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    Home • Recipes • French Desserts

    Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake for Easter

    Published: Mar 22, 2013 · Modified: Jun 1, 2023 by Jill Colonna24 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Parisian chocolatier, Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake - an easy recipe to recreate at home. Decorate with chocolate macarons for a special occasion.

    Patrick Roger's chocolate cake
    Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake

    Keeping the kids amused during the French school holidays is always fun. Fancy art museums in Paris? There's also the Paris Choco Story - Chocolate Museum! Moreoever, what about checking out sculptures, made entirely out of chocolate?  This is how Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake happened.

    Patrick Roger Madeleine Boutique Paris with MadAboutMacarons.com

    There's been much hype around chocolatier Patrick Roger's new boutique at La Madeleine so it was time to enjoy the Patrick Roger experience in Paris with his out-of-the-box chocolate sculptures under one roof. As the tourists poured in and we looked around for the rest of the sculptures, we discovered the upstairs gallery was closed to the public. What? You mean...? We .... can't see any more today? Dark chocolate lumps formed in our throats.

    Chocolatier Patrick Roger's chocolate sculptures at La Madeleine, Paris
    Chocolatier Patrick Roger's chocolate sculptures at La Madeleine, Paris

    Tails between our legs, we headed down Rue Royale.

    As if by chocolate magic, Patrick Roger appeared that evening on France's popular TV show, Top Chef. He was hosting a Chocolate Cake Challenge. The competing professional chefs' faces were a picture when they saw Patrick's alluring cheeky face appear but displaying his grand 'MOF' uniform: Meilleur Ouvrier de France, 2000. As he demonstrated his recipe, it called our next holiday activity; Amateur but macaron-style!

    La Madeleine, Paris and Patrick Roger boutiques - MadAboutMacarons.com

    This was also a good excuse to use the most exquisite cooking chocolate from our local chocolate factory. Alas, they closed due to a fire but at the time of writing, the Chocolaterie du Pecq only opened their doors to the public in December, I'd gone bananas and stocked up with a whole cupboard of their products! The paradox? They supply their chocolate to Menard's La Chocolatière in Tours, where Patrick Roger started out his career!

    Patrick Roger chocolate cake
    THIS is when I can eat out of a bucket!

    Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake

    Cake:
    5 egg whites
    210g caster sugar
    1 egg yolk
    100g flour, sifted
    50g unsweetened cocoa powder
    100g butter
    80g hazelnuts, finely chopped

    1. Using a mixer, whisk the egg whites, adding the caster sugar gradually until you have firm peaks. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix.

    2. Fold in the flour with a large spatula and add the sifted cocoa powder. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan and mix into the batter with the hazelnuts.

    3. Pour into a rectangular mould (I used a silicone rectangular cake mould) and bake 30 mins at 160°C. (I found with my oven that I needed to bake it for 40 minutes at this temperature).

    4. When cool, cut the biscuit into 3 slices horizontally. (As you can see, I didn't cut them as precisely as Patrick Roger did and regretted this afterwards!)

    Patrick Roger chocolate cake

    Syrup:
    100g water
    100g granulated sugar
    100g rum
    2  vanilla pods
    the zest of an orange

    5. In a saucepan, boil the above ingredients and scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pods.

    6. Using a brush, cover each layer with syrup.

    Patrick Roger chocolate cake
    Chocolate fun for the school holidays

    Ganache: (600g)
    300g cream
    40g honey
    40g butter
    300g dark chocolate (I used 64%)

    7. Boil the cream with the honey, and pour onto the broken chocolate bits and whisk gently. Add the butter. Mix using a hand blender.

    8. Cover the biscuit layers with the ganache, one on top of the other. Leave to rest for 30 mins then cover the cake with cocoa powder.

    9. Using a stencil, dust with icing sugar to decorate.

    Patrick Roger's chocolate cake
    Patrick Roger's chocolate cake

    Bear footprints? Well if you saw the weather in Paris last week, it snowed. Big time!

    We were just left with un petit problème: we had too many chocolate macaron shells. A few of them managed to eat up the little extra ganache that was left but the rest have gone straight in to a pastry box in the freezer 'bank'. That way the next chocolate dessert can be decorated with macarons with no effort at all!

    Patrick Roger's chocolate cake
    Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake

    Our family verdict? For chocolate dessert fans who don't like their cake too sweet and appreciate the intense bitter chocolate flavours coming through, you'll adore Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake.

    chocolate cake with macarons

    Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake

    Jill Colonna
    For chocolate lovers who don’t like their cake too sweet and appreciate the intense bitter chocolate flavours coming through, you’ll adore this layered cake by Patrick Roger, Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 25 minutes mins
    Cook Time 40 minutes mins
    Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
    Course Dessert, teatime
    Cuisine French
    Servings 12 people

    Ingredients
      

    Cake:

    • 5 egg whites
    • 210 g caster sugar
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 100 g flour sifted
    • 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
    • 100 g butter
    • 80 g hazelnuts finely chopped

    Syrup:

    • 100 g water
    • 100 g granulated sugar
    • 100 g rum
    • 2 vanilla pods
    • the zest of an orange

    Ganache: (600g)

    • 300 g cream
    • 40 g honey
    • 40 g butter
    • 300 g dark chocolate I used 64%

    Instructions
     

    • Using a mixer, whisk the egg whites, adding the caster sugar gradually until you have firm peaks. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix.
    • Fold in the flour with a large spatula and add the sifted cocoa powder. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan and mix into the batter with the hazelnuts.
    • Pour into a rectangular mould (I used a silicone rectangular cake mould) and bake 30 mins at 160°C. (I found with my oven that I needed to bake it for 40 minutes at this temperature).
    • When cool, cut the biscuit into 3 slices horizontally. (As you can see, I didn't cut them as precisely as Patrick Roger did and regretted this afterwards!)

