Parisian chocolatier, Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake - an easy recipe to recreate at home. Decorate with chocolate macarons for a special occasion.
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.
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.
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!
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'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!)
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.
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.
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!
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.
Patrick Roger's Chocolate Cake
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.
Cupcake Crusher
Warning: do not read Jill's blog when hungry!
Lora
That cake looks divine. Love the paw prints.
Jamie
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?
Jill
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!
Thomasina
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.
Jill
Glad it's an incentive, Thomasina. Oooh, makes me think of a mean Easter bunny - in the snow using white chocolate 🙂
Ann
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!
Jill
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.
Liz
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 🙂
Jill
Awe, thanks Liz. I'd love to show them (your kids are adorable!)
Vicki Bensinger
Sounds yummy! I especially love the pitter patter of puppy feet running across the cake. Adorable!
Jill
It is cute, eh? But truth be told, it's the only stencil I have that doesn't say "Joyeux Anniversaire", Vicki.
Jean-Pierre
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. 🙂
Jill
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...!
Parisbreakfast
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.
Jill
To be honest, I adore his statues. He's a clever (chocolat) cookie. And BTW, it IS easy, Carol. If I can do it...
Mirelys
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!
Jill
Oops - sorry, Mirelys. Keep up the will-power. Easter weekend is just next weekend! Hang in there xo
Mardi (eat. live. travel. write)
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!
Jill
Too right, Mardi. This cake is dense, full of chocolate flavours, not sweet and packs a punch. Just right for next weekend!