PERFECT TRIANGLE

Rule number one: Be a true professional.
Rule number two: Love your work.
Rule number three: Work with discipline.

This is Davide Comaschi’s recipe for success, winner in 2013 of the World Chocolate Masters in Paris and director of the Chocolate Academy Center in Milan. A chocolatier, or rather a Chocolate Designer, who believes “in the sublimation of flavours, in the perfection of shapes, in the never-ending search for new balances to be created and recreated to find the perfect synthesis between taste and design”.
In December he made the headlines by presenting the world’s largest artistic panettone in Milan. A delegation of technicians from Guinness World Records in attendance to witness the endeavour gave its response: the panettone created by Davide Comaschi and his team weighed 332.20 kg, had a diameter of 115 cm, and a height of 150 cm, and therefore officially qualified as a Guinness world record! Its refined decorations replicated Milan’s skyline, which is becoming increasingly popular as a city of fashion, design, food, and… chocolate!

COMPOSITION

• vanilla and mandarin Bavarian cream
• chocolate sponge cake
• mandarin mousse
• chocolate mousse
• cocoa sablée
• chocolate cream
• gianduia glaze

PASTRY CREAM

• vanilla pod 1\2
• fresh milk 250 g
• sugar 70 g
• rice starch 30 g
• egg yolk 75 g

Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla. Use a whisk to mix the egg yolks with starch and sugar. Pour the boiled filtered milk over the egg yolks, continuing to mix with the whisk. Cook in a bain-marie, stirring continuously until the cream thickens at 82°C. Spread the cream on a baking sheet covered with acetate, cover with contact film and place in a blast refrigerator until it reaches a temperature of 4°C.

VANILLA AND MANDARIN BAVARIAN CREAM

• pastry cream 150 g
• vanilla pod 2
• mandarin peel 5 g
• mandarin liqueur 15 g
• powdered gelatin 2.5 g
• cold water for gelatin 12.5 g
• 35% cream whipped until glossy 225 g
• powdered sugar 15 g

Heat the pastry cream to 30°C. Rehydrate and dissolve the gelatin in the water. Combine the two mixtures and mix for 1 minute. Add the tangerine liqueur, zest, icing sugar, and finally the cream, stirring gently from bottom to top with a spatula, being careful not to deflate the Bavarian cream.

CHOCOLATE SPONGE CAKE

• butter 300 g
• powdered sugar 180 g
• egg 150 g
• egg yolk 240 g
• egg white 300 g
• sugar 120 g
• almond flour 300 g
• white flour 160 W 120 g
• dark chocolate 360 g

Add butter and powdered sugar to a covered mixer and whip at medium speed.
When the mixture begins to foam, gradually, add the eggs and yolks that have been mixed previously. At the same time, in a mixer beat the egg whites and the sugar with a fine beater. Sift the almond powder and the flour at least twice. Melt the chocolate at 45°C. With the help of a rubber spatula add the chocolate to the mix, stirring well.
Add a part of egg white and then the flour little by little, alternating small amounts of egg white and the flour, in order to keep the dough always shiny and firm.
Always finish with a bit of egg white. Use a spatula to spread the sponge cake batter to a thickness of 5 mm on a sheet of silicone and bake at 200°C for about 15 minutes with the valve closed.
Cool and stop the cooking in the blast freezer.

MANDARIN MOUSSE

• mandarin orange pulp 300 g
• mandarin peel 5 g
• gelatin 15 g
• cold water for gelatin 75 g
• 35% cream whipped until glossy 750 g

In a saucepan heat the mandarin pulp and the rind to 30°C. Add the previously rehydrated and dissolved gelatin and mix well with a whisk. With the help of a spatula fold in the cream, stirring from bottom to top so as not to deflate the mousse.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

• pastry cream 250 g
• Extra Bitter Guayaquil dark chocolate 250 g
• cream 35% fat whipped until shiny 500 g

Put the pastry cream in a bowl and heat in the microwave until it reaches 30°C. At the same time melt the chocolate at 45°C and mix with the high speed immersion blender for 2 minutes.
Add the cream, stirring gently with a rubber spatula from the bottom up so as not to deflate the mousse. Pour into a pastry bag.

COCOA SABLÉE

• butter 82% fat 360 g
• vanilla pod 1\2
• mandarin peel 1 g
• salt 1.6 g
• egg 40 g
• white flour 160 W 320 g
• cocoa 22-24% 60 g
• powdered sugar 160 g

In the bowl of a planetary machine equipped with a shield, at the first speed mix the cocoa with the butter at room temperature, the vanilla, the tangerine peel, the sugar, and the flour to create a sablée. Add the sugar. Finally add the salt.
Cover the sablée dough with plastic wrap and let it cool in the refrigerator for about 12 hours.
With the help of a roller spread to a thickness of 2 mm. Bake at 160°C for about 12-15 minutes with the valve open. Cool and store in the refrigerator.

CHOCOLATE CREAM

• fresh milk 250 g
• vanilla pod 1\2
• sugar 70 g
• rice starch 30 g
• egg yolk 75 g
• dark chocolate 70% 200 g

Bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla pod. Mix the egg yolks with the vanilla seeds, starch, and sugar with a whisk. Pour the boiled filtered milk over the egg yolks, continuing to mix with the whisk. Cook in a bain-marie until the cream thickens.
Pour over the chocolate and mix with the immersion blender at a high speed for 3 minutes.

GIANDUIA GLAZE

• vanilla pod 1
• cream 1125 g
• inverted sugar 160 g
• sugar 135 g
• glucose 62 DE 160 g
• cocoa 22-24% 65 g
• powdered gelatin 37.5 g
• water for gelatin 185 g
• hazelnut paste 135 g
• Ghana milk chocolate 450 g

In a non-stick pan, heat the cream, sugars, and vanilla to 70°C. Add the sifted cocoa and bring to a boil. Filter the mix and pour over chopped chocolate and hazelnut paste. Mix for one minute with the high-speed immersion blender.
Once the mixture is below 70°C add the rehydrated gelatin. Cover with plastic touching the mixture and allow to cool in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Use at a temperature of 35-36°C.

ASSEMBLY

Proceeding backwards, insert the different components of the cake following the indications of the composition.
When layering, be careful not to let the lower part of the cake harden too much to prevent frost from ruining the different levels.
Finish with the glaze. The finish is very accurate and highly professional.