Recipe of the month

Tahitian vanilla & strawberry log

Tahitian vanilla financier sponge

  • Almond powder 50 g
  • Icing sugar 118 g
  • Flour 30 g
  • Egg whites 98 g
  • Butter 98 g
  • Honey 8 g

In a bowl, mix almond powder, icing sugar and flour. Add egg whites, honey and scraped vanilla bean. Finish with hot melted butter. Pour financier batter into a frame and bake at 160°C for 10 minutes.


Tahitian vanilla bavarian

  • Milk 100 g
  • Egg yolks 42 g
  • Caster sugar 40 g
  • Gelatin 4 g
  • Cream 132 g
  • Vanilla bean, Tahitian 1 piece

Boil milk and scraped vanilla bean. Soak gelatin. In a bowl, mix egg yolks and sugar. Pour boiling milk onto egg yolks mixture and cook to 85°C, constantly stirring. Add strained gelatin. Refrigerate. When creme anglaise starts to set, fold in lightly whipped cream with a rubber spatula.


Strawberry cream

  • Strawberry puree 147 g
  • Cream 49 g
  • Egg yolks 59 g
  • Caster sugar 43 g
  • Gelatin 2 g

Boil puree and cream, pour onto egg yolks mixed with sugar and cook to 85°C, constantly stirring. Add soaked, strained gelatin and pour into log insert moulds. Freeze.


Red glaze

  • White chocolate 148 g
  • Neutral glaze 59 g
  • Cream 89 g
  • Gelatin 1 g
  • Red wated based food colouring as needed

Melt neutral glaze on a bainmarie. Boil cream with red food colouring, add soaked, strained gelatin and pour onto white chocolate. Add neutral glaze and blend with a hand blender. Leave to set overnight and use at 35°C.


Assembly

Cut lengths of financier sponge the length of the log mould. Pout vanilla Bavarian into the moulds. Before the mousse starts to set, place strawberry cream and cover with a little more mousse. Place a length of sponge and freeze.


Decoration

Glaze log with red glaze melted to 35°C. Decorate with shortbread discs, strawberries, and marshmallow spheres.

Recipe given by

Josselin Rimbod
Chef Pâtissier, Pâtisserie Monsieur J, Toyama, Japon

The idea?

To create a log with strawberries was my goal. I wanted something warm, colourful and festive.


The shape?

I wanted to keep a classical shape and rework the visual (decoration).


The flavours?

In Japan strawberry cakes are a tradition for Christmas. I kept to the classic, adding Tahitian vanilla, from the French Polynesia where I lived, bringing this exceptional vanilla to life.


The technical step?

Respect the cooking temperatures of the creme anglaise to avoid lumps.


Careful

With the texture of the vanilla Bavarian, if it is too runny the insert can sink to the bottom of the mould. If the mousse is too thick it can be also tricky.

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