Daring to do it: Joconde Imprime/Entremet

(This is going to be a kind of long, kind of photo-heavy post. I will do my best to keep it manageable!)

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

When I first saw this challenge, I was convinced there was some sort of catch. This looked complicated, it looked time intensive, it looked just plain hard! Heck, I wasn't even sure I could pronounce the challenge, let alone complete it in a way that wouldn't be a total embarrassment! After seeing some of my fellow Daring Bakers' work, though, I began to get inspired. I knew my cake wouldn't look like theirs, but their enthusiasm made me want to dive in. The given recipe told us how to make the joconde paste and sponge, but the entremet (inside filling) was completely up to us. Therefore, that was the part I was obsessing over! So many options for flavors, textures, combinations... It was really daunting. I finally decided to stick with something I knew and trusted. Chocolate and vanilla. Puddings were what I chose. (I did not photograph the making of these puddings, though, since I knew that the outside would be the more interesting part...!) I used my go-to recipe for the chocolate pudding, and for the vanilla I used this pastry creme recipe from Silk Soymilk's recipe collection. Both are keeper recipes on their own, and they worked together really nicely, too! I made both of these puddings early in the day and let them set in the fridge so they would be ready for me when I was ready to fill my dessert.

Now for the interesting part...!

When I first looked at the recipe for the joconde and decorating paste, I was intimidated by the sheer number of eggs - egg whites, specifically, I would be needing. After reading the comments of some of the other Bakers, though, I learned that I would be able to halve the recipe and still have more than enough batter to complete the challenge. I started with a half-batch of the decoration paste. After mixing the batter I had to choose colors. I chose green (Hubby's favorite color), blue (my favorite color), and purple (my mom's favorite color, and she was visiting). For the design I decided to kind of just wing it. I made a rectangle to be cut for the ring of cake and two discs for support and the base.
Once the designs were piped, the trays had to be put into the freezer to set up solid. That's the easy part, right? That is where disaster struck. My base design piece decided that it didn't want to go into the cold. It jumped. Onto the floor. Paste side down. I was not happy... But if the design in the cake would come out anything like the design on the floor, I thought this might not be a total waste... Thankfully, even a half-batch of paste left me with more than enough to redo my swirls, so I was able to redo my base and safely get it into the freezer. (I must say, though, that if this had happened to someone with more artistic talent who had made an actual, intricate design, it would have been HEARTBREAKING!)

While the decor paste set I made my half-batch of the joconde sponge batter. This half batch did not feel nearly as generous as the half-batch of paste had seemed. I was worried that I would not have enough batter to cover all of my pieces. Luckily, though, the idea is to make a thin layer to keep the sponge flexible. With a little bit of encouragement I was able to get my sponge spread out and get the trays into the oven. Being so thin, this was a baking process that needed to be watched carefully. I felt like I was watching a souffle rise! This cake can bake through in anywhere from four to 15 minutes. So I sat in front of the oven watching for signs of doneness...! Once the cakes were done (about eight minutes for me) they were taken out of the oven to cool for a minute before being flipped out onto powdered sugar coated parchment paper. I am not usually one to pat myself on the back, but when I flipped the cakes over and saw the designs I couldn't help but say out loud "Wow! That looks so cool!" (Moreso the colors and the imprint on the cake than the actual design, but, still!) Now I was REALLY excited to see how the finished dessert would be!

Now that all of my elements were ready it was time to build the final piece. (I am going to do my explaining in one lump, then put all of the pictures together at the bottom.) I started with the outside ring of sponge. This was actually the hardest part for me! I really tried to get my pieces in tightly, trying to get my cake walls to be somewhat solid. It didn't happen so well. My seams were not so tight. But they held together fine, so I have something to work towards next time...! Once the sides were as built as I could get them I put my base disc on the bottom. Then came a layer of chocolate pudding. Then some strawberries, because, yum! Then the second sponge disc to separate the layers, topped with the vanilla pastry creme. On top of that went more strawberries, then the whole thing went into the fridge for a final set.

I had to admit, after each step I just got more and more excited. I saw that this was really coming together, and had pretty high hopes for a really awesome looking dessert. When the time came to plate and serve, I was not disappointed! Sure, my piping and design are pretty amateur, and the edges and lines could use some work. But I was thrilled! This is a dessert I want to keep around and pull out for a special event! Or an event which I want to make feel special!!

Thank you so much, Astheroshe, for introducing me to this amazing technique! I can honestly say that I would have never dreamed of making something so intricate, and you have opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities. I can not wait to do this again!

Please treat yourself to a peak at the amazing creations done by my fellow Daring Bakers!