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Another Hector Triumph!
I can only say that the Ethereal Pear Charlotte left everyone SPEACHLESS, including myself. The presentation is #1, so nice that this time I really felt what it means to say “too beautiful to cut.” I’ve made many beautiful things, but this time it really broke my heart to cut this. The taste was incredible, every component was well balanced. The biscuit sweetness with the tart raspberry conserve was so tender and tasty! The pear bavarian cream was light, cut perfectly, you could taste the pear flavor intensely. The poached pears were such a fresh cold treat, I took pride with this because many people just use canned peaches instead. And I was really satisfied to build this on this clear glass cake stand I have, the charlotte was floating in the air like heaven. Everyone was very appreciative when taking a slice home, and I think perhaps next time, they may even bring lobster and champagne when calling the next party! This dessert makes me grow my own pear tree! You really pay tribute to pears here, thanks for designing this, took me 20 years to try it.
Here is a picture of my dearest friend Deanna and her lovely kids Jade and Wilson.
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Did you freeze the cake in a freezer first or just pack it up in cake box in cooler?
Reply to this Posted by: Kris | October 21, 2008 3:48 PM #
Patrincia...Many thanks! I've read many of your comments on this blog and have enjoyed them...and learned much as well.
Reply to this Posted by: MarkMc | April 11, 2008 10:21 PM #
Loida, which cake? I make the chocolate version of Mousseline Buttercream, or the Light Whipped Chocolate Ganache. Both recipes are on The Cake Bible.
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | April 11, 2008 8:48 PM #
Hi Hector. Can I ask fo rthe recipe of Chocolate Buttercream? I have the picture of your wife and kids with the kids. the cake is so appealing! thanks.
Reply to this Posted by: Loida | April 10, 2008 11:39 PM #
Melissa - you can order online at cooksdream.com - I've ordered from them a few times... they're great!
Reply to this Posted by: Anonymous | April 9, 2008 8:58 AM #
Where can I order a 6 X 3 cake pan with a
removable bottom? Your help is appreciated.
Reply to this Posted by: Melissa | April 9, 2008 8:36 AM #
Welcome MarkMC - absolutely beautiful presentation! Very creative - photo looks good enough to eat!!! :)
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | April 9, 2008 7:53 AM #
Mark, inventive! I love to crumble cake/pie and present in whipped suspension, to! Now, I have competition...
Yes, work it out so choco will stick, maybe spread a layer or rasp conserve before and after the choco...
Reply to this Posted by: hector | April 9, 2008 12:42 AM #
Hi Cindy,
Yes, I created this. I like apple pie but it always seems to lack something..ice cream or whipped cream...or some cake! So I just merged them together. Something about using a baked pie makes all the difference taste-wise.
Reply to this Posted by: MarkMc | April 8, 2008 10:26 PM #
Thank you MarkMc for the details. I can never know it without your explanation. Is this your own invention or it is something traditional? I have never heard of making a cake from a finished pie.
Reply to this Posted by: Cindy | April 8, 2008 9:57 PM #
Hector--Thanks..and yes, I like that idea about the thin layer of chocolate too! Would the biscuits "stick"? I suppose so, given the conserve.
Cindy--Thanks.
Dang Good Apple Pie Cake:
The bottom layer is your favorite gingerbread or spice cake made in a 9 or 10 inch springform. I usually slice off the top 1/8 inch. Cool completely.
For the topping, first bake or buy an apple pie with crust (mine come from one of my neighbors who has an apple tree...and she cuts the apples so nicely!..in return her kids gets cupcakes!). Remove the top crust, crumble it, cover and put it aside.
I then roughly chop the rest of the pie and warm on stove top. Then I dissolve a package of gelatin in 1/4 c water and melt over hot water. I then mix the gelatin with the chopped apple pie and set aside to cool. When cool, whip about a cup or so of whipping cream till relatively stiff (I use a large whisk in the last minutes, moving it sideways to avoid overbeating and to feel the right consistency..use of vanilla or powdered sugar is an option). Fold the whipped cream and apple mixture together very lightly. Then pour into the springform atop the cake.
Stick in Fridge. Usually overnight.
When ready to serve, sprinkle with crumbled pie crust on top and drizzle with homemade caramel sauce.
Depending on the size of the pie, I can usually use 1/2 a pie per cake.
A close up:
http://danggoodcake.com/applepie3.jpg
Reply to this Posted by: MarkMc | April 8, 2008 9:47 PM #
Mark,
your apple pie looks dang good!!!!!!!!! excellent photography and use of plated slice.
how about adding chocolate but on a dimension on its own. instead of whipping it with raspberry, i would love to see a harden layer of chocolate next to the raspberry conserve, and also on the bottom under the bavarian.
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | April 8, 2008 9:06 PM #
Hi MarkMc, the cake is wonderful. Can you share more about the content of the layers. It looks tempting!
Thank you.
Reply to this Posted by: Cindy | April 8, 2008 9:05 PM #
Hello everyone, I am a new blogger here but have been reading this blog for some time...and have been enjoying Rose's wisdom and the incomparable Hector of course.
