Foodiva's Kitchen: Gateau Choco-Citron

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Gateau Choco-Citron


I mentioned this Gateau Choco-Citron about two posts ago and told you I made up the recipe on the fly, so here I am sharing that recipe with you. It's a three-layered cake made of a rich chocolate brownie layer, a sweet, tart lemon curd layer, topped with a soft chocolate mousseline layer. Thanks once again to Aube of Kitchen Vignettes for describing the components of this gateau so well that I was able to make it in my very own kitchen one afternoon.



The bad news is that there are 5 eggs in this smallish 8x8-inch cake, but the good news is that it also contains plenty of dark chocolate to satisfy even the hardest of the hard core chocolate-lovers out there. Plus coffee, for that extra caffeine kick! Don't feel guilty, you only need to cut a tiny sliver to fully enjoy it. With a cup of (more) coffee, if your nerves can take it :-).

 



So after baking this gateau a few days ago,  I thought I would take some time off from baking for the rest of this week. No such luck, or maybe the lure of the all things sweet was just too strong, I couldn't resist. When my friend, Y turned up on our doorstep this morning with a big bag of ingredients and proposed to be my baking buddy, I said Yes! I had exactly 4 hours before I needed to start on dinner, so we decided we would attempt only 3 desserts and then I'd have to kick him out. LOL, sorry, Y!


It ended up to be a fun and leisurely session, with a chance to catch up on the latest happenings in our lives and also exchange some baking tips and tricks (he went to culinary school, I didn't.... but I've baked for   longer than he has...haha! So our skills are about even. I hope).

We ended up making these:

7-layered Coffee and Vanilla Cake (Y's recipe) and the cream-cheese-chocolate frosted cinnamon rolls 

Gosh I'm exhausted, can you blame me?

Have a great Wednesday (almost Wordless Wednesday, but oh well)!


Choco-Citron Gateau
Chocolate Brownie
150g chocolate, chopped
60g butter
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1 egg
50g sugar
50g all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, remove from heat and stir in the instant coffee powder until dissolved. Leave to cool.
2. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy. Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture. Add the flour and fold gently to incorporate. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Pour mixture into a greased and lined 8x8-inch baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool completely, preferably overnight in the fridge before turning out.

Easy Lemon Curd
38g salted butter
2 large eggs
38g caster sugar
42g lemon juice

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan, add all the other ingredients and whisk to a custard over a gentle heat. Let cool before using, keep in the fridge.

Chocolate Mousseline
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup melted, cooled chocolate
2 large eggs
1 1/4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon gelatin powder, sprinkled over 1 teaspoon cold water
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1. In a large saucepan, bring the milk to a boil.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the chocolate, eggs and cornstarch until well-combined, then pour the boiled milk over this in a small stream while whisking constantly.
3. Pour this back into the saucepan and bring to a boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and add the softened gelatin, stirring until dissolved.
4. Cool for 10 minutes or so, whisking every now and again. Add the softened butter in bit by bit, whisking after each addition. The cream will be satiny and smooth. Place a sheet of cling film flush against the surface to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or 15 minutes in the freezer if you're short of time).

To assemble gateau:
1. Turn the chocolate brownie out onto a serving plate.
2. Spread the lemon curd on top and level off using an offset spatula.
3. Spread or pipe the firm chocolate mousseline on top of the curd and chill in the fridge before serving.

48 comments:

Viviane Bauquet Farre said...

Mmm scrumptious layering! (I'll bet that mousseline layer is to die for!) Looks like a fun evening with your baking buddy!

The Chocolate Priestess said...

That is so pretty! And I love the layering of flavors. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

Gerry @Foodness Gracious said...

Lots of layers! I love the cakes and the fact that people just show up with ingredients for you. That purple pie is a must for thanksgiving this year, I'm not telling anyone I'm making it and just going to roll it out and watch their reactions..
Thanks as always..

Unknown said...

Viviane, yes that gateau has got a lot going for it and the mousseline is just the icing on the cake..haha...sorry about the pun!

Unknown said...

Oh Chocolate Priestess, coming from you, that is such a big, juicy compliment. Thank you and you're welcome!

TinaRBK said...

I love every layer of this dessert! Sounds like it is the battle of the foodies in your kitchen-but deliciously so. Thanks for sharing this recipe-it is a keeper.

Unknown said...

Gerry@Foodness Gracious, haha, yes it's hard turning down freebies from friends, especially when they offer to bake me the dessert as well...I'd be insane to say NO! Oh, I want to know all about the outcome of your thanksgiving purple shocker. Let's just hope that none of your guests-to-be are reading this post and comments :-).

Mama's Gotta Bake said...

Wow, that's gorgeous! Looks daunting, but I'd love to give it a try! Beautiful photos too!

Unknown said...

Tina, it was hardly a battle, honest. Y and I are the most uncompetitive souls when it comes to baking - we hold the flour bowls for each other and it was just fun to hang out with each other!

Unknown said...

Sheryl@Mama's Gotta Bake, YOU went to professional pastry school so really, I should be the one to be intimidated! Thanks for swing by, love your blog!

Rita D K Simmons said...

Do you deliver lol? Those look delicious thanks for the share!

Unknown said...

Mmmmm this looks and sounds delish! Can't wait to try it out. Sounds like you had fun baking with your baking buddy - I definitely need to get me a baking buddy too. :)

Three-Cookies said...

The gateau sounds absolutely delicious, so do the other treats. I don't remember trying lemon and chocolate together. "bad news is that there are 5 eggs" - whats the bad news?:)

Lilly said...

OMG you made all these in a couple of hours? Good job! And I am glad to see your awesome pie recipe. There is only one thing I regret…not living closer to you =)

Erin said...

