carrot cream cheese entremet

recipe notes
step-by-step method
recipe card

I like to think of DFK as a blog “for the people”. One of my missions in starting this thing was to offer pro pastry recipes and techniques to people of all shapes, sizes and ability. To most people, and entremet (or mousse cake) is an advanced skill only; the type of thing to be left to the pros. But I think that’s some bullsh*t. Everyone can learn how to sift, or mix, or turn on an oven, and that’s all you need to do to make an entremet when you break it down step by step. So this week I am going to give you the first (but definitely not last) entremet post on DFK. We made a chocolate caramel pg not long ago (short for petit gateau – a small entremet. So many terms.) but this is the next step. This particular entremet has been requested by a lot of you pastry fiends, and it’s time for me to deliver on my promise to share it.

I came up with this cake earlier this year. Spring is the promise of produce, produce, produce, and knowing I had carrots to work with – which have a very earthy, garden-y feel to them, I decided to make a mousse cake based around the classic carrot cake.

There’s a lot of depth and spice in a traditional carrot cake and I thought that speculoos would be a good surrogate for those attributes. I also wanted there to be plenty of clean carrot flavor which is where the layer of gel comes into play. As everyone knows, a good slice of carrot cake can only have cream cheese frosting, so cream cheese mousse felt like a no brainer to incorporate. The layer of short dough at the base of the cake is to give it stability and because nothing is complete in my mind without at least a little crunch. Finally, I have a great, moist hazelnut cake recipe that mimics the mouth feel of actual carrot cake so I wanted to use it too. Being hazelnut based, the cake creates more deep, round flavor notes in the overall profile of the cake that is reminiscent of nuts and spice in the traditional variety. So there you have it, the thought process behind the carrot cream cheese entremet! Now let’s make it.

recipe notes

Making a decent mousse cake requires some special equipment. Special because it isn’t necessarily standard issue for most amateur bakers, but actually versatile in the world of pastry and so worth the small investment to have. We’re talking cake rings and non-stick cake pans that you could use for lot’s of things besides a mousse cake.

I also use plexiglass sheets, which I’ve mentioned in my post on chocolate decorations, because the plexiglass is sturdy and won’t bend during cooling or freezing. If you have a flat sheet pan you don’t need plexiglass, but it helps.

Acetate sheets and bands are another nice item to have to make a mousse cake. Both will help you remove the frozen cake from a sheet pan or cake ring without leaving and marks or texture, which will mean a nice, smooth glazing at the end of the process. Again, not 100% necessary, but nice to have if you plan to do this more than once.

There’s no denying this is a more involved recipe and dessert, but the nice thing is that at just about every step along the way you can freeze what you’ve made and wait until another time to continue the process. This is pretty luxurious compared to making, say, bread, which demands your attention from the moment you start it to the moment you eat it. Long story short, you can work making a mousse cake into a busy schedule if you aren’t the type to bake every day.

In talking about how to make this thing, I’ve arranged the recipes in the order I would make them, taking into account starting or stopping the process. Yup, I can be a nice guy now and then.

Before you get started on those recipes, take just a minute to organize and identity which cake ring or rings you’re going to use to build your cake. I use a 8″/200mm ring and a 7″/180mm ring. Traditional entremet is usually several layers of components encased in an outer layer of mousse but that doesn’t mean yours has to be. If you only have one cake ring, you can simply build the whole thing one layer stacked on the other. It won’t get you the nice smooth finish as a mousse surrounding everything, and a second cake ring is pretty damn cheap, but it’s your choice! I’m going to assume a two ring setup, so if you’re using one ring and you see me references one size or the other, just disregard it and make everything with the one ring you have.

For the cake’s glaze I call for gel color. I use Chef Rubber brand of gel color, and if you choose to use a different brand, just know that the ratio I give for this particular color could be off, since each brand uses different colorant and formulas.

carrot entremet

short dough
hazelnut cake
carrot gelee
speculoos mousse
cream cheese mousse
carrot glaze
assembly

short dough

180g butter
360g all purpose flour
9g salt
180g turbinado sugar
2g ginger
3g cinnamon
72g whole milk
4g baking powder

Combine all of the ingredients together and mix with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer (or by hand if you really want) until the dough binds together.