I am looking forward to making Rose's Ethereal Pear Charlotte, and I am wondering if anyone has incorporated chocolate into the desert? Perhaps using a raspberry ganache betwen the Biscuit Roulade soldiers or a thin layer of the same on the Biscuit base before pouring in the Pear Bavarian Cream?
I am an amateur baker, but love creating new cake ideas.
The latest is my Apple Pie Cake:
http://danggoodcake.com/applepie.jpg
Thanks for any replies. Looking forward to sharing my discoveries as I work through Rose's Bibles and esp the new cake book.
~Mark
Reply to this Posted by: MarkMc | April 8, 2008 9:01 PM #
2 cups whipping/heavy cream (unwhipped).
Reply to this Posted by: Elicia | February 3, 2008 8:07 PM #
Elicia and Hector- THANK YOU.
One more question though- does 2cups of "cream" mean heavy cream(to be whipped) or whipped cream? thanks again.
Reply to this Posted by: nushera | February 3, 2008 7:49 PM #
I've made many mango charlottes in the past - the biscuit rolls covering the sides are filled with orange marmalade instead. Orange goes well with mango. You can also try adding some cut mango cubes into the bavarian cream. And you can try glazing the top and sides of the cake (the biscuit parts) with an orange shiny glaze.
Happy baking and do post photos!
Reply to this Posted by: Elicia | February 3, 2008 8:08 AM #
I've made many mango charlottes in the past - the swiss roll biscuits that line the sides are filled with orange marmalade. Orange goes well with mango. If you like, you can also glaze over the cake with an orange juice shiny glaze.
Nushera - do post photos !
Reply to this Posted by: Elicia | February 3, 2008 8:06 AM #
Nushera, YES. I can't wait for you and us 'tropicals' (Elicia included) to make a mango version of the Ethereal Charlotte! With Mathew-Mango rose pattern on top, beautiful.
Elicia's proportions sounds right. You can make 'bavarian cream' with just fruit puree, cream, sugar, a little lemon juice to prevent the fresh fruit darkening color (oxidation), and sufficient gelatin to make it bavarian cream consistency. The gelatin amount is the part where you need to carefully read Rose's recipe. I go by liquid/cream volume to determine how much gelatin to use. Too much and you get rubber Jello, too little and it won't cut well. But I give you a trick that works well on our hot weather: better to make it thicker than thinner, as you can leave you charlotte out to warm up a little, the gelatin will soften up, and it will become much softer!
Be sure that the cream should be whipped to whip cream consistency.
Also, Rose's bavarian cream is more delicate. It has part Italian meringue, which gives great consistency and hold at room temperature. My Mom used to make bavarian cream without Italian meringue all the time, but with it is nicer!
Do share pictures.
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | February 2, 2008 11:34 PM #
Yes Nushera, I make mango mousse cake (bavarian) all the time, and also use it to frost the Mango Rose cake. For 2 cups of puree, use 2 cups of cream + 3.5tsp gelatine + 75g sugar + 2 tbsp lemon juice.
Reply to this Posted by: Elicia | February 2, 2008 10:50 PM #
Is it possible to make a Mango version of Bavarian Cream? i have 2cups of leftover mango pulp, very sweet and smooth-textured. i want to replace the raspberry conserve in Rose's Etherial Pear Charlotte with mango jam and make a Matthew-Mango-rose on the top of the Bavarian filling. please help me.
Reply to this Posted by: nushera | February 2, 2008 9:34 PM #
Beautiful! You are amazing
Reply to this Posted by: Bill | January 15, 2008 1:22 PM #
Looks wonderful!
Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | January 14, 2008 6:39 PM #
Beautiful, Hector!
Reply to this Posted by: Cathy | January 14, 2008 6:23 PM #
Fantastico!
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | January 14, 2008 4:53 PM #
Hope you ENJOY this one, as I STRUGGLED due to mixing up salted with unsalted butter.
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/EtherealPearCharlotteAndMangoPassionTart-PassionCharlotte.html
Description: Charlotte's Passion Tart. Detailed: sweet coconut cookie tart crust filled with charlotte spirals of Meyer’s rum drunken biscuit roulade and passion curd cream. We pair it with a sweet white wine from Luca’s region that we brought in November, not available imported in the U.S., and indeed in Italy it is only sold in small bottles due to the low grape yield, 2004, sorry I can't remember the label.
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | January 14, 2008 4:01 PM #
agreed--spectacular!!!
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | December 11, 2007 7:37 PM #
congratulation to Kathy on her success on her first tart and the breaking of this "all talk" record.
Reply to this Posted by: cindy Chiu | December 11, 2007 7:26 PM #
Hector, please pass on my compliments to your friend Kathy! She must be a very good cook -- her first tart is better looking than many people's 20th or even 100th tart, and it made me hungry just looking at it. I can just imagine the tender pears and the buttery crunch of the tart....mmmm......
Reply to this Posted by: Barbara A. | December 11, 2007 7:05 PM #
My friend Kathy made this yesterday and shared first bites with me. Kathy is my photographer (her profession), food critic, cake cutter, and pastry assistant!
