Recipe: Gâteau Concorde (Concorde Chocolate Meringue and Mousse Cake)

Food writer and cookbook author Aleksandra Crapanzano, inspired by her childhood partially spent in France, compiled 150 rigorously tested recipes that celebrate both the everyday and the fanciful French cake in her latest book. Although we wouldn't consider this one to be the simplest cake ever, t will be irresistible to Francophiles and chocoholics!

The extraordinary pâtissier Gaston Lenôtre was asked by Air France in the late 1970s to create a cake for the then brand-new Concorde jet that cut flying time between Paris and New York down from seven hours to three. In the late ‘80s, my mother discovered a way to buy last-minute bucket tickets on the Concorde for the price of a normal fare. I remember how utterly enthralled she was with the aerodynamics and speed of this plane, and how she’d try to hide an irrepressible smile whenever it was time to fly one of these supersonic beauties.

The gâteau Concorde is made with three disks of meringue, filled with an intense eggless chocolate mousse and decorated with chocolate curls. Not quite as supersonic as its name, the cake needs six hours of refrigeration and can be kept refrigerated for up to 48 hours. Please use a chocolate that is around 64%-66% cacao for the mousse. Anything much lower or higher will alter the texture.

Gâteau Concorde (Concorde Chocolate Meringue and Mousse Cake)

Chocolate Meringue Disks for a Dacquoise|
6 large egg whites / 213 grams, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1 cup / 200 grams granulated sugar
½ cup / 50 grams almond flour
¼ cup / 25 grams unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa

Put two oven racks equidistant from the top and bottom of the oven and preheat the oven to 225°F. Line two 18 x 13-inch baking sheets with parchment paper. Trace three 8-inch circles on the parchment at least 3 inches apart. Two circles will be on one sheet and the third on the other. Flip the parchment ink side down, then liberally butter the top side.

In a stand mixer or using handheld electric beaters, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt and beat on medium speed until fine bubbles form. Increase the speed to medium-high and whip until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar and whip until the meringue is stiff and shiny, but not dry, another 2–3 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the almond flour and cocoa powder. Sprinkle half of the mixture over the egg whites and, using a rubber spatula, fold to integrate. Repeat with the rest of the cocoa mixture, folding just until combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to catch and integrate any stray streaks of almond flour.

Using a piping bag or a small offset spatula, fill the circles with batter.

Bake for 3-3 ½ hours, or until the meringues are firm to the touch. Turn off the oven, but don’t remove the meringues. Leave them in the closed oven for at least 6 hours and up to 12.

Whipped Chocolate (Mousse-Like) Ganache
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
280 grams dark chocolate, such as Valrhona Caraïbe 66% cacao

Bring ¾ cup of the cream to a boil and immediately pour over the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to melt for a minute, then whisk to create a smooth ganache. Set aside to come to room temperature. This shouldn’t take more than about 10 minutes. If it gets too cold, it will start to solidify, which you don’t want. If that happens, warm it up just a tiny bit — just enough that it stirs easily.

In a stand mixer or using handheld electric beaters, whip the remaining 1-½ cups of the cream until you see soft, but structured, peaks. Stir a third of this whipped cream into the ganache to lighten it, then fold the remaining ganache into the whipped cream with a rubber spatula. Use immediately.

Chocolate Curls

Making chocolate curls is too time-consuming to do at home. Instead, I like to use a mandoline to cut fine slices of chocolate off a bar. These shards are more, shall we say, industrial-chic than delicate, but let’s not get precious about it. Use at least 200 grams of dark chocolate if you want to cover the entire cake and still allow everyone to sneak a few shards before dinner. Alternatively, dust the cake with cocoa, then confectioners’ sugar.

Assembly

3 Chocolate Meringue Disks for a Dacquoise

Lay the chocolate meringue disks on a sheet of parchment. Cover each with a third of the ganache. Then stack them, one on top of the other, on your cake plate. The surface will be ganache. Scatter this with an abundance of chocolate curls or shards. Create a tented dome with aluminum foil over—but not touching—the cake and refrigerate it for at least 6 hours and up to two days. Let it sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes to allow the ganache to soften a bit before bringing it to the table.