Serve 8
Almond cake
Start making a French meringue by gently beating the egg whites and gradually adding superfine sugar (split amount of sugar in 3 and add separately). Beat the meringue until stiff peaks form.
Sift powdered sugar and almond powder, then carefully add to meringue.
Pipe 2 discs of meringue with a diameter of 19 cm on a parchment paper using the pastry bag fitted with the plain nozzle (ø11mm) ; see how to draw a disc on parchment paper in our blog post.
Bake in convection oven at 185 °C (365 °F) for about 12 minutes.
Once cooked, leave meringue to cool and cover with plastic wrap.
Raspberry sauce
Cook raspberries in the raspberry pulp.
Gently sprinkle sugar and pectin combined together.
Cook for 1 minute before adding lemon juice.
Pour raspberry sauce in recipient and cover with plastic wrap.
Intense vanilla pastry cream
Moisten the gelatin sheet in a large quantity of water.
Combine the milk and vanilla in a saucepan and let infuse.
Add the sugar and boil down.
Remove from heat, then add the egg yolks and whisk briskly.
Squeeze the excess water from the gelatin and add to mixture. Pour mixture over white chocolate and mix together with a hand blender for smoother results.
Pour in a baking sheet and allow to cool at 20°C (68 °F).
Whip the cream until a foam has formed. Briskly whisk the vanilla and white chocolate mixture to smooth it ; make sure it is perfectly smooth before adding whipped cream. Assemble cake right away.
Vanilla "choux pastry" sponge cake
Make a meringue by beating the egg whites, sugar and honey until stiff peaks form.
Thoroughly mix some of the meringue with the milk mixture. Gradually add the remaining meringue.
Pour in a baking sheet to obtain a mixture that is 3-mm thick.
Bake in convection oven at 185 °C (365 °F) for about 8 minutes.
This sponge cake should be very moist for ideal taste and use.
French meringue
Gently beat the egg whites and gradually add the sugar (split amount of sugar in 3 and add separately).
The meringue must be firm and smooth. Pipe long meringue sticks using a pastry bag fitted with the square Géo nozzle.
Bake in convection oven at 90 °C (195 °F) for about an hour.
Assembly
On a baking tray, place the 20-cm cake ring on a parchment paper sheet.
Line the inside of the ring with a 63-cm long strip of Rhodoid.
Cut two 4-cm wide and 31-cm long strips of sponge cake and use them to cover the inner side of the ring, up against the Rhodoid.
Place one of layer of the almond cake at the bottom of the ring, then pipe half of the raspberry sauce after smoothing it. Add some fresh strawberries on top.
Pipe the pastry cream until it reaches the middle of the cake ring.
Place a second layer of almond cake and repeat the process with the raspberry sauce and fresh raspberries.
Pour the remaining pastry cream ; smooth and level to align with the edge of the cake ring.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
Decorate with fresh raspberries, cornflowers and small meringues in the center of the cake. Remove the cake ring and gently peel off the Rhodoid strip. Serve cold.
Winner 2019 of the prestigious competition Best Pastry Craftsman of France, Jonathan Mougel’s pâtisserie is the embodiment of taste, mind and pleasure. Innovation highlights his thirst for creativity, and his mission in R&D for PatisFrance-Puratos for over 15 years has taken him to further his commands, enhancing his passion for research, experiments and discoveries.
Since his beginnings, Jonathan finds reward in teaching pastry. His inner sense of passing on knowledge echoes his values, fulfilling his approach, rising pastry from craft to art.
Gifted searcher, his drive keeps challenging him to unrelentlessly unveiling new horizons to elevate pastry