I call this a Peach Crumb Tart. Recipe she found in a magazine. In my opinion, the crust is a pressed cookie crust (flour, sugar, butter). The filling is a 'crumb' cake (flour, eggs, butter, sugar, no milk). The topping is lightly poached pears with a touch of sage.
I may need to give her a copy of The Pie and Pastry Bible, as this first pie she made really blew me away! Kathy has been attending pastry classes and tastings with me, she was 'all talk' until this tart!
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/PeachCrumbTartKathy.html
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | December 11, 2007 3:25 PM #
Hector, siempre me sorprendes con novedades.
Felicitaciones por los logros
No se que sera de tu vida amigo.
Saludos, abrazos
Reply to this Posted by: Carlos Gavidia Chucán | November 8, 2007 12:48 PM #
Hector, siempre me sorprendes con novedades.
Felicitaciones por los logros
No se que sera de tu vida amigo.
Saludos, abrazos
Reply to this Posted by: Carlos Gavidia Chucán | November 8, 2007 12:47 PM #
if the butterfat isn't listed the only way you can guess is by the way it behaves, i.e. if it doesn't beat easily or hold up well most likely it's lower fat.
Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | October 16, 2007 3:46 PM #
Cindy - thanks for reporting on your cake's travel experience... good for us all to know.
Thanks too for reporting on you experience with Trader Joe's chocolate. I will definitely be purchasing some the next time I go shopping there.
Heavy cream must contain a minimum of 36% fat, light whipping cream 30-36%, light cream 18-30%, and half & half 10.5-18%. If you needed to add melted butter to that brand this time, you will probably need to do the same each time you use it. Is there an phone number or website listed on the package? If so, you can contact the manufacturer to ask for the exact %.
Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | October 15, 2007 1:19 PM #
AFFORDABLE BELGIAN CHOCOLATE
For more than a year I've been baking with a fabulous Belgian chocolate made especially for Trader Joe's in milk, bittersweet (54%) and dark (72%). 17 oz is only $2.99-$3.99. They also carry Ghiaradelli brand milk, dark, and white chocolate, which I like less but will use in a pinch.
Reply to this Posted by: Cindy | October 15, 2007 12:52 PM #
Hi Rose, I'm submitting a lot of questions today! I have started using a dark chocolate 72% cocoa for ganache in some recipes, at 8 oz. per 1 cup of heavy cream. The first time it seized up, and I added 1/8 cup light corn syrup per cup of heavy cream and the ganache became smooth, set up well, coated well, and dried glossy--a baker's dream! Can you please explain why the corn syrup is needed, or if there are better solutions to the seizing? I love the contrast of the darker chocolate flavor. Thanks!
Reply to this Posted by: Cindy | October 15, 2007 12:48 PM #
Question about percentage of butterfat content in heavy cream
Hi Rose and everyone:
Bless you for The Cake Bible, which has rescued and given professional skills to more of us than you can possibly know! I recently tried Country Fresh brand heavy cream, and my mousse did not set up very well. According to CB I thoguht it may not have enough butterfat, so I added some butter and it improved. My question is, how can we know the percentage of butterfat in a product when it is not listed?
Reply to this Posted by: Cindy | October 15, 2007 12:42 PM #
CAKE SHIPPING TRIUMPH! Hello fellow bakers: I deep froze an 8-layer chocolate cake (4 layers sponge, 4 layers mousse, covered in ganache) in a cake box, in a styrofoam cooler, with 4 lbs dry ice, placed in a shipping box, overnighted USPS to Sonoma. The cake arrived in pristine condition the day before a birthday luncheon for sister, aunt and cousin, thawed in fridge. They said it was HEAVEN on a plate. I bought the dry ice at a local ice cream wholesaler, but some grocers have started selling it. This was a wonderful experiment that gives me confidence to ship cakes for special events.
Reply to this Posted by: Cindy | October 15, 2007 12:39 PM #
Jeannette, LOVED Washington D.C. I found it very authentic.
Elicia, La Cuisine is to go bonkers! I have not seen such large copper pot collection alone in one such small space!
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | October 12, 2007 5:36 PM #
Oh Hector - great pics and info on Washington DC - if I ever go there! Drooling over the La Cuisine store - I wld have gone bonkers if I were there.
Oh love those genoise cupcakes ... and did I say the mousseline moulded shells were totally ingenious? I did some cupcakes with decorations made with choc moulds - but I used white choc as I was afraid mousseline wld melt as I clumsily unmould them!
Hey - I have some heart-shaped creme brulee ceramic pans too! You've given me a great idea if I ever baked tarts!!
Reply to this Posted by: Elicia | October 12, 2007 4:10 AM #
Thankyou for sharing your trip with us, Hector! Lovely pictures, Washington is on my list of places to visit next in the States.
Reply to this Posted by: Jeannette | October 12, 2007 3:58 AM #
May I share my joy with you all; please enjoy and comment.
http://www.hectorwong.com/roselevy/WashingtonDC-and-AMERICAN-in-PARIS.html
Reply to this Posted by: Hector | October 12, 2007 1:42 AM #