Wrap and rest the dough in the cooler for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.

Roll the dough out to 1/8”/3mm thick. Punch a circle of dough out using the smaller of the two rings.

Remove the ring and bake the dough at 340F/171C for 18 minutes, rotating the sheet pan in the oven after the first 9 minutes. The dough will spread slightly during baking, so after removing from the oven and while still hot, press the 7″/180mm ring into the dough once more to punch a clean disk.

hazelnut cake

140g butter
2g salt A
36g honey
140g egg yolks
112g powdered sugar
242g hazelnut flour
65g bread flour
220g egg whites
1g cream of tartar
2g salt B
97g sugar
4g cinnamon

Combine the butter, salt, honey and egg yolks and cream them together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.

Combine the powdered sugar, hazelnut flour, bread flour and cinnamon and pulse in a food processor until smooth or pass through a sifter.

Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, mixing until homogenized.

Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt B and begin to whisk on medium speed with a whip attachment in a stand mixer.

Add half of the sugar and continue to whip until the egg whites are fully foamed with no clear white still intact.

Add the second half of sugar and increase the speed to high, whipping until a stiff meringue is formed.

Fold the meringue into the batter in two stages.

Spread the batter evenly over a sheet pan lined with a non-stick baking mat or piece of parchment paper. Alternately, you can pour the batter into a cake pan or ring. I’m using a non-stick cake mold that matches the diameter of the ring I used for the short dough (7″/180mm).

Bake the cake at 350F/176C for 10min. Let cool and cut a ½” slice of the cake to use as your layer in the entremet.

carrot gelee

250g carrot juice
70g sugar A
2g vanilla extract
7g yellow pectin
22g sugar B
4g gelatin

Rehydrate the gelatin in cold water for at least 5min.

Combine the sugar B and yellow pectin, mixing until well combined.

Combine the carrot juice, sugar A and vanilla extract.

Pour the sugar and pectin mixer into the carrot juice while whisking.

Bring the mixture to a boil (whisking occasionally while it heats up and consistently once it has begun to boil) for 1min.

Squeeze the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and add to the heated carrot juice. Whisk until the gelatin is melted and homogenized into the mixture.

Let the gelee cool for 5-10min and then cast it into your *mold. Let the gelee firm up in the refrigerator until it’s tacky but not fully set and place the layer of cake onto, pressing gently just to adhere the cake to the gelee. Place the cake/gelee combo into the freezer and freeze.

*Again, plenty of options here. Option 1: you can use the same non-stick cake mold that you baked the hazelnut cake in (or even get a shallow disk mold like this). Option 2: cast the gelee into a flat sheet pan lined with plastic wrap or a non-stick baking mat. Once the gelee is set you can freehand cut or punch a ring shape from the layer of gelee. Option 3: You can heat a metal cake ring and then place plastic wrap over it nice and taught, allowing the heat to seal the plastic to the ring.

speculoos mousse

250g heavy cream
130g sugar
36g water
70g egg yolks
150g speculoos spread
6g gelatin

Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for a minimum of 5min.

Whip the heavy cream in a stand mixer with a whip attachment until it thickens to soft peaks. Keep the cream in the refrigerator until needed.

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepot and bring it to a boil. Whisk well as the syrup is heating up to fully dissolve the sugar, but once it comes to a boil stop whisking to avoid crystallization.

While the syrup is boiling, whisk the egg yolks in a stand mixer with a whip attachment.

When the sugar syrup reaches 250F/121C, remove it from the heat and pour it over the egg yolks, whisking at high speed. Continue to whip the egg yolks at high speed for 30 seconds and then reduce the mixing speed to medium high until the egg mixture cools and thickens. Congrats, you’ve made a pate a bombe!

Squeeze out the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and melt it in the microwave. Add the melted gelatin to the pate a bombe, whisking well to incorporate it.

Gently heat the speculoos and fold it into the pate a bombe.