Amazing! Can't believe you just made this on the fly! Jealous of that talent for sure! The decorations are just perfect!

Kate@whatkatebaked said...

It like you entered a baking marathon (and in my view won with all those delicious treats... the chocolate and lemon gateaux in particular sounds absolutely stunning!)

Unknown said...

Rita, I'll put these in boxes if you'll take care of the courier charges! Haha....

Unknown said...

Erin@EKR, yes having a baking buddy is definitely fun. Just make sure that he/she is your gym or running buddy as well, or you're both in TROUBLE if you bake together too often! ;-)

Unknown said...

Three-Cookies, there is no bad news if you're about 90 because you've already lived a great life. On the other hand, if you're around 20-50 years of age and want to live till 90, I suggest you keep on eating oats and stay away from this gateau! LOL.

Unknown said...

Lilly, I regret the same thing too because then I'm not able to see your beautiful garden full of the most beautiful flowers and fruit trees! Oh, and I'm unable to 'throw you some goodies over the fence', as the Dutch say...

Unknown said...

Erin, aww thanks. The mousseline was pretty easy to pipe once it firmed up. Half the cake was topped with zig zags but it looked awful so I decided on the star-tipped mousse decor on the other half (which is why you'll see only half the cake shown here...haha).

Unknown said...

A baking marathon sounds about right, considering that we baked for 4 hours straight. A REAL marathon will have to ensue next, considering the amount of butter and eggs we consumed in all those goodies!

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious looking treat worth the hard work right Maya

Kitchen Vignettes said...

Wow, I'm still in awe that you were able to whip that cake together just like that!! I can't wait to make it now!! I love that my post inspired you to recreate the cake, this is what I'm loving so much about blogging: this passion for food weaves its way all across the globe and connects all these people's lives who have never even met. SO COOL!! And all the other goodies on this post too, you are a prolific baker. I hope you are getting some rest after the baking marathon! I'm totally fascinated by that gorgeous purple sweet potato pie. Got to get my hands on some of those and try it out.

Lisa~~ said...

The gateau (and everything else you baked) looks gorgeous and 5 eggs in such a small package just means that it's healthy and packed with protein.

Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook

Anonymous said...

The gateau looks delicious and I can't believe you made all those desserts in such a short time!

Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

Haha Y got kicked out before tasting these? LOL. I don't even bake one and you made how many? 4??? Geez you are amazing! All of these looks super delicious and I'd be knocking your door everyday to have a piece. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Love the piping on this cake!

Isabelle @ Crumb said...

Sounds like a fun afternoon of baking. Mind you, I think I just gained 10 lbs looking at all those delicious goodies! :)
That gateau choco-citron is totally calling my name - I'm a sucker for anything lemon and anything chocolate, so how could I resist anything that combines the two? I'm going to have to find a special occasion I can use as an excuse to bake one up myself!

Sandra said...

That first photo got me drooling:))) but everything looks drool worth, if ya know what I mean..Can I adopt you?:)))

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

WOW! I want to bake with you!!! Everything looks fantastic, but that gateau is really calling my name. I love the mousseline topping...and thanks for letting us know that we're not alone in not being pleased with our piping :)

Jenny VintageSugarcube) said...

Those are the kind of friends I need to pop over when I least expect it. WOW! You guys accomplished a lot in a short amount of time. I just want to taste everything you made. It all looks soooo darn good. :)

kankana said...

That looks sooo YUM! I am drooling out here . Made to such perfection like a pro.

luciacara said...

These all look amazing :)

Anonymous said...

Really gorgeous! The chocolate and lemon curd sounds like a wonderful combination.

Unknown said...

Aube, thanks for the inspiration, and yes, that's why I love blogging about food too. It's not the actual food but the way people connect with others OVER food! If you try this recipe, maybe you can make it for someone's birthday one day. And good luck with your purple sweet potato quest, hope you'll find some over there!

Unknown said...

Lisa, I must say, I really like your way of thinking 'healthily'! Haha...

Unknown said...

Nami, no my friend Y didn't get kicked out empty handed. He brought home half of these goodies, thank goodness! There was just too much sugar for our one household. And btw, you're most welcome to come knocking at my door any time!

Unknown said...

Isabelle, and I gained 20lbs eating them! LOL. I never thought lemon and chocolate would go so well together, but now I know!

Unknown said...

Sandra, in this case, it will be 'Adopt-a-Mama', not a child! LOL, of of course I'd love to live with you guys because I get to eat so well!

Unknown said...

I'm just drooling over everything you made. An ube pie? Really? I am so trying that one :D

Unknown said...

Lizzy, you can be my baking buddy anytime! We'd make such a great team, but you are no longer allowed to all yourself that 'skinny chick' who can bake! LOL.

Unknown said...

Jenny, thanks and mwaahs. I must admit, my friends rock and I'm a very, very lucky girl!

Unknown said...

Luciacara and Natasha, thanks very much!

Unknown said...

Joy, you're right. This is a bit like ube halaya pie! Let me know if it's easy to get ube over in the States so I can advise my American-blogger friends where they can get some.

Kris' Kitchen said...

This is a fun post. Love seeing what you are doing and so fun to bake with a friend...and such wonderful foods. Love your lemon-chocolate creation...I've been thinking about lemon and chocolate together. This is inspiration.

Kathy said...

I would weigh 300 lbs if I lived in your house. All those desserts are so gorgeous. I wish I had a friend who would stop to bake with me. What fun!

Evelyne CulturEatz said...

Oh your choco-citron cake looks so sinful and delicious. Yeah a slice would be enough, followed by many second helpings. The chocolate and lemon combo is fun.

Can Y come over and bake with me too? Gawd, look at that 7-layered Coffee and Vanilla Cake.

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