Kirsch & Meringue Entremets

Before starting this Kirsch and Meringue Entremets recipe, organise the necessary ingredients for the sponge fingers.

Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl.

Add the castor sugar...

... and immediately blanch with a whisk...

... until pale and creamy. This should take about 2 or 3 minutes.

The blanched egg yolks are ready. Set aside until ready to use.

Sift the flour over the preparation.

Combine carefully until homogeneous.

The flour should be completely incorporated.

Pour the egg whites in the stand mixer recipient...

... and beat at medium speed. When the whites are almost firm...

... add the icing sugar and beat until stiff.

Stop the mixer...

... and remove the whisk attachment.

While you're beating the egg whites, draw two strips to a width of 4.5 cm with a pencil on a sheet of greaseproof paper. The quantities listed above should be enough to make 3 strips. Prepare a total of 2 sheets of greaseproof paper (4 strips).

Add 1/3 of the meringue to the preparation...

... and combine gently.

Pour the preparation over the rest of the meringue.

Fold gently with a rubber spatula.

Transfer the preparation into a piping bag...

... fitted with a plain nozzle. At this stage, don't wait before piping the preparation. It should be used immediately.

Place a baking parchment sheet on a Silichef XL perforated baking sheet. The pencil drawing should be facing down.

Pipe small finger biscuits crosswise, creating tight rows.

Repeat the operation with the second strip, then the third.

On another sheet of greaseproof paper, draw a disc using the stainless steel ring as a guide (24 cm).

Flip the piece of paper...

... and arrange it on a baking sheet.

Pipe the remaining preparation into a spiral pattern...

... until you obtain a disc.

Drizzle icing sugar over the strips and disc...

... in generous amounts.

This is what the result should look like.

Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 180°C (gas 4) for about 12 minutes. Place the strips on the lower rack...

... and the disc on top.

After cooking for 12 minutes...

... the sponge finger strips should be golden...

... as well as the disc.

Remove from the oven...

... and leave to cool.

For the Kirsch mousse: Organise all the necessary ingredients. The components for this mousse is a Kirsch-flavoured pastry cream and whipped cream.

Pour the milk in a saucepan, then add the vanilla seeds. Cook over medium heat.

Crack the egg in a mixing bowl.

Add the castor sugar...

... and beat vigorously with a whisk.

Add the crème pâtissière powder. This powder contains yellow colouring, which is why one egg is sufficient for this recipe. If you're using cornstarch, I recommend using 4 egg yolks (or 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks) to get the same colour.

Combine with a whisk until completely melted.

The result should look like this.

Steep the gelatine sheets in cold water. Make sure you add the gelatin sheets in the water one at a time and immerse them completely. Set aside.

When the milk starts boiling, pour it over the preparation...

... and combine with a whisk until incorporated completely.

Transfer the preparation into the recipient used to boil the milk...

... and cook over medium heat while whisking constantly...

... and beat until you obtain a pastry cream. This should take approximately 2 or 3 minutes. Bring the cream to a boil then take the pan away from the heat.

Transfer the cream into a mixing bowl. Using a digital scale, measure 500 grams of pastry cream.

Strain the gelatine with your hands without squashing.

Add the gelatine to the hot crème pâtissière.

Combine carefully until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Reserve.

Beat the whipping cream until you obtain a whipped cream.

Reserve the whipped cream in the fridge.

Arrange a mousse ring Ø 24cm on a baking sheet. Place a cake board at the bottom of the ring.

Using a smaller mousse ring (22 cm), cut the sponge finger disc into a smaller size with a knife.

Flip the greaseproof paper and gently detach the sponge biscuit disc from the sheet.

Carefully arrange the biscuit disc at the bottom of the mousse ring.

Cut the sponge biscuit strips to create a width of 4 cm. Trim both sides.

Place the biscuit strips along the sides of the stainless steel ring and stick them inside the gap around the biscuit disc.

Repeat the operation with the second strip, making sure both parts joint perfectly.

Add a small piece of biscuit to fill any gap on the sides. The disc should also joint perfectly with the sides.

Using a brush, steep the bottom biscuit with the Kirsch-flavoured syrup.

Whisk the pastry cream when cold or lukewarm.

Add the Kirsch...

... and combine carefully with a whisk.

Add 1/3 of the whipped cream...

... and combine with a whisk.

Add the rest of the whipped cream...

... and fold gently with a rubber spatula, working in a vertical, rotating motion to make sure the preparation doesn't collapse.

Get the mould ready, as well as the raspberries (I used frozen raspberries for this recipe).

Fill halfway up with Kirsch mousse.

Bury the raspberries in the mousse. Quantity can vary between 250 and 300 grams.

Cover with the remaining Kirsch mousse.

Spread evenly with a spatula. You might have some extra mousse left after filling the mould. Better to have too much than too little!

Even the surface with an Exoglass® cranked spatula.

Cover the surface with cling film...

... making sure the film is stretched tight. Let your cake defrost in the fridge for about 2 hours.

For the Italian meringue: Organise all the necessary ingredients.

Pour the water in a saucepan...

... and add the castor sugar. This order is important: the water first, then the sugar to make sure there are no clusters of dry sugar.

Place the saucepan over medium heat...

... until the temperature reaches 118/119°C. I recommend using a digital thermometer with probe to monitor the temperature.

When the sugar reaches between 105 and 110°C, start beating the egg whites so they are ready when the sugar gets to 118°C.

Add the cooked sugar at 118/119°C to the beaten egg whites, pouring it slowly against the inner side of the bowl.

Increase to maximum speed until cooled down completely. This operation should take between 5 and 10 minutes.

Fit a piping bag with a Saint-Honoré nozzle.

Transfer the meringue in the piping bag.

Push the filling towards the tip.

Remove the cake from the freezer and remove the cling film.

Gently slide the stainless steel ring upwards to release the cake.

Pipe the meringue over the surface of the cake in a swirl shape, starting from the edge towards the centre.

Repeat until the whole surface is coated with meringue...

... and slightly brown the meringue with a blow torch. The flame should not be lingering too long on the meringue.

This is what the result should look like.

Drizzle some Codineige decorating sugar over a few raspberries and arrange them on the centre of the cake.

Reserve in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!