Entremet cakes are a labor of love, but the final result is downright impressive. This holiday variation incorporates a crunchy chocolate pecan crust, gooey salted caramel, creamy chocolate crémeux and a cloud-like caramel mousse.
For the last two weeks I’ve been completely and utterly consumed by this recipe. (That said, I’ve already consumed two of the finished cakes myself, so… I’d call it even in the end.) Entremet cakes by nature have many different layers and components, and I found myself with a serious case of choice paralysis: there were simply too many options and I just couldn’t decide. I spent hours scouring the internet and pastry cookbooks, considering a multitude of options for different flavors, textures and techniques; my obsessive thoughts even finding their way into my dreams (if you’ve never had OCD recipe development dreams, are you even a food blogger?)
I knew I wanted a combination of chocolate and caramel flavors to go with the Rolo candies I’d be using for the ornament topper. But that was really the only thing I had definitively decided. But should I do a chocolate mousse and a caramel crémeux, or a caramel mousse and a chocolate crémeux? How about a caramel-chocolate ganache or a chocolate-caramel sauce or a regular salted caramel? Should the base be soft sponge cake or chocolate cookie or crispy sable crust? Should I mold the insides as domes or should I cut out rounds? Well… Now you see what I mean by choice paralysis? Eventually, after testing a few components separately, I decided on a crunchy chocolate pecan cookie crust, a center of rich chocolate crémeux, a layer of simple salted caramel, and then a salted caramel and caramelized white chocolate mousse for the outer layer. Yes, I probably obsessed over the details a bit too much, because, really, how can you go wrong with anything chocolate and caramel?
The most problematic aspect for me turned out to be the caramel—it turned out a bit thinner than I would have liked, more like a caramel sauce than a chewy caramel candy. This made assembly tricky (it never quite solidified in the freezer, so it stuck to the silicone mold). The soft caramel also didn’t stay where I put it between the crémeux and the base crust; instead it squeezed out to the edges of the crémeux dome and the slowly oozed out once the cake was cut. Tasty, sure, but just a bit too messy for my liking. I didn’t have time to remake the entire recipe, so I went ahead and photographed it as is with the soft caramel. BUT… I’ve adjusted the recipe below so hopefully your caramel will come out firmer than mine (the main difference is being sure you bring your caramel back up to the appropriate temperature after adding the cream). It still won’t set up completely solid like the crémeux or mousse layers, and you may still have to peel it out of the silicone mold (use a pairing knife to cut around the edge first) but it’ll be much more manageable. You can also leave out the caramel layer entirely if you don’t want to deal with it, though you will need 3 tablespoons of caramel for the mousse itself (totally fine to use store bought caramel sauce in this case). I also think store bought dulce de leche would work well here too (it’s thicker than caramel sauce so will stay in place better if you do want the caramel layer in addition to the caramel mousse).
Now, I fully acknowledge this recipe is ridiculously long. There are a lot of different parts to this recipe that all need to be made separately and then assembled before the whole thing is smothered in a shiny red mirror glaze. The good news is that all of the parts and pieces can be made ahead of time; so spread out your time over a couple of days and suddenly it doesn’t seem so impossible! Even better, the fully glazed cakes themselves can also be made ahead of time! The mirror glaze holds up amazingly well (and I’d argue that a few hours in the fridge make it more stable than freshly glazed cakes). You can easily make and glaze everything 2 or even 3 days ahead of time if you so desire.
Scheduling your Time:
Each of the components of this recipe can be made ahead of time, and in fact many parts must be made ahead of time because they need to completely freeze before you can move on to the next step. You need to plan for at least 3 days from start to serve, with full overnight freezes for the crémeux and mousse layers (although if you happen to have a blast chiller or deep freezer, you may be able to speed up the process). Alternatively, if you want to spend the least amount of time each day, you could stretch out the entire process over 6 or even 7 days, only focusing on one single component each day. While the crémeux and mousse steps need at least an overnight freeze, they are totally fine freezing longer than that, so plan your time accordingly. Either way, plan out your schedule before you start to make sure everything has plenty of time to fully set and freeze. Compact schedule: (About 1 to 2 hours of active time per day)
Day 1 AM: Make the caramel, let cool. Make the crémeux; pour into small dome molds and freeze at least 2 hours until set. Day 1 PM: Add the caramel to the crémeux and freeze overnight. Make the base crust. Let dry out overnight. Day 2: Make the mousse and assemble the final pieces in the large dome molds. Freeze at least overnight. Day 3: Make the mirror glaze and glaze the final cakes (the mirror glaze can also be made on days 1 or 2 and reheated before glazing).
Extended schedule: (about 30 to 60 minutes of active time per day)
Day 1: Make the caramel. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Day 2: Make the crémeux; pour into small dome molds and freeze overnight. Day 3: Add the caramel to the crémeux and freeze overnight. Make the base crust. Let dry out overnight. Day 4: Make the mousse and assemble the final pieces in the large dome molds. Freeze at least overnight or up to 1 week. Day 5: Make the mirror glaze (this can be made at any point in the process as it’ll keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week). Day 6: Glaze and serve!
