Entremets are typically assembled upside down, meaning that the cake portion, which is the base of the entremet, is the last thing to put on while assembling the entremets.
The “body” of the entremet is typically the main fl avor/component, since it will hold all of the other components together; therefore it is the fi rst item to be piped into the mold. The mold, as well as the sheet pan that will be used hold the entremet mold, should be frozen before piping anything into them, to prevent melting.
After piping some of the main component in, other components, called “inserts,” are placed throughout the body. Special attention should be paid to prevent air pockets from forming.
The cake (or sponge) is the last layer. It should be pressed down so that it is lined up with the border of the mold. This sponge is usually coated with a thin layer of chocolate to prevent it from sticking to the cake board. At this point the entremet is hardened in the freezer.
Once it has hardened it is taken out of the mold by applying heat, either a hot water bath or a torch. It needs to be re-frozen for a few min-utes, and then it is coated by a glaze or choco-late spray.
Finally, it is garnished. Use garnishes that are resistant to freezing and condensation, such as chocolate.
Once the entremet is assembled and suf-fi ciently hardened, it will be necessary to take it out of its mold. Stainless steel molds are widely used, and there are various methods for taking them off. For dome-shaped molds, dip the mold inside a hot water bath all the way up to the rim of the dome, without getting any water on the surface. The trick is to leave it in the water for just the right amount of time so that it comes out clean. Then place a cake board at the base of the cake, turn the dome over, and push one side of the base of the dome while holding the
opposite side with your other hand on top of the dome in a circular motion, following the shape of the dome so it comes out clean and smooth.
If it melts too much, the surface of the dome will look like wrinkled paper, and when it re-freezes it will become very icy because the previously melted exterior has lost its smoothness. With any other mold that is a frame-type mold (like a regular cake ring), you need to use a torch to take the mold off. And here the same trick is to give it the right amount of heat that will be just enough to slide the mold right off and avoid melting it too much. Fleximolds work very well because they do not require the application of heat for unmolding; they just peel off. However, one defect that occurs is that the borders aren’t very straight (they seem to curve too much), and so the fi nal look is not very polished. There are also plastic molds that have very nice designs but have very short life spans, meaning that they easily crack or lose their shape when they are washed with very hot water.
If the entremets are to be coated with a glaze or sprayed with chocolate, it is not only to embellish them but also to protect the integrity of the exterior. If you think about it, a glaze will
Entremets are assembled upside down in layers, starting from the outer layer and working in toward the center and base.
Once completely assembled and fully hardened, re-move the entremet from its mold and keep it frozen until ready for garnish and service.
An entremet’s layered composition presents myriad possibilities for creativity when combining fl avors and textures.
likely have an ingredient similar to those used to stabilize frozen desserts, such as gelatin or pectin, which will keep it smooth even when fro-zen. These ingredients also set quickly when they come in contact with cold temperatures, so it is important to work quickly and to have the glaze at the right temperature, which depends on the nature of the glaze and its gelling agent. Some glazes are ideally poured at 35°C / 95°F, such as the Shiny Chocolate Glaze on page 200, and others at cooler temperatures, like the Caramel Glaze on page 220, which is poured at 19°C / 66°F to 20°C / 68°F. To obtain an even coating, pour the glaze directly at the center of the cake and let it puddle naturally onto the cake. Occa-sionally it will be necessary to pour the glaze in a spiral motion if the cake has an uneven surface or if it is concave or too large and the glaze will stay in a puddle at the center of the cake. A fun-nel, pitcher, or ladle is ideal for pouring glaze.
When tempering an entremet that has a coating of chocolate spray, it is important to let it temper not only for textural considerations but also because the very visible frost that will accumulate on its surface is not very attractive.
Tempering resolves this issue.
As far as garnishing, make sure it is a garnish that can be easily cut through when portioning. If this entremet is sold at a café or pastry shop, put one fi nished entremet on dis-play, and if one is ordered it can be garnished at the last minute. In a restaurant environment, it can be garnished minutes before it is served (ideally while it is tempering). Chocolate tends to crack (or shatter) easily when cut, but pâte à glacer (a chocolate product with a higher per-centage of cocoa butter) cuts much more cleanly since it has a higher fat content. Always use edible garnishes or make sure to inform your customers that the beautiful piece of star anise and the whole vanilla pod are for visual appeal
only. While I concede that edible garnishes are ideal, the benefi t of non-edible garnishes is that they can easily be taken off the entremet before portioning, and it will therefore be easier to cut if nothing (such as a chocolate plaque) is in the way. It is a good idea to put a garnish on the en-tremet that will refl ect its contents; for example, if there is coconut ice cream inside, place a thin stripe of shredded coconut on the entremet. This will not always be possible, though, since some garnishing ingredients are not recommended for freezing, such as fresh fruit or cooked sugar.
An interesting aspect of entremets is the possibility of combining a variety of frozen des-serts in one place. Churned or pacotized items such as ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, and gelato can be combined with still-frozen items, such as mousses, parfaits, and semifreddos (see pages 312-321 for entremet recipes). This opens up many possibilities for the fi nished product, but try not to use more than three different types of frozen items in a single entremet because, after that point, the fl avors won’t be very distinguish-able. There is always the possibility of making many different frozen components of a single fl avor, such as a tangerine ice cream, sorbet, frozen souffl é, and granité. This would present the tangerine’s fl avor in a variety of textures and provide a great dessert experience without being overkill.
When cutting entremets, use a sharp, thin, and long slicing knife. Dip it in a hot water bath that is deep enough to surround the entire blade with water. Wipe the knife dry with a paper towel and slowly cut through the entremet. Repeat these steps before each cut. And make sure the entremet is tempered, because if it is too hard, when you cut through it, it will have a crumbled look, as opposed to a more visually appealing smooth surface.
While some might consider a frozen item in a savory preparation absurd, this approach has become increasingly popular on many menus.
There really is no written rule about savory items with a frozen component, but try to keep the portion small. It should be an amuse-gueule or a small course between larger courses, almost like a palate cleanser but more interesting. 20 g / .71 oz is the size of scoop or quenelle that is recommended. The frozen component shouldn’t overwhelm the other items it is served with, it should enhance them.
In this book, most of the frozen compo-nents (ice cream, sorbet, or granité) intended for savory preparations have had their sugar
percentages considerably dropped so that they aren’t as sweet as they would be for a dessert.
It is because of this that using a Pacojet is rec-ommended in order to obtain a very smooth product. Remember that sugar depresses the freezing point of frozen items and is responsible for ice crystal formation (the more sugar, the smaller the ice crystal; the less sugar, the larger the ice crystal . . . think of granités). Other savory items have been kept sweet because it is the na-ture of that ingredient to be sweet, such as beets (see recipe on page 383). Be careful; there is a lot of opportunity here to get wacky.