Bernachon Palet D’or Gateau Cake recipe

 

This cake has a rich chocolate flavor. It is decorated with a rosary made from a chocolate Celtic cross.  The beads are made from fondant and painted with a gold pearl and gold luster dust.  The silver beads are non-perals that can be purchased from a cake specialty store.  It is an elegant but simple design.  This cake can be used for a Confirmation or First Communion. The cake recipe was based on the Bernachon Palet D’or Gateau recipe in Rose Beranbaum’s Rose’s Heavenly Cakes book.  I doubled the original recipe and used ½ Ghirardelli and ½ Hershey’s cocoa powder.  I made 12 petit fours with the remaining batter.

 

This first part of the recipe talks about how to make the cross cake and an 8 by 8 inch cake to be cut into petit fours.

 

 

Tools Needed

Wilton Cross cake pan

Wire rack

Spatula

8×8 square inch pan

Food processor

Kitchen Aid mixer

3 small bowls

2 medium bowls

Table knife

Silicone spatula

 

List of Ingredients to Purchase

 

Grocery store items (by location where I find them)

  

Spice / sugar/flour section  

 84 grams (alkalized) cocoa powder

 1½ teaspoons Vanilla extract

 

Other aisles

 Sour cream

4 large eggs   

Sugar

Baking powder

Baking soda

Salt

Unsalted butter

Cake flour

 

 

 Recipe steps:

Have all ingredients come to room temperature.

Ingredients needed

320 grams sour cream

4 large eggs    (approximately 200 grams)

400 grams unsalted butter

 

Measure out the sour cream, 4 large eggs, and unsalted butter.  Leave them out for about 30 minutes before starting on the rest of the recipe.  The eggs should be at room temperature and the butter should be around 65 to 75 degrees before adding them to the recipe. 

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees as soon as you start to put together the recipe.  The oven should be at the temperature it needs to be at for about 20 minutes before you need to use it.

 

Prepare the pans.

For the cross pan, use Baker’s Joy

 

 

 

Weigh and measure all of the dry ingredients.

Ingredients needed

400 grams sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

312 grams cake flour

84 grams (alkalized) cocoa powder

Kitchen scale

3 small bowls

3 medium bowls

Table knife

 

 

Weigh out each ingredient separately.  If there is a mistake with any one ingredient, all you need to do is to re-measure that one ingredient and not everything that was mixed together.  To measure the baking soda and baking powder, place the correct measuring teaspoon into the baking soda and fill the spoon.  Next, while holding the spoon over the sink or over the baking soda container, take the straight flat edge of a table knife and level the spoon so that none of the baking powder is above the spoon.  Once the measuring spoon is leveled, place the baking soda into a bowl.  Repeat the same procedure with the baking powder.  Some baking powder containers have a straight ridge to run the spoon against once the spoon has been filled, that will act just like the knife.  Repeat the same procedure with the salt and the cocoa.  I used ½ Hershey’s and ½ Ghirardelli cocoa powder which is non-alkalized and the recipe came out fine.  I did not have any alkalized cocoa powder.

 

Next in order to aerate the flour and mix everything together, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a food processor with its blade attached. DO NOT include the cocoa powder. Pulse several times for about 6 seconds each time.

 

If you don’t have a food processor use a sifter. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix them up. Then sift them in the sifter.     

 

Pour the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl of your Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

 

Mix the liquid ingredients and the cocoa powder.

Ingredients needed

320 grams sour cream

4 large eggs    (approximately 200 grams)

84 grams (alkalized) cocoa powder

Vanilla extract

 

Place the 320 grams sour cream, 4 large eggs, 84 grams (alkalized) cocoa powder, and Vanilla extract into a medium bowl.  Stir with a whisk until it becomes the consistency of a slightly lumpy muffin mix.

 

Mix the cake batter.

Ingredients needed

400 grams unsalted butter

Dry ingredients

Liquid cocoa mixture

Silicone spatula

Wilton Cross cake pan

8×8 square inch pan

 

 

Mix the dry ingredients on low in the Kitchen Aid mixer for 30 seconds. Cut the 400 grams unsalted butter into slices and add to the dry ingredients. Add one-half of the liquid cocoa mixture. Mix on low until the ingredients are moistened.  This will prevent the dry ingredients from slinging out of the bowl when the mixer speed is increased.  Increase the mixer to medium speed.  I use 4 on my Kitchen Aid mixer.  Beat for 90 seconds.  Turn off the mixer. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl so that anything stuck on the sides or bottom of the bowl will be incorporated and mixed together.

 

Add one-half of the remaining cocoa mixture.   Start the mixer on low just to blend.  Turn up to medium and mix for 30 seconds.  Turn off the mixer.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. 

 

Add the remaining cocoa mixture.  Start the mixer on low just to blend.  Turn up to medium and mix for 30 seconds.  The batter will be very thick.

 

Scrape the batter into the cross pan until it is about one inch from the top of the pan.  Scrape remaining batter into the 8 by 8 inch pan.

 

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes at 350 degrees F until a wire cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  The cake should show an internal temperature of about 203 degrees F.

 

 

When the cake is done take it out of the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for ten minuets. Once it has cooled for ten minuets run a small spatula over the edges of the pan. Then place the wire rack on top of the cake pan and with one hand on the cake pan and one on the rack flip the cake over.

Place a cake board upside down on top of the cake and flip it over again. Place it in the freezer over night.        

 

 

The second  part of the recipe talks about how to make the icing for the cake and how to decorate the cake.  I used the Crème Fraiche Ganache recipe from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes book. Please click on Crème Fraiche Ganache recipe to view the icing recipe.