    For the syrup: In a saucepan, boil the above ingredients and scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pods.

    • Using a brush, cover each layer with syrup.

    For the Ganache: Boil the cream with the honey, and pour onto the broken chocolate bits and whisk gently. Add the butter. Mix using a hand blender.

    • Cover the biscuit layers with the ganache, one on top of the other. Leave to rest for 30 mins then cover the cake with cocoa powder.
    • Using a stencil, dust with icing sugar to decorate.
    Keyword French chocolate cake, moist bittersweet chocolate cake, patrick roger chocolate cake
    Hey - was it you who walked on our chocolate cake? Patrick Roger's Grizzly chocolate sculpture
    Hey - was it you who walked on our chocolate cake? Patrick Roger's Grizzly chocolate sculpture

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    Jill Colonna standing in a French patisserie lab holding a giant whisk over an oversized mixer bowl

    Meet Jill Colonna

    Jill is both Scottish and French and author of the book and blog, Mad About Macarons since 2010. Here she shares over 30 years of experience of living the healthy food life with her French family in Paris - via easy recipes and local food guides in France.

    More about Jill

    Reader Interactions

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      Made this? Rate this recipe...




    1. Cupcake Crusher

      May 26, 2014 at 5:37 pm

      Warning: do not read Jill's blog when hungry!

      Reply
    2. Lora

      March 26, 2013 at 5:24 pm

      That cake looks divine. Love the paw prints.

      Reply
    3. Jamie

      March 25, 2013 at 12:21 pm

      Forget the sculptures, Jill, and just take me to the desserts! And I missed Top Chef??? I have to find this episode online. This cake looks amazing and thanks for sharing the recipe. Gorgeous! And wow delicious! And thanks for showing us where his hidden shop is! Bookmarked for my next trip to Paris. But, oh, actually, YOU would take me there, right?

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 25, 2013 at 8:28 pm

        Jamie, I've linked to the episode directly to the step-by-step recipe in French on their site at the top of the recipe.
        And yes, of course. Let's make a deal that next time you're in Paris, we bookmark the places together!

        Reply
    4. Thomasina

      March 24, 2013 at 8:52 pm

      What a great idea to make a chocolate cake in the school holidays. Looks as if we might have a White Easter here. Never been known to look for eggs in the garden in the snow! Thanks so much Jill for the incentive to be indoors and we'll have fun decorating it as well.

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 24, 2013 at 11:40 pm

        Glad it's an incentive, Thomasina. Oooh, makes me think of a mean Easter bunny - in the snow using white chocolate 🙂

        Reply
    5. Ann

      March 24, 2013 at 12:45 am

      Wow, this cake is beautiful! (And is it crazy that it seems rather "light" to me with all those egg whites?) I'm not sure I have the skills to recreate this, but I loved reading about it!

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 24, 2013 at 3:07 pm

        It is a wonderful cake, Ann. The egg whites is what I love about the 'sponge' but the syrup and the ganache make it dense, moist and well, er... wicked! YOU have more skills than myself to recreate this. It's a piece of cake.

        Reply
    6. Liz

      March 23, 2013 at 4:45 pm

      Magnificent cake, Jill! And you are such a fun mom! My kids would have loved to tag along with you and yours to see the chocolate works of art...especially is they could have a slice of your chocolate delicacy afterward 🙂

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 24, 2013 at 3:06 pm

        Awe, thanks Liz. I'd love to show them (your kids are adorable!)

        Reply
    7. Vicki Bensinger

      March 23, 2013 at 4:30 pm

      Sounds yummy! I especially love the pitter patter of puppy feet running across the cake. Adorable!

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 24, 2013 at 3:05 pm

        It is cute, eh? But truth be told, it's the only stencil I have that doesn't say "Joyeux Anniversaire", Vicki.

        Reply
    8. Jean-Pierre

      March 23, 2013 at 4:25 pm

      This is my kind of chocolate cake, Jill. I must give this a try since you make it look like even I could do it! You have a way of inspiring me into the kitchen. 🙂

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 24, 2013 at 2:58 pm

        Good, Jean-Pierre. So glad I've convinced you. My aim is to be able to drop by and taste the chocolate cake over and over...!

        Reply
    9. Parisbreakfast

      March 23, 2013 at 9:13 am

      I bet those adorable footprints are your fun touch. I wish P.Roger was more fun, lighter touch. His sculptures are beyond me
      You make everything look so easy.

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 24, 2013 at 2:57 pm

        To be honest, I adore his statues. He's a clever (chocolat) cookie. And BTW, it IS easy, Carol. If I can do it...

        Reply
    10. Mirelys

      March 22, 2013 at 11:40 pm

      OMG!!! I have been tortured again and again by this post!! I gave up chocolate for lent and boy once is over I will make this cake and EAT IT ALL!!!!!!! lol! 🙂

      Thank you Jill for the recipe!

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 22, 2013 at 11:59 pm

        Oops - sorry, Mirelys. Keep up the will-power. Easter weekend is just next weekend! Hang in there xo

        Reply
    11. Mardi (eat. live. travel. write)

      March 22, 2013 at 2:25 pm

      Love Patrick Roger's work - and those sculptures!! (good hint about the rue Royale store here too - I'll remember that this summer!). And um, that cake? WOW - looks great for Easter!

      Reply
      • Jill

        March 23, 2013 at 12:00 am

        Too right, Mardi. This cake is dense, full of chocolate flavours, not sweet and packs a punch. Just right for next weekend!

        Reply

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