I’ve wanted to make this recipe for a while but honestly it’s been a little intimidating. Not just because there are about 5 different things you have to make for this, but also time wise. Also it’s french and those recipes can be a little…. errr… fussy. Nevertheless, the time came for me to try it so I started with the chocolate macaron. As a note, if you’re making this recipe using the recipe book then be prepared to do a lot of back and forth page changes.

For example, when I started the chocolate maracon, you have to follow the instructions on another page but use the ingredients listed in this particular recipe. While this isn’t ideal, it wasn’t terrible; especially if you’ve made some of these types of desserts before. Thankfully I had just recently made macaron’s so it was fresh on my mind. In this recipe you mix together the almond flour, cocoa, and powdered sugar in a food processor so it’s super fine. Then you’ll whip the egg whites (adding the granulated sugar throughout) until they’re stiff peaks. Making sure it’s not super hot, pour the chocolate mixture into the egg whites and gently mix. Then you’ll sprinkle the dry ingredients on top and trying not to deflate the egg whites you’ll mix. I saw somewhere that you can do a sort of figure eight with the spatula to help mix and better avoid deflating so I always try that. When it’s mixed put this into a piping bag and pipe onto a prepared piece of parchment paper that has an 8 inch circle. Then you’ll bake for 25 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled it out of the oven to find that it looked pretty decent.

While that was cooling I turned my attention to the chocolate sponge. This was actually fairly easy, plus the recipe was on that same page so that was nice. Stir together your dry ingredients and then separate the eggs. I will say that I did not have potato starch so I looked up some substitutes and ended up using corn starch since that’s what I had on hand. Whip the egg whites and similar to before add in the sugar when it’s frothy and then whip until it’s stiff peaks. Add in the egg yolks and stir, then sprinkle the dry ingredients on top and gently stir trying again not to deflate the egg whites. Once it’s mixed put this into a piping bag and pipe onto another piece of prepared parchment paper with an 8 inch circle on it. While I do think my sponge cake could have been a little thicker it still turned out better than expected so I was glad.

I went ahead and make the chocolate syrup since it was next on my recipe list; though I’ll note that I didn’t need this until hours later so you could wait on this, but it’s super easy. You’re basically making a simple syrup with cocoa. I’ll skip the commentary since it’s so simple and move on to the next item: the chocolate ganache.

Thankfully this is another easy one; though I did heat my cream in the microwave rather than on a stovetop. Once it’s boiling pour it over the chopped chocolate and let it sit briefly; then stir. While it’s still hot add in the butter so it melts. This is where you start assembling everything so you’ll take the cooled macaron and put it in the bottom of an 8 inch pan. I used a springform pan since that was really all I had that would work. Then you’ll pour the ganache over the macaron so it forms the second layer and put in the fridge.

Next you’ll work on the chocolate mousse, which surprise surprise is a recipe on another page in this book and requires you to whip egg whites. Before you get there though you’ll melt the butter and chocolate and I opted to do this in the microwave rather than on the stovetop. Then you’ll separate the eggs and start whipping the egg whites. Once again you’ll add the sugar in when it’s foamy and then whip until stiff peaks. Carefully mix the egg yolks into this mixture once it’s ready and then mix some of the egg mixture into the chocolate/butter mixture and stir. Then you’ll pour all of that into the egg mixture and gently mix be mindful again not to deflate the mixture. While it says to put this into another container to set in the fridge I just kept mine in the bowl I used to mix in to avoid dirtying another bowl. Plus I was running out of bowls! This needs to set in the fridge for 3-4 hours before moving on.

After that time is up then you’ll put this mixture into another piping bag and pipe a very thin layer onto the ganache layer. Put your chocolate sponge onto this chocolate mousse layer and then brush on the chocolate syrup. Add the rest of the chocolate mousse and then put in the fridge for another 2 hours.

When you’re finally about ready to eat you’ll want to pop the whole cake into the freezer for about 30 minutes. I made my chocolate glaze while it was in the freezer and felt like it was the right consistency when I was ready to pour it onto the cake. I will say that my top layer wasn’t super flat so mine didn’t look nearly as pretty as the one in the photo, but the glaze does help cover some of the flaws. Let this set for at least 2 minutes before serving.

What felt like a million years after starting this it was finally time to eat! I told my husband that while I hoped it was good I also hoped we didn’t love it too much because it was way to time consuming to make again. It was very delicious and had a great rich flavor; but I don’t know that I’d say it was worth the time and effort. I’m not sure I would have known the macaron was at the bottom. I think my sponge and mousse layer should have been a little more than they were so I likely did deflate the egg whites some while mixing. Again, super delicious and rich but I think I’d probably find something a little less time intensive next time.

Baking Ease	7
Time Spent	7
Taste	10
Visual	8

Recipe Used: Ladurée p. 184