I’d never heard of a Saint Marc until I watched GBBO Creme de la Creme. It’s a very well known patisserie though and it just goes to show that there is still a lot for me to learn about the world of patisserie.
Traditionally the Saint Marc is served as a slice made up of layers of vanilla and chocolate mousse sandwiched between two layers of joconde and bruleed on top. Like most patisserie there are a few rules for each type, i.e the number of layers in an opera, the design of a St Honore but the flavour combinations and the size are always up for grabs.
For example macarons can be small or large, St Honore’s can be individual, choux buns can form a massive croquembouche. The Opera is traditionally coffee and chocolate flavoured, but it can also be matcha or raspberry and rose. Similarly a mont blanc doesn’t always have to be chestnut, Dominique Ansel has even made a sweet potato version in his latest book.
So I’ve bucked the trend with this mango Saint Marc and turned it into in a large entremet instead of a slice and replaced the vanilla custard with a mango bavaroise. A bavaroise is a very light mousse set with gelatine and the use of mango makes it really refreshing and the perfect contrast to the chocolate.
This is really easy to make, the hardest part is layering the mousse evenly, but if you leave it to set before adding the top layer, it should work perfectly. As you can see from my pictures, I needed to spread the bavaroise a little more evenly as there are a couple of air pockets.
I couldn’t decide how to decorate this cake, I wanted to do something with tempered chocolate and fresh mango, but it felt like those colours would be too dull. Also I didn’t have much time to temper any chocolate, I found some small tempered chocolate discs I’d made a while ago and I decided I’d use some of the edible violas from my garden along with some mint flowers and mini mint leaves.
Along with the fresh mango, I think the colours really work and I was so pleased with how the decoration turned out. It looks vibrant and fresh, I have to admit I get a lot of my inspiration for how to decorate my patisserie from Instagram and Pinterest.
Mango Saint Marc
Ingredients
- ***Vanilla Joconde***
- 290 g Egg Whites approx 10 eggs
- 100 g Icing Sugar sifted
- 100 g Ground Almonds
- 100 g Plain Flour sifted
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 50 g Caster Sugar
- 50 g Butter melted and cooled
- ***Sugar Syrup***
- 70 g Amaretto
- 30 g Water
- 30 g Caster Sugar
- ***Chocolate Mousse***
- 100 g Dark Chocolate 70% cocoa solids chips or chopped
- 45 g Caster Sugar
- 20 g Egg Yolk
- 50 g Egg
- 200 g Whipping Cream
- ***Mango Bavaroise***
- 250 ml Mango Puree
- 40 g Egg Yolks
- 40 g Caster Sugar
- 6 g Leaf Gelatine
- 225 ml Whipping Cream
- ***Glaze***
- 50 g Water
- 35 g Liquid Glucose
- 30 g Caster Sugar
- 2 g Pectin
- 0.5 g Citric Acid
- ***To assemble***
- 50 g Icing Sugar
- Edible flowers
- Fresh Mango
Instructions
- Line two baking trays that are at least 25 x 25cm with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
- Put 160g off the egg whites into a bowl and add the icing sugar, ground almonds, vanilla extract and flour. Stir until everything comes together and forms a paste.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add the remaining egg whites and and whisk to soft peaks. Slowly add the sugar a little at a time while still whisking the eggs. Keep whisking until you have a smooth glossy meringue that is at stiff peak stage.
- Fold a spoonful of the meringue into the paste to loosen it, then fold in the remaining meringue and gently mix together.
- Fold in the melted butter and stir until combined.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the baking trays and spread it out using a spatula.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool.
- Next make the sugar syrup, place all the ingredients in a small bowl, set aside to dissolve for at least 10 minutes.
- To make the chocolate mousse, put the chopped chocolate into a bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water, allow the chocolate to melt and then set aside to cool.
- Put the sugar, yolk and egg in the bowl of a stand mixer and place it on top of the pan of boiling water. Cook for about 10 minutes whisking continually until the mixture reaches 65C.
- Transfer the bowl to the mixer and whisk for about 5 minutes until the mixture looks thick and moussey. This will take about 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until it's thick, fold the egg mixture into the melted chocolate and then fold in the whipped cream until it's smooth and combined.
- Take a 20cm x 6cm cake ring and cut out two circles of sponge cake, place the cake ring on a board or baking tray that will fit into your fridge. Line the sides of the ring with food grade acetate and place a layer of sponge cake in the bottom of the cake ring.
- Brush half the syrup over the top of the cake so that it's fully saturated then spread all of the chocolate mousse over the cake. Using a palette knife spread it evenly and chill for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
- Next make the bavaroise, heat the mango puree in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
- In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they are well combined and pale.
- Pour half the mango puree into the egg mixture and mix well, return the mixture to the pan and stir until it thickens.
- When the mixture reaches 82C remove it from the heat.
- Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cold water until it softens, squeeze out the excess water and stir the gelatine into the mango custard.
- Decant the custard into a bowl and allow it to cool, whip the cream until stiff peaks and then mix in the cooled custard until it is mixed evenly.
- Spoon the mango bavaroise on top of the chocolate mousse and level it with a spatula. Lay the sponge on top and brush with the remaining syrup, chill for 6 hours or overnight.
- To make the glaze put the water and liquid glucose into a small pan and heat until 40C. Mix the sugar and pectin in a small bowl then add to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 min then stir in the citric acid and cook for a further minute.
- Leave the glaze to one side to cool, take the Saint Marc from the fridge and dust the top with icing sugar.
- Using a chef's blowtorch brulee the top of the cake, so that it begins to caramelise. Remove the cake ring, it should just slide off, then peel off the acetate.
- Using a pastry brush glaze the top of the cake with the clear glaze and decorate with pieces of mango, fresh herbs and the edible flowers.
Notes
Thanks for reading!
Angela
Jodie Dodd
Well, guess I’m not that far behind after all. 😀 This looks fantastic and delicious! The decorations are beautiful, love the colors! Seems like the perfect summer dessert. So excited Bake Off is back and I’ve been able to keep up each week thanks to the interwebs! I’ll have to find the GBBO series you mentioned here, haven’t seen those.
PatisserieMakesPerfect
You’re not far behind at all Jodie! I have been so busy, I haven’t updated the blog in ages – that will all change soon. Enjoy bake off! x
Valerie ILoveCakes
This is beautiful Angela, the mousse textures are incredibles, it looks like a cloud !
PatisserieMakesPerfect
Thank you so much Valerie, the texture was so light, it was a joy to eat! I struggled to share it with others.
Our Food Stories
what a stunning cake!! it looks so delicious <3
PatisserieMakesPerfect
Thank you so much! It’s so tasty. x
Mon Petit Four
This is so beautiful, Angela! I love mango, so I know I would love this too. I love the way you ended up decorating it. Also, those layers are perfection!
PatisserieMakesPerfect
Thank you Beeta! I thought the simple decoration looked really pretty too. I’m so pleased you like it. x