directly melt the glaze to 32-35°C, it will not be shiny and glossy. Place cling film on the surface of the glaze and cool it to 32-35°C. You can put the glaze in the fridge or take it at room temperature.
8. In the meantime, cover the working surface with two sheets of clingfilm, slightly overlapping. They will serve to collect the excess glaze. Place on a 14 cm metal ring.
9. Once the glaze is 32-35°C, remove the entremet from the freezer and unmould. Place the entremet on top of the metal ring. Remove any condensation from the entremet by rubbing it with your hand. Ensure you work quickly and use the glaze immediately. Pour the glaze over the entremet and wipe off any excess glaze on top of the cake with a flat palette knife, angling it slightly and lifting it up at the edge. Allow the glaze to drip over the clingfilm sheets.
10. When the glaze stops dripping, remove any excess glaze from the base of the entremet with a small sharp knife. Place the finished cake onto a plate and place in the fridge.
    You can store the leftover mirror glaze in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freezer for up to 3 months.

Assembly and decoration

1. Temper the white chocolate, following the method you prefer. I use the tabling method. The tempering curve you need to follow is: 45°C (melting) - 26/27°C (cooling) - 28/29°C (the temperature of usage).
2. Make the flexible chocolate band as described here. You need a Ø 18 cm cake ring and an acetate strip of 3 cm high and long enough to wrap the cake ring entirely (this is for the bigger chocolate band that wraps the base of the entremet). Plus you need a Ø 16 cm cake ring and an acetate strip of 1,5 cm high and long enough to wrap the cake ring entirely (this is for the smaller chocolate band that is placed on top of the entremet). 
3. Wrap the bigger chocolate band around the cake. Place the smaller chocolate band on top of the cake. Decorate with fresh cherries and edible flowers.