Black & Orange, Hot & Cold, Strong & Sweet, Halloween is the season for surprises!
Potimarron squash adds a delicate, chestnuts-like taste to this recipe. I pair it with a strong cacao-coffee sorbet in order to enhance its mellow sweetness.
The cake has a chewy, irresistible texture and sweetness that melts in your mouth along with the powerful sorbet.
Surprise everyone with this hot and cold, strong and mellow perfect dessert for the season.
Requires 3 preparations to be combined：
- the sorbet at least a day before,
- the pastry dough, which will be set aside to chill, then lightly baked before use,
- the potimarron cake, to be baked on top of the lightly baked pastry dough. In order to save time, you can prepare the pastry dough in advance and keep it frozen as well as the sorbet.
EQUIPMENT
4 metal ring molds, 4 in. (10 cm), electric mixer, saucepan, ice-cream maker, spatula, ice-cream scoop, baking sheet, mixing bowl, saucepan with cover, whisk
CHOCOLATE-COFFEE SORBET
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp (30 g) butter
2 tbsp (15 g) cocoa powder
5 tbsp (70 g) sugar
3/4 cup (18 cl) water
pinch of salt
a few drops of coffee extract
PREPARATION
Weight the saucepan empty before using it, as you will have to add water in the end to match a precise weight. Combine the butter, cocoa, sugar, water, salt and coffee extract in the saucepan and cook over low heat for 25 minutes. Mix, then bring the weight up to 8 oz. (220 g) by adding water. Put the sorbet in the ice-cream maker or in a mold and store in the freezer.
ALMOND-FLAVORED SABLE PASTRY DOUGH
INGREDIENTS
11/3 cups (200 g) flour
1/2 cup (90 g) confectioner’s sugar
1/2 (60 g) powder almonds
1/2 (3 g) salt
9 tbsp (130 g) butter at room temperature
2 (40 g) egg yolks
(You will have some extra dough left to be kept for future use)
PREPARATION
Mix the sifted flour, sugar, powdered almonds, and salt at medium speed for 1 minute. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the mixture. Mix only long enough to produce a crumbly texture. Add the egg yolks and knead lightly. Put to chill in the fridge.
The less this dough is keanded, the easier it is to shape and less unlikely it is to shrink while baking.
Roll out the dough. With the 4 in. (10 cm) metal rings, cut out 4 bottoms. Bake in a 325 ℉ (160℃) oven for about 10 minutes. The pastry should remain almost white. Set aside.
POTIMARRON PUMPKIN CAKE
INGREDIENTS
13/4 oz. (50 g) cocoa butter
11/2 tbsp (20 g) butter
2 tbsp (30 g) heavy cream
7 oz. boiled potimarron squash (or Hubbard, Buttercup, Turk’s Turban squashes)
11/2 tbsp (30 g) cornstarch
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup (60 g) sugar
PREPARATION
Peel and cut the potimarron squash into pieces. Cook in boiling salted water until tender. Boil the cocoa butter, butter and cream. In a mixer, mix the cooked potimarron squash, cornstarch, 1 whole egg and 1 yolk. Slowly add the butter and cream mixture. Mix thoroughly until you have a buttery mixture. Set aside. Whip the remaining egg white stiff and add the sugar. Gently fold into the squash batter.
BAKING
Set the tart crusts on a baking sheet. Grease the ring molds, dust with sugar and place them around the tart crusts, not on top of it in order to avoid any space that would let the batter to leak when poured in. Fill with the squash batter. Smooth the surface with a spatula. You could freeze the cakes at this point.
Place in a 350 ℉ (180℃) oven for 15 to 22 minutes. This cake should be creamy like a rice pudding. Use a skewer to check when it is baked. Remove the cake from the oven when batter still sticks to the skewer a bit.
BEFORE SERVING
Remove the rings and gently slide the cakes into the center of the plate. Put a scoop of sorbet on top of each cake. Sift a mixture of cocoa powder and confectioners’ sugar over the cake, and decorate with some pumpkin seeds.