Pull the whipped cream from the fridge and give it a little whisk by hand to stiffen it back up.

Fold the whipped cream into the speculoos mixture in two additions, starting with a whisk and then switching to a spatula to finish the job.

Cast the speculoos mousse into the same mold you used for the carrot gelee.

Just like the gelee, place the speculoos mousse in the refrigerator and let it set until tacky. Pull the frozen block of cake and gelee from the freezer and then place it onto the speculoos mousse, with the carrot gelee facing down. Put the whole thing back in the freezer to set it fully.

cream cheese mousse

220g heavy cream
220g whole milk
45g egg yolks
82g sugar
12g gelatin 160 bloom
375g cream cheese
32g lemon juice

Before starting the process, have your ring mold prepared. Once the mousse is ready to go, it waits for no one. If using acetate and plexiglass, start by adding a small amount of water to your plexiglass sheet and place the acetate over the water. Squeegee excess water from the acetate using a bowl scraper to seal the acetate down. Prep the cake ring with a strip of acetate and place it onto the plexiglass sheet. You are now prepared.

Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for a minimum of 5min (I feel like a broken record).

Whip the heavy cream in a stand mixer with a whip attachment until it thickens to soft peaks. Keep the cream in the refrigerator until needed.

Combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk together until homogenized. Don’t let the egg yolks and sugar sit together unmixed for too long or the sugar will dehydrate the yolks which is not awesome.

Bring the milk to a simmer and pour a small amount of it into the yolk mixture, whisking well to warm everything up. Add the warmed yolks back to the milk and return it to the stove.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking well, until it reaches 82C (now you’ve made crème anglaise. French AF). Squeeze the excess water from the gelatin and whisk until homogenized.

Warm the cream cheese gently in the microwave until softened and add the crème anglaise in a few small additions, mixing well with each addition to avoid any lumps.

Add the lemon juice and mix well.

Pull the whipped cream from the refrigerator and whip it back to soft peaks by hand.

Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in two additions.

Pour the finished mousse into your ring mold. Place the frozen block of cake (commonly called the “insert”) centered into the mousse, with the speculoos mousse facing down. Gently press the insert into the mousse until it rises up the sides of the mold sitting flush with the insert.

I use a small amount of mousse to “glue” the short dough base to the cake. Then, you guessed it, freeze the whole thing.

carrot glaze

370g carrot juice
12g butter
125g glucose
15g gelatin
500g white chocolate
500g white compound chocolate
4.5g red gel color
12g orange gel color
1g brown gel color

Combine the white chocolate, white compound chocolate and gel colors and hold to them until later.

Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for a minimum of 5 minutes.

Combine the carrot juice, butter and glucose and bring them to a boil. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolates.

Squeeze out the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and add it to the chocolate mixture.

Hand blend everything until its fully homogenized.

Let the glaze cool to 86F/30C before using it.

assembly

Unmold the frozen cake from the cake ring (Don’t forget to remove the band of acetate from the side of the cake. Made that mistake before.)

Place the cake right side up onto a glazing rack (cooling racks work great). I usually line a sheet pan with plastic wrap and then place the cooling rack over that. This does a great job of catching excess glaze to be used again.

At this point you can continue to freeze the cake until it’s ready for glazing or if your glaze is ready go ahead and finish the cake off.

Heat the glaze to 86F/30C before using it. The glaze will appear darker in color when it’s heated up.

Pour the glaze around the cake, starting with the edge and moving in towards the center.

While the glaze is still fresh, use an offset spatula to sheer excess glaze off the top of the cake. Some chefs use a single stroke for this, either pushing away from their body or pulling toward their body. I like to use a double stroke, which lets me gauge pressure on the offset so I don’t sheer too much or too little off the top of the cake. All about practice and figuring out what works best for you.

Transfer the cake to a cooler or freezer for 5min. while still on the glazing setup to allow the glaze to begin to set. Clean the bottom edge of the cake before transferring it onto a plate and giving it whatever final decoration you may want (I like using finely chopped coconut for the bottom edge of the cake and a simple white chocolate decoration on top).

