Pomme d'Eve

I didn't plan to make this cake as I was planning to make a cheesecake.

However, when I scanned through the recipes I have, I decided to make this because I like the name Pomme d'Eve, meaning Eve's apple.

Beside, apple is my all time favourite.

The idea came from a famous Japanese patissier, Hidemi Sugino.

I haven't got a chance to try any of his desserts since he only has shops in Japan.

But it looks so good not to try this recipe out even though it's not his original recipe.

He's written a book called Le Goût Authentique Retrouvé, I didn't get hold of his book but I'm sure it's a great book.

I've seen several desserts made from his book from Evan's Kitchen Ramblings & Nordljus.

The original cake consists of has 5 layers, sauteed apple, apple mousse, chocolate sponge, caramel mousse & almond sponge.
I'm quite a lazy person so I baked a large chocolate sponge cake & simply cut them into 2 pieces to replace the almond sponge.
Overall, it doesn't look like the original cake but I enjoy the process of baking.

I'm really pleased with the final result, the taste is great.

The tangy apple mousse goes nicely with the caramel mousse.

It has lots of flavours which make it subtle & unique when it melds in the mouth.

Recipe (6" round):

Chocolate Sponge Cake

2 eggs

33 g sugar

25 g plain flour

8 g cocoa powder

15 g sunflower oil

18 g milk

Line a 6" square pan with a parchment paper.

In large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 8 g of sugar until thick & pale, then fold in the sunflower oil.

Mix & sieve all flours, then mix the flours with the egg yolks, pour in milk & fold until smooth.

In another large bowl, whisk the egg white & sugar (added in 3 portions) until stiff.

Mix a spatula of whipped egg white with the chocolate batter. Pour the remaining whipped egg white & fold gently until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan & bake in a preheated oven at 180’C for 10 - 15 min.

Remove from the oven & cool on rack.

Cinnamon & Caramel Mousse

Caramel:

100 g granulated sugar

35 ml water

100 g whipping cream, warm

Mousse:

3 egg yolks

10 g sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

10 g sheet gelatine

100 g whipping cream, whipped

Soak sheet gelatine in cold water.

In a saucepan, stir together sugar & water over medium heat & cook until dark amber colour.

Remove from heating, slowly add the whipping cream & stir to dissolve the caramel, heat again to 115C.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with sugar until pale & smooth.

Whist whisking, pour in the hot caramel cream until the temperature drops to 45C.

Remove the sheet gelatine & squeeze out the excess water, add in the caramel batter & stir until dissolve.

Gently blend in the whipped cream.

Green Apple Mousse

2 medium green apples (peeled, cored & chopped)

1 tbsp rum

10 g sheet gelatine

200 g whipping cream

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp sugar

Soak sheet gelatine in cold water.

 Blend the apple into puree with rum, sugar & lemon juice, warm gently.

Remove the gelatine & squeeze out the excess water, dissolve in warm apple puree.

Whisk the whipping cream to soft peaks & combine with the apple puree.

Sautéed Apples

2 medium green apples (peeled, cored & sliced)

50 g sugar

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp Grand Marnier

In a pan, melt the butter & cook the apple slices until soft.

In another pan, caramelise the sugar, add the apple slices, ground cinnamon & Grand Marnier.

Remove apple slices from the syrup & set aside for cooling.

Assembling

Cut the chocolate cake into two 5" squares.

Place a piece at the bottom of a 6" square mousse ring, pipe in the cinnamon caramel mousse. Refrigerate to set.

Place another piece of cake on top of the caramel mousse, top with the apple mousse, refrigerate to set.

Cut into smaller pieces & serve with caramel apple & syrup.