PASSION VACHERIN IN ALL ITS FORMS

Sublimate this gourmet dessert for the Christmas holidays with Alain Milliat

Recipe for a cake for 8 to 10 people

Plan to take your egg whites out of the fridge as they have to be at room temperature when you whip them.
Weigh out the sugar required and beat the egg whites in a mixer (or food processor) until they are almost solid. Then add the sugar in three or four additions. And only at the end, add the cornflour and vinegar. These two ingredients will give you meringues with a crisp crust and soft interior. The meringue should be smooth, firm and shiny.

Preheat the oven to 100°C. On an oven tray, covered with baking paper, place small heaps (the equivalent of a tablespoon) of meringue, making sure to space them out by 5cm. Bake for about 1 hour (the base of the meringues should come off easily), then leave to cool completely before setting aside your meringues in an airtight box for the day of the set-up of the cake.

Make the sorbet, then the whipped cream while the ice-cream maker is working, and leave your bottle of passion fruit nectar standing for a few hours (even the day before). This way, the nectar is dephased, which means that the fruit pulp is concentrated in the bottom 2/3 of the bottle, and the water floats on the top third. Separate from the water and keep only the concentrated pulp (between 750 and 850 ml).

In a saucepan, pour 185g of this concentrated juice, then add the sugar and mix. Make it boil and remove from heat. Then let it cool completely. Add this syrup to the rest of the concentrated juice. Pour the mixture into the ice-cream maker and leave to cool. If you prepare your sorbet in advance, keep it in the freezer for a while. Remember to put it in the fridge for 30 minutes before you dress the cake so that it is easy to work with.

Take out the cream, the bowl and the whisk from the fridge. Whip the cream until it forms a slightly solid whipped cream. Add the icing sugar and whisk a few more turns. Stop before the whipped cream turns to butter! Two-thirds of the whipped cream is used to fill the cake. The remaining third is used to cover the edges of the cake once it has been removed from the pan.

The 3 options for dressing the cake 

Place a layer of whipped cream on the bottom of the baking pan (about 8-10mm), crush a few meringues between your fingers and place the small pieces in a tight layer on top of the whipped cream. Continue with a layer of sorbet about 1 to 1.5 cm thick. Then put a tight layer of crushed meringue on top. Finish with a thick layer of whipped cream. Then, put the cake in the freezer.

For a yule log effect, remove the cake from the pan in advance and cover it with the remaining whipped cream. Then put it in the freezer ready to serve.

Serving: 15 minutes before serving, remove from the freezer.

Crush the meringues between your fingers and place the small pieces in a bowl.

Quickly mix the crushed meringues with the whipped cream, without overworking the mixture. Place a layer of this meringue-whipped cream mixture in the bottom of your baking pan. Continue with a thick layer of sorbet. Finish with a generous layer of the meringue-chantilly mixture. Put the cake in the freezer.

For a yule log effect,remove the cake from the pan in advance and cover it with the remaining whipped cream. Then keep it in the freezer ready to serve. Serving: 15 minutes before serving, take it out of the freezer.

*Removing tip: take the cake out of the freezer, soak it in a hot water bath for 10 seconds (without the water reaching the top of the mould). Turn the cake out onto a serving plate and return the cake to the freezer.