Verbena baba with tuile wafer by Luc Debove
Last June, the École National Supérieure de Pâtisserie celebrated its 40th year. Internationally recognized for its excellence, it organized a varied program of activities to highlight its prestigious past and its promising future. One of the most notable moments was the organization of the round table, “What about 40 years from now? Challenges and prospects for pastry arts”.
Luc Debove, MOF and director of the École National Supérieure de Pâtisserie, assures that “this roundtable illustrated our vision for decades to come: a harmonious blend of tradition and innovation. By exploring the potentials of both human and technological innovations, we ensure that our students become not only master artisans, but also pastry chef managers, entrepreneurs, and citizens who will pioneer the evolution of pastry arts.”
Debove also created this Verbena baba for the school’s 40th anniversary. A baba in which verbena has absolute prominence and is presented in the form of syrup, ganache and glaze.
Verbena baba
Baba dough
For 8 individual babas
- 250 g strong flour
- 20 g milk
- 10 g organic yeast
- 12 g honey
- 90 g butter
- 300 g whole egg
- 2 g salt
Warm the milk, add the honey and dissolve the yeast in the liquids. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs then the liquids. Mix, and once well-mixed, add the melted butter. The texture of the dough should be smooth and elastic. Using a piping bag, place the pastry 2/3 of the way into a sphere-shaped silicone mold. Leave to rise for 1 hour and 30 minutes before baking for 25 minutes at 170 degrees and remove from the mold when hot. Leave to dry.
Syrup for soaking
- 500 g water
- 615 g sugar
- 220 g hand-crafted Verbena liqueur
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a light boil and soak the babas, stirring regularly for 8-10 minutes to ensure even distribution. Place the babas on a wire rack and leave to cool. Set the babas aside on a wire rack and leave to cool.
Verbena ganache
- 172 g white chocolate
- 9 g gelatin powder
- 54 g water
- 500 g cream
- 35 g hand-crafted Verbena liqueur
- 250 g cream
Using a whisk, mix the powdered gelatine with the water. Heat the 250 g cream to boiling then add the hydrated gelatine and pour over the white chocolate. Mix well. Add the 500 g cream followed by the verbena liqueur. Leave to crystallize overnight before use.
Crunchy tuile wafer
- 250 g icing sugar
- ½ lime (juice)
- 20 g egg white
- 3 drops yellow dye 1 drop green coloring
Make a royal icing with all the ingredients in a mixing bowl using a sheet of paper. Once the texture is homogeneous, spread this mixture onto a Silpat baking mat. Once the tuile is very thinly spread, place the seasoning on top, lemon zest and lime zest. Before the wafer starts to dry, cut out the desired shapes using a knife or a cookie cutter. Leave to dry overnight in the oven, then set aside to dry.
Verbena glaze
- 60 g neutral glaze
- 8 g verbena
- 2 drops yellow coloring
Melt the glaze in a saucepan. Once liquid, add the verbena and then the coloring. Place in a piping bag and set aside.
Assembly
Once the baba is soaked, cut 1/3 of the sphere to obtain a flat surface.
Using a plain 14 mm tip, place a drop of ganache onto the flat surface of the baba.
Then, using a warm melon baller, press the center of the pouch to create a well-balanced container. Place in the freezer for a few minutes.
Then fill the container to the top with the verbena glaze.Place the tuile in the shape of a triangle on the side of the cake.
