Love for marron

As I have mentioned before I am going to bake a cake for every beloved friends and families this year. HaHa.. I just assume they all like what I make, even if they don't like it, I am forcing every bite into their mouths.

I am kicking this off with a b-day cake for my mom..baking is just like cooking, only use the best seasonal ingredients all the time. I tend to refrain myself to make berry mousse cake this time of the year because berries don't ripe perfectly during winter times, and their aroma just don't go well with the heater sitting next to you..The options I have left with is either poached pear or chocolate, so this time around I opted for a warmer and filling chestnut and chocolate mousse cake.

Facing the real challenge, this is my first time making a chestnut cake and I don't really have a recipe on hand. Firstly imagined a conceptual design of what kind of texture and flavor I was going after, with the minimum amount of ingredients I needed to purchase from the market (my dad is going crazy with all the additional stuff that I got and leaving no fridge space for his abalone and sea cucumber) and trying to minimize the chances of failure.

Finely chopped up valrhorna chocolate for a bain-marie, a nice hot bath.

I love the crispy chocolate layer for my last caramel mousse cake, so I am making it again, a thin chocolate crust layered on top of a plain sponge cake.

Unfortunately I got a wrong can of chestnut from the store. I should have gotten the chestnut paste instead of chestnut puree.. who would have thought that?! There are so many different kinds of chestnut - in the form of spread, puree, paste, creme....the paste form doesn't have the lumpiness of puree..although still delicious, but not perfect.
The hardest part of making dessert is not just about taste, it is all about the presentation, how to transform a dainty ready to eat into an eye candy. A sloppy and roughly presented piece means nothing but amateur (like me), it is the delicacy and creativity that dares to call for $40 a small piece.
Wah la! Proud to present my finished product..
My biggest mistake is not to whip the cream into the right consistency. The top layer of chantilly cream started to melt during my transport to the restaurant...what a shame. But the taste won applauds from audience...I told you.. I am just a amateur baker.

So the composition from bottom to top:
1) plain sponge cake
2) thin layer of crispy chocolate crunch
3) intensive chocolate mousse
4) chestnut mousse
5) another layer of plain sponge cake, well-soaked with chocolate liqueur
6) another layer of chestnut mousse
7) chantilly cream


Cannot not to mention about the shark fin soup at Kiangsu And Chekiang Residents.... i know it is not very environmentally friendly.. but it is sooo good...