What are Entremets?

According to Larousse Gastronomique, the word entremet indicates the "sweet course" which is always served after the "cheese course" in France. (Why am I not living there?) Entremet is also used to describe a specific dessert.

During the course of 10 days at NWCAV, we are making a wide variety of sponges, creams, jellies, mousses, syrups, and custards to put entremets together. On Thursday and Friday of this week, we each have to create, prepare, and decorate our own 6" entremet that consists of 2 different sponge layers and 2 different fillings, which we will be graded on.

I have always appreciated the work that goes into this art form. It is now wonderful to learn how these beautiful cakes are put together and the great skill that is required. The number of steps to make one little cake can be incredible! Take, for example, the last cake shown below (Chocolate Mango Entremet). You may not realize it, but this cake has 7 different components to it. The vanilla sponge layer can be a bit tricky to make: the only thing that leavens it in the oven is the air pockets that are created by whipping up the sabayon (warmed eggs and sugar) portion of the recipe as much as possible. You need to be very careful when adding the remaining ingredients to that mixture to not destroy the air pockets that you worked so hard to create. A soaker (flavored simple syrup) is applied to the sponge once it is evenly cut into layers. The outer, more decorative sponge consists of two different sponges baked together: a cigarette paste and a jaconde sponge. A thin layer of the darker sponge (cigarette paste) is spread out onto a silpat and a pattern is sketched out. After it is chilled, a different layer of sponge (jaconde) is spread over top of it and baked. Once the sponge is peeled from the silpat, a flexible layer remains that can be cut and used to line the outside of the cake.

When making mousses, technical skills and temperature control is of the utmost importance to ensure a smooth consistency when you combine all of the recipe's components. The glossy finish on the top of the mousse cake is called a mirror. It is a mixture of sugar, citric acid, and pectin, which is sold commercially to bakers. Ingredients are added to it to give it flavor and color to decorate the tops of the cakes. After each component is made and everything is evenly cut, the mousse cake is put together in stages. Aside from the detail, the texture and taste of each layer has to speak for itself and has to have a reason to be there. Colors need to be thought out, flavor pairings need to be formulated, and a sound structure needs to be built. Care is also taken when unmolding the mousse cake so you don't ruin your finished product!

As you learn to make beautiful desserts, it also makes you aware of what is currently out there and how rare it is that you come across a shop here in North America that is serving gorgeous, fresh, and delicious cakes. It is my hope that people can become more educated on quality desserts and start to demand such and line up for them! They are a superb treat!

Although these are the works of a beginner, they were still sumptuous!