Coffee Caramel Cake
I couldn’t resist ordering this new “Vinile” silicone mold—although it had been a while since my last purchase. Eventually, one must admit that enough is enough—much like clothing: despite countless pieces in the wardrobe, you tend to reach for the same items. The same goes for silicone forms: you only have to look at the pictures to recognize my favorite shape. But from the moment I read the accompanying recipe, I was doubly delighted: the combination of white chocolate mousse, salted caramel, and coffee sounded irresistible. I began with the caramel, which turned out perfectly, but later struggled to unmold it from the frozen form. After some trial and error, I reversed the layering—placing the caramel between the cream and the sponge—and that solved all issues. Paired with an intensively flavored coffee cream, it’s simply divine. Although I toyed with adding pistachios for a color contrast in the crunchy layer, I ultimately chose almonds—and kept the salt level just right for balance.
Servings 12 people
Ingredients
Coffee Cream
- 33 g whole milk
- 1 level tsp instant coffee powder
- 2 g glucose syrup or substitute: acacia honey
- ½ gelatine sheet
- 57 g milk chocolate or milk couverture callets
- 65 g heavy cream
Salted Caramel
- 27 g milk chocolate or milk couverture callets
- 89 g heavy cream
- 12 g glucose syrup
- 42 g granulated sugar
- 23 g unsalted butter
- 1 gelatine sheet
- Pinch of fleur de sel
Chocolate Sponge
- 73 g marzipan grated
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 whole egg
- 27 g granulated sugar
- 20 g all-purpose flour
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 67 g egg whites
- 27 g granulated sugar
- 20 g unsalted butter
Almond Crunch Layer
- 60 g milk chocolate or milk couverture callets
- 7 g neutral-flavored oil
- 66 g feuilletine crispy wafer flakes
- 15 g chopped almonds
White Chocolate Mousse
- 160 g whole milk
- Pinch of vanilla powder
- 2 egg yolks
- 164 g white couverture or white chocolate callets
- 19 g granulated sugar
- 3 gelatine sheets
- 250 g heavy cream
Instructions
Coffee Cream
- Soak gelatin in cold water.
- Heat milk with instant coffee and glucose syrup to ~80 °C.
- Place chopped chocolate in a tall container; pour hot coffee-milk over it.
- Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Slowly stream in the cold cream while mixing.
- Pour into the Tortaflex mold; freeze overnight.
Salted Caramel
- Soak gelatin in cold water.
- Caramelize sugar in a small saucepan until golden.
- In a separate pan, heat cream with glucose syrup and salt.
- Carefully add the hot cream to the caramelized sugar (warning: it will bubble vigorously).
- Remove from heat, dissolve gelatin, then pour over chopped chocolate in a tall container.
- Emulsify with an immersion blender, then stir in butter until smooth.
- Spoon over the frozen coffee cream; refreeze.
Chocolate Sponge
- Preheat oven to 170 °C (top/bottom heat).
- Grate marzipan and beat with yolk, whole egg, and 27 g sugar until smooth.
- Melt butter in a pan; set aside.
- Whip egg whites with remaining sugar to stiff peaks.
- Sift flour and cocoa into the marzipan mixture; fold in meringue gently.
- Stir a spoonful of batter into the melted butter, then fold back into the batter.
- Pour into an 18 cm springform pan; bake ~30 minutes.
- Cool overnight (or at least several hours), then level and trim to fit the Tortaflex mold.
Almond Crunch Layer
- Melt chocolate in a microwave or over a bain-marie; stir in oil.
- Fold in chopped almonds and feuilletine.
- Line an 18 cm pan with parchment; spread the crunch mixture and press gently.
- While still pliable, place trimmed sponge (cream-side down) on top; chill until set.
- Unmold and press into the frozen caramel–coffee assembly; refreeze.
White Chocolate Mousse
- Soak gelatin in cold water.
- Heat milk with vanilla until just simmering.
- Whisk yolks with sugar; stir in dissolved gelatin.
- Return to saucepan; cook over medium heat to 83 °C, stirring constantly.
- Strain over chopped white chocolate; let sit 1 minute, then stir until melted.
- Cool to ~30 °C, stirring occasionally.
- Whip cream to soft peaks; fold into the chocolate mixture.
- Fill the silicone mold with mousse, ensuring all ridges are filled.
- Unmold the frozen caramel–coffee–crunch insert; press into mousse so edges align.
- Freeze overnight.
Finishing & Decoration
- (Optional) Prepare a tempered dark-chocolate ring and spray the cake with brown velvet spray.
- Thaw in the refrigerator just until soft½ to set.
- Decorate with a chocolate ring, a few drops of mirror glaze, and small chocolate eggs as desired.