Our first entremet is complete. If you took it step by step and kept a cool head, you are likely to have a bad ass mousse cake in front of you. The timing couldn’t be better, because what good are the holidays if you can’t impress everyone you know with elaborate desserts you’ve created from scratch??

Cheers – Chef Scott

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carrot cream cheese entremet

Votes: 5 Rating: 4.6 You: Rate this recipe!

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carrot cream cheese entremet Votes: 5 Rating: 4.6 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe

Ingredients

short dough

• 180 g butter unsalted
• 360 g All-purpose flour
• 9 g salt
• 180 g turbinado sugar
• 2 g ginger
• 3 g cinnamon
• 72 g whole milk
• 4 g baking powder

hazelnut cake

• 140 g butter unsalted
• 2 g salt A
• 36 g honey
• 140 g egg yolks
• 112 g powdered sugar
• 242 g hazelnut flour
• 65 g bread flour
• 220 g egg whites
• 1 g cream of tartar
• 2 g salt B
• 97 g sugar
• 4 g cinnamon

carrot gelee

• 250 g carrot juice
• 70 g sugar A
• 2 g vanilla extract
• 7 g pectin
• 22 g sugar B
• 4 g gelatin 160 bloom

speculoos mousse

• 250 g heavy cream
• 130 g sugar
• 36 g water
• 70 g egg yolks
• 150 g speculoos spread
• 6 g gelatin 160 bloom

cream cheese mousse

• 220 g heavy cream
• 220 g whole milk
• 45 g egg yolks
• 82 g sugar
• 12 g gelatin 160 bloom
• 375 g cream cheese
• 32 g lemon juice

carrot glaze

• 370 g carrot juice
• 12 g butter
• 125 g glucose
• 15 g gelatin 160 bloom
• 500 g white chocolate
• 500 g white compound chocolate
• 4.5 g red gel color
• 12 g orange gel color
• 1 g brown gel color

Servings:

Units:MetricUS Imperial

Instructions

short dough

1. Combine all of the ingredients together and mix with a paddle attachment in a stand mixer until the dough binds together.
2. Wrap and rest the dough in the cooler for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
3. Roll the dough out to 1/8”/3mm thick and punch a circle of dough out using a 7"/180mm cake ring.
4. Bake: convection; 340F/171C for 18 minutes, rotating the sheet pan in the oven after the first 9 minutes.

hazelnut cake

1. Combine the butter, salt, honey and egg yolks and cream them together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment.
2. Combine and sift the powdered sugar, hazelnut flour, bread flour and cinnamon.
3. Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, mixing until homogenized.
4. Combine the egg whites, cream of tartar and salt B and begin to whisk on medium speed with a whip attachment in a stand mixer.
5. Add the sugar in two additions, the first addition in the beginning of mixing and the second addition after a full foam has formed with no clear egg white still visible.
6. Increase the mixing speed to high and whip the egg whites to a stiff meringue consistency.
7. Fold the meringue into the butter mixture in to additions and mix until homogenized.
8. Pour the batter into a 7"/180mm cake ring on a sheet pan lined with parchment/non-stick baking mat.
9. Bake: convection; 350F/176C for 20-30min.
10. Let the cake cool and cut a 1/2"/1.3cm slice of cake.

carrot gelee

1. Rehydrate the gelatin in cold water for 5-10min.
2. Combine the sugar B and yellow pectin, mixing until well combined.
3. Combine the carrot juice, sugar A and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the sugar and pectin mixer into the carrot juice while whisking.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil (whisking occasionally while it heats up and consistently once it has begun to boil) for 1min.
6. Squeeze the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and add to the heated carrot juice. Whisk until the gelatin is melted and homogenized into the mixture.
7. Let the gelee cool for 5-10min and then cast it into your 7"/180mm ring mold.
8. Let the gelee firm up in the refrigerator until it’s tacky but not fully set and place the layer of cake onto, pressing gently just to adhere the cake to the gelee. Place the cake/gelee combo into the freezer and freeze.

