Guest chef: Annie Smithers’ Concorde cake

Annie Smithers’ delicious Concorde cake looks like an over-the-top bathing cap unlike the plane it was named after.

Concorde cake. Picture: Tara Pearce

This cake always makes me giggle. It was created by French pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre in 1969 to celebrate the first flights of the Concorde, but this blousy chocolate confection reminds me of an over-the-top bathing cap and seems to have nothing in common with the sleek plane it was named after. That said, it has a certain je ne sais quoi and is a good choice for entertaining as the components can be made the day before and assembled on the day you wish to serve it.

CONCORDE CAKE

Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder and pure icing sugar, to decorate (optional)

Whipped pouring (single/light) cream, to serve

Meringue

50g Dutch (unsweetened) cocoa powder

160g pure icing sugar

9 egg whites

220g caster sugar

Chocolate mousse

240g dark (55%) chocolate, broken into pieces

150g unsalted butter

4 egg yolks

6 egg whites

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Preheat oven to 150°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper. To make meringue, sift together cocoa powder and icing sugar. In a stand mixer, whip egg whites to stiff peaks, then add 1 tablespoon caster sugar and beat in. Add remaining caster sugar in batches, then gently fold in cocoa mixture. Scoop meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle and pipe three 18cm rounds onto prepared tray. Pipe rest in strips (the length doesn’t matter – you will break them up later). Place in oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn off oven and allow meringues to cool with door ajar.

To make chocolate mousse, melt chocolate and butter in heatproof bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth and well combined; whisk in egg yolks. Whip egg whites to soft peaks, then beat in caster sugar. Gently fold whites into chocolate mixture, then cover and refrigerate until needed.

To assemble, spread a thin layer of mousse (about a quarter of it) on each meringue disc and place on top of each other. Seal outer edge with remaining mousse. Decorate top and side with broken strips of meringue. Sift over icing sugar and cocoa powder. Serve with whipped cream. Serves 8

Guest chef Annie Smithers.

Chef Annie Smithers cooks French Provincial-style food at her restaurant du Fermier in Trentham, central Victoria. Recipe from Annie’s Farmhouse Kitchen by Annie Smithers, with illustrations by Robin Cowcher (Hardie Grant, $40).