French Marjolaine Cake Combines Candy Bar Goodness With Michelin Star Quality
Unless you're a French-trained chef, you may not have heard of marjolaine cake. This scrumptious cake is arguably more exciting than other cake varieties — it's the brainchild of the chef behind three-Michelin-star restaurant La Pyramide, a culinary haven that became home to fellow famous chefs Paul Bocuse and the Troisgros brothers (per Epicurious).
Fernand Point was one of the stars of the 1930s restaurant scene in France, and his dessert creation is elegant but delicious. With rich chocolate ganache, airy meringue, and delectable vanilla and hazelnut buttercream (per BBC Good Food), it evokes the most prominent flavors of your favorite candy bars, with subtle sophistication.
This tantalizing cake is sure to satisfy even the most finicky of party guests. (Or, if the mood strikes, you can make this stunning dessert for a party of one.) You'll satisfy your sweet tooth (and everyone else's) with this aesthetically pleasing, undeniably satisfying cake.
How did marjolaine cake become a French dessert staple?
Per Epicurious, La Pyramide owner Fernand Point crafted a variety of recipes that ranged from outlandish (Fois gras parfait! Trout mousse!) to delightfully tempting. One such mouth-watering recipe is the chef's now-beloved marjolaine cake, which he spent years perfecting, tweaking the recipe until it satisfied his refined taste buds.
Point's marjolaine cake is just one of many creations etched into culinary history in his 1969 cookbook "Ma Gastronomie" (via the American Culinary Federation). The marjolaine — which inexplicably translates to "marjoram," though the recipe is completely devoid of the herb — became a favorite of chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry and Per Se. Channeling Point's innovative spirit, Keller has experimented with different types of chocolate and a variety of serving sizes (per Epicurious).
Marjolaine cake is still popular among French-trained chefs, who never fail to pay homage to Point's famous recipe.
How to make a marjolaine cake that will satisfy your sweet tooth
If you want to transport your taste buds to France without the pricey plane ticket, making homemade marjolaine cake is a solid alternative. After you preheat the oven to 350 F, spread hazelnut powder on a rimmed baking sheet and bake it for about five minutes (or until it smells like nuts). Then, whip the eggs and powdered sugar together until the mixture is creamy (per "The Great British Bake Off"). Fold in the hazelnut powder and flour, then whip the egg whites, powdered sugar, and salt until the mixture peaks. Fold that into the egg and hazelnut mixture. After that, it's time to bake the batter (via Epicurious).
While the cake cools, start on the ganache and buttercream. For the ganache, put chocolate into a bowl, bring the cream to a boil, and pour it over the chocolate before whisking and then letting the mixture sit for 20 minutes. To make the vanilla buttercream, combine sugar and water in a saucepan, pour in the yolks, and whisk before adding the butter and vanilla seeds. Add Nutella to a second bowl of the mixture to make the hazelnut buttercream. Using a cake mold, layer your cake and let it rest overnight in the refrigerator (per Baking Sense).
There are a lot of steps involved, but this scrumptious French cake will be well worth your effort.