speculoos mousse

1. Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for 5-10min.
2. Whip the heavy cream in a stand mixer with a whip attachment until it thickens to soft peaks. Keep the cream in the refrigerator until needed.
3. Combine the sugar and water in a sauce pot and bring it to a boil, cooking to 250F/121C. Whisk well as the syrup is heating up to fully dissolve the sugar, stopping any whisking during boiling.
4. While the syrup is boiling, whisk the egg yolks in a stand mixer with a whip attachment.
5. At 250F/121C, remove the syrup from the heat and pour it over the egg yolks, whisking at high speed. Continue to whip the egg yolks at high speed for 30 seconds and then reduce the mixing speed to medium high until the egg mixture cools and thickens (pate a bombe).
6. Squeeze out any excess water from the hydrated gelatin and melt it in the microwave. Add the melted gelatin to the pate a bombe, whisking until homogenized.
7. Gently heat the speculoos until softened and fold it into the pate a bombe.
8. Stiffen the whipped cream as necessary to bring it back to soft peaks.
9. Fold the whipped cream into the speculoos mixture in two additions, starting with a whisk and then switching to a spatula to finish incorporating.
10. Cast the speculoos mousse into a 7"/180mm ring mold 1/2"/1.3cm deep.
11. Let the mousse set in the refrigerator for 5min. until tacky but not fully set.
12. Pull the frozen block of cake and gelee from the freezer and then place it onto the speculoos mousse, with the carrot gelee facing down.
13. Return the block of mousse, gelee and cake to the freezer and freeze.

cream cheese mousse

1. Prepare your 8"/200mm ring mold by lining it with a strip of acetate and placing it on a plexi glass sheet lined with a non-stick baking mat or sheet of acetate.
2. Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for a minimum of 5min.
3. Whip the heavy cream in a stand mixer with a whip attachment until it thickens to soft peaks. Keep the cream in the refrigerator until needed.
4. Combine the egg yolks and sugar, whisking until thoroughly mixed.
5. Bring the whole milk to a simmer and add the egg yolks mixture, whisking well while incorporating.
6. Cook the mixture, while whisking, to 180F/82C (creme anglaise).
7. Squeeze out any excess water from the hydrated gelatin and melt it in the microwave. Add the melted gelatin to the creme anglaise, whisking until homogenized. Cool the creme anglaise over an ice bath to 86F/30C
8. Warm the cream cheese gently in the microwave until softened and add the crème anglaise in a few small additions, mixing well with each addition to avoid any lumps.
9. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
10. Stiffen the whipped cream as necessary to bring it back to soft peaks.
11. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in two additions, starting with a whisk and then switching to a spatula to finish incorporating.
12. Cast the cream cheese mousse into the prepared ring.
13. Pull the frozen block of cake, gelee and speculloos mousse (the insert) from the freezer and then place it into the cake ring, with the speculoos mousse facing down.
14. Gently press the insert into the cream cheese mousse until both are flush with one another. Keep the insert centered in the cake ring as you press.
15. Place the baked disk of short dough into the cake ring and return the mousse cake to the freezer. Freeze thoroughly.

carrot glaze

1. Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for a minimum of 5 minutes.
2. Combine the white chocolate, compound chocolate and gel colors and reserve.
3. Combine the carrot juice, butter and glucose and bring them to a boil. Pour the hot mixture over the chocolates.
4. Squeeze out the excess water from the hydrated gelatin and add it to the chocolate mixture.
5. Hand blend the glaze until it is fully homogenized.
6. Use the glaze at 86F/30C.

final decor

1. Unmold the frozen cake from the cake ring and remove the strip of acetate from the cake's side.
2. Line a sheet pan with plastic wrap and place a cooling (glazing) rack on top. Place the cake right side up onto the glazing rack.
3. Adjust the temperature of the glaze as needed to 86F/30C. Keep the cake in the freezer while adjusting the glaze.
4. Pour the glaze around the cake, starting with the edge and moving in towards the center.
5. While the glaze is still fresh, use an offset spatula to sheer excess glaze off the top of the cake.

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