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Travel cakes
Guanaja Cluster Cake
Made with Guanaja 70%
An Original Recipe By Chef Brice Konan-ferrand, L’école Valrhona, Dubai
Makes 5 cakes
Recipe Step by Step
Step01
Guanaja Date Cake
225g Dates
225g Mineral Water
3.8g Sodium Bicarbonate
90g European-Style Butter
135g Date Sugar
113g Eggs
195g All-Purpose Flour
6g Baking Powder
2.25g Fine Salt
3.8g Liquid Coffee Extract
80g GUANAJA 70%
Moisten the date paste with hot water and bicarbonate. Cream the butter and date sugar. Gradually add the eggs and coffee. Sift in the combined flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the hydrated date mixture and the Guanaja couverture chopped into small cubes.
Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 340°F (170°C) for approx. 18 minutes depending on the cakes’ size.
Step02
Whipped Guanaja & Pecan Praliné
200g Raw Pecans
130g Sugar
120g GUANAJA 70%
50g Cocoa Butter
2g Guérande Fleur De Sel
Roast the pecans at 300°F (150°C) for 12 minutes. Make a dry caramel and sprinkle with fleur de sel. Process the pecans and caramel in a food processor to make a smooth praliné. Add the melted Guanaja chocolate and cocoa butter, cool to 75°F (24°C), and leave to set.
Blend using the paddle attachment in a mixer to make an airy texture that can be piped out with a pastry bag.
Step03
Guanaja 70% & Cardamom Ganache For Frames
100g Whipping Cream
3.4g Green Cardamom Seeds
25g Glucose DE60
111g GUANAJA 70%
12g European-Style Butter
Bring the cream and cardamom seeds to a boil. Cover the pan and leave it to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain through a chinois and top up with cream. Add the glucose and heat to 170/175°F (75/80°C). Pour half over the chocolate beans. Mix well with a spatula, add the rest of the cream, and mix using an immersion blender to form a perfect emulsion.
When the ganache’s temperature is 95/105°F (35/40°C), add the cubed room-temperature butter (about 65°F/18°C) and blend again.
At 85°F (34/36°C), pour the ganache into a frame which you have attached to a guitar sheet covered with a fine layer of couverture.
Leave to set for 24 to 36 hours at 60/65°F (16/18°C) and a 60% humidity level. Turn out, coat with chocolate and cut into your chosen shape.
Assembly and finishing
Pour 200g of cake mix into a single long mold (180 x 50 x 50mm).
Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 340°F (170°C) for 18 minutes, turn out, and leave to cool. Dip the base of the cake in crystallized Guanaja.
Whip the pecan praliné until firm and pipe drops onto the cake.
Cut the Guanaja and cardamom ganache into small cubes and arrange them attractively. Let the chocolate crystallize, cut it into rounds on some paper, and leave them to crystallize. Place in a temperature-controlled cabinet at 85°F (30/31°C), cut a slit in the rounds with scissors to make the decorations, and fold them to make a cone. Arrange the decorations on the cake. Sprinkle the cone decorations with some Guanaja powdered in a food processor.
Keep at room temperature before serving.