Francisco Migoya so good #19 Soft Caramel

Gingerbread cake with butternut squash butter by Francisco Migoya

The creamy and cold textures that once ruled authoritatively in the creations of the leading pastry chefs, gradually give way to other specialties in which crispier textures predominate, as well as more classic formats and products that ultimately must be chewed. Aware of this trend, Francisco Migoya subverts the classic format of cake with cream on the outside and crispy base inside, to bring that baked dough to the outside. An amazing resource that turns cakes inside out without giving up an elegant and impactful result at the same time. In so good #19 he shares three works we see how a gingerbread cake, a vanilla crunch and a pound cake become the absolute protagonists of some cakes that celebrate the doughs. A celebration perhaps in honor of Modernist Bread, the powerful book that Franscico Migoya has finally put on sale and that, currently, is probably the most exhaustive review of bread and everything that surrounds it, historically, scientifically and technically.

Gingerbread cake with caramel mousse and butternut squash butter

Migoya's gingerbread cake

gingerbread cake

85 g butter, room temperature
87 g sugar
50 g eggs, room temperature
305 g molasses
140 g bread flour
140 g pastry flour
7.7 g baking soda
0.9 g salt
5.9 g ginger powder
0.5 g clove powder
0.2 g cinnamon powder
200 g water *

All ingredients must be at room temperature. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs in 3 additions; stop the mixer and scrape the bowl and the paddle down in between additions. Slowly add the molasses on low speed and mix until homogenous. Add sifted dry ingredients and mix on low speed until a thick and smooth batter forms. Add the room temperature water slowly stopping to scrape 2-3 times. If batter is broken turn on speed 3 and heat with a torch until appearance improves. Pour onto a square silicone cake pan and bake at 160°C/320°F until fully baked. Once baked, cool off completely and remove from the pan. Cut the sponge cake into 1.25 cm / 0.5 inch cubes and dry overnight in a dehydrator.

* ERRATUM: In the printed version there was missing the amount of water. Actually it is 200 grams

butternut squash butter

650 g butternut squash, peeled, gutted, diced
110 g butter
240 g sugar (can use brown sugar or maple sugar instead)
2 g cinnamon, ground
7.5 g gelatin sheets, silver, bloomed in cold water

In a 4-qt sauce pot, combine all of the ingredients except for the gelatin and bring to a boil. Once the mixture has
come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the squash is tender and broken down, about 2 hours. Stir
often and reduce the heat if necessary to prevent scorching. Once you obtain a thick paste, remove the vanilla bean. Add the bloomed gelatin and puree until smooth in a blender or using a hand-held blender. Portion into a 4 inch/ 10 cm wide x 1 inch /2.5 cm deep metal ring. Even out the top and freeze. Once frozen, remove the butternut squash butter from the ring using a torch or heat gun and reserve well wrapped and frozen until needed.

Note
The final recipe calls for twice the amount this yields because there will be lot of evaporation that occurs during
the cooking process. If you have more than fills a ring, fill as many rings as needed and reserve frozen for future cakes.

caramel mousse

185 g sugar
60 g butter
145 g heavy cream
125 g eggs
8.5 g gelatin sheets, bloomed
475 g heavy cream

Make a dry caramel with the sugar. In a separate pot, bring butter and heavy cream to a simmer. Once the sugar has caramelized and is a dark amber brown, slowly stir in the hot butter and cream using a whisk. Allow to cool down completely. Once cool, stir the eggs in, and warm over a hot water bath to 145ºF/63ºC. Meanwhile, whip the heavy cream to medium stiffness. Fold 1/3 of the whipped heavy cream into the egg and caramel base. Then fold half of the whipped cream that is left, and once it has been completely folded in, fold the rest of the heavy cream in.

Assembly

Combine the gingerbread cake cubes with a mixture of 350 g melted white chocolate and 35 g vegetable oil.
Line the interior of a silicone mold with the cubes and allow to set in refrigeration.
Any left over, puree in a blender until smooth and spread thinly and evenly (2 to 3 mm) over a flat surface lined with a silicone mat or plastic acetate sheet.
Freeze and cut out discs that are the same size as the base of the silicone cake mold. This disc will be the base of the cake. Reserve frozen. Make the caramel mousse (recipe below), and fill the mold with the cake cubes to 1/3 of the way.
Insert the frozen butternut squash butter disc to the center of the caramel mouse and push down.
Fill the rest of the silicone mold with more caramel mousse to the top and even it out with an offset spatula.
Place a frozen disc of the pureed cake cubes mix on top of the caramel mousse and press down gently to make it even.
Freeze the cake completely and unmold. Spray with orange colored cocoa butter.
Decorate with rice paper leaves.

You will also find these two recipes in so good #19