Before you get started…
Before you dive in to this recipe you’ll need to make sure you have the right equipment and ingredients. Large silicon dome mold. The final cakes are molded in a silicone dome mold measuring approximately 3-inches in diameter. The mold I used makes 5 cakes, but there are similar molds that would make 6 slightly smaller cakes. Small silicone dome mold. The inner crémeux core is molded in a smaller dome mold, about 1 3/4-inches in diameter (I actually used the same mold I used for my blueberry mousse cakes; so if you bought one for that recipe you’re all set!) If you don’t have a smaller dome mold, you can pour the crémeux into a silicone cake pan or a cake pan that you fully line with plastic wrap; Once the crémeux is set you can cut out rounds with a cookie cutter, and drop this into the mousse. Round cookie cutters. A set of multi-sized round cookie cutters comes in extremely handy. For the base crust, pick a cutter that is about 1/4-inch smaller than the diameter of your large dome mold so it will lie completely flush with the top of the mold. If you are cutting rounds of crémeux instead of using a smaller dome mold, use a cutter approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4-inches in size. Instant read thermometer. The temperature is one of the most important parts of the mirror glaze process, so you really can’t do it without an accurate, instant read thermometer. Thermapens are my favorite, but any decent digital probe thermometer will do. Gelatin. I used sheet gelatin (you’ll need 9 sheets total), but you can also substitute powdered (1 teaspoon per sheet) if you prefer. If using powdered gelatin, bloom first in 1 tablespoon water per 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin; sprinkle gelatin over top and let sit for 5 minutes. Microwave it for 5 to 10 seconds until melted and then stir in to the warm liquid. Sheet gelatin just needs to be covered in cold water for at least 5 minutes to soften; squeeze out as much water as you can before adding it to the hot liquid. White chocolate. The real stuff, NOT baking chips. When in doubt, check the ingredients: cocoa butter should be the first or second ingredient. White baking chips containing palm kernel oil will NOT work for the mirror glaze. Other chocolate. In addition to the white chocolate for the glaze, I also used a combination of dark and milk chocolates in the crémeux and caramelized white chocolate in the mousse (you can also make your own caramelized white chocolate, or substitute plain white chocolate or milk chocolate here as well). Offset spatula. Ideally you’ll have a large offset spatula as well as a small one. These are useful for leveling off the tops of the mousse-filled molds, as well as lifting the final cakes during and after the glazing process. Gold luster dust. I used this gold luster dust to brush the Rolos with gold, and give the tops of the final glazed cakes with a bit of sparkle. Cake boards. These gold cake rounds make moving/transporting/serving the final mirror cakes much easier. You can also cut out your own rounds out of thin cardboard like a cereal box, but because of the sticky nature of the glaze the cakes really can’t be moved around once they’re moved to their final resting place. Just be sure the boards are the right diameter (a lot of ones I found were 3″ which would have been too small. These are 3.5″ which was perfect).
Shortcuts and Scaling:
I know many of you will take one look at the length and complexity of this recipe and go running for the hills. But one of the nice things about this recipe is you can customize it however you’d like. If you want the impressive outer presentation of these ornament cakes but with the least possible components, just do the base crust, the caramel mousse and the mirror glaze (skipping the caramel and the crémeux, and using store-bought caramel sauce in the mousse itself). Depending on what size your dome molds are, you may also be able to use a store-bought chocolate wafer or other kind of cookie for the base (as long as it’s slightly smaller than the diameter of your molds). This recipe will make 6 3-inch domes or 15 1 3/4-inch domes; to make a double batch you’ll want to double the crust, crémeux and mousse components (you’ll have plenty of caramel and glaze for a double batch). If you want to make a full size glazed mousse cake instead of minis, the quantities as listed should work in a 6-inch silicone pan or cake ring, or, for a larger 8 or 9-inch cake, double the crémeux and mousse portions of the recipe and follow the general assembly method outlined in my Nutella Mousse Cake recipe. I tried to note the yield of each component in the recipe below, which should help you scale appropriately, no matter what size mold or pan you are using.
Of course, leave off the gold-dusted Rolos and you’ve got a year-round delight! Glaze them in any color you’d like, or even use a milk chocolate mirror glaze for an extra dose of chocolate flavor. Total Time: 72 hours
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar 2 tablespoons (42g) light corn syrup 1/4 cup (60g) heavy cream 1/8 teaspoon sea salt or fleur de sel 2 tablespoons (28g) butter, cut into small pieces 12g caramelized white chocolate (like Valhrona dulcey), optional
Chocolate Crémeux:
(Makes 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup (60g) heavy cream 1/4 cup (60g) whole milk 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature 75g semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used a mix of 50g 60% dark chocolate and 25g 38% milk chocolate) 1 sheet leaf gelatin or 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin
Chocolate Pecan Crumb Crust:
(Makes 1 8-inch crust or 5 3-inch crusts)
2 tablespoons (25g) finely ground pecans 2/3 cup (80g) all-purpose flour 1/3 cup (67g) organic or demerera sugar 2 tablespoons (14g) cocoa powder 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt 5 tablespoons (70g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes 1 to 2 teaspoons whole milk, as needed
Caramel Mousse:
(Makes a generous 1 cup)
1 sheet leaf gelatin or 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin 1/4 cup (60g) caramel (store bought or measured out from the batch you made earlier) 1/4 cup (60g) whole milk 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature 40g caramelized white chocolate (like Valhrona dulcey) or regular white chocolate, finely chopped 2/3 cup (160g) heavy whipping cream, cold
Mirror Glaze:
(Makes 3 cups)
6 sheets leaf gelatin or 2 tablespoons powdered gelatin 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar 2/3 cup (226g) corn syrup or glucose syrup 1/2 cup (118g) water 1/2 cup (163g) sweetened condensed milk 7oz (200g) good quality white chocolate, finely chopped gel or powdered food coloring Rolo candies, unwrapped and dusted with gold luster, for decoration
