Chocolate, Almond, and Ganache
Poundcake / Deerback
Presented by:
Chefs Jacquy Pfeiffer & Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F
Co-Founders of The French Pastry School
Importance of Scaling
You will notice that our recipes are measured in grams. This is not only the traditional
French way of measuring ingredients in pastry and baking but it is also the most
common practice among pastry chefs in general. In pastry, you have to be as exact as
possible, and measuring in grams allows you to do that even more so than with
ounces. For example, if a recipe calls for 4 grams of salt, that is equivalent to even
less than one fifth of an ounce! If you don’t already have one, you can find a digital
scale in many kitchen supply stores (or office supply stores), and they often measure
in grams as well as ounces.
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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Chocolate, Almond, and Ganache Poundcake / Deerback
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients:
Plugrá Butter 82% Fat, softened for the
pan
American Almond Sliced Almonds, with
skin
30 g
75 g
Cacao Barry Cocoa Powder
Confectionery Sugar, sifted
American Almond Almond Powder,
sifted
16 g
60 g
80 g
King Arthur Cake Flour
Cornstarch
Plugrá Butter 82% Fat
American Almond Almond Powder,
sifted
Confectionery Sugar, sifted
Fresh Egg Yolks
Clover Honey
Fresh Whole Eggs
Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Extract
Lemon Zest
Orange Zest
Fresh Egg Whites
Sucrose
20 g
18 g
52 g
75 g
Ganache
Total Weight
30 g
50 g
20 g
50 g
5g
½ lemon
¼ orange
160 g
80 g
75 g (make ½ recipe and store what you
don’t use)
896 g
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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Method:
 Using a pastry brush, grease your loaf pan very generously with soft
butter and pour the sliced almonds into it. Tilt the pan in all directions so that
the almonds coat the sides thoroughly and evenly, forming a natural outside
lining of your cake. Once the sides are coated, turn the pan over and allow the
excess almonds to fall out. Set them aside for another purpose and place the
pan in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC with the rack positioned in the center. Sift
the cocoa powder, 60 grams confectionery sugar and 80 grams of almond
powder together onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside. Sift the cake
flour together with the cornstarch onto another piece of parchment or into a
small bowl and set aside.

Place the butter in a small saucepan and set over low heat. Allow the butter to
melt, then stir slowly with the spatula until it turns light brown, about 5 to 7
minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a small bowl so that it does not
continue to brown. Set it aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the 75 grams sifted almond flour, the 30 grams sifted
confectionery sugar, the egg yolks, honey, whole egg and vanilla in the bowl
of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle. Mix on medium speed for 5
minutes, until the mixture is pale and light. Add the lukewarm brown butter
and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Take the bowl out of the mixer and
scrape out the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Using a wide spatula, gently
fold in the lemon and orange zests and the cake flour and cornstarch mixture.
Wash the mixer bowl thoroughly with hot, soapy water, rinse, dry and return
to the stand. Change to the whisk attachment. Immediately move on to the
next step so that the flour does not sit too long in the egg mixture.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the whisk. Whip on
medium speed for 10 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and whip for 1 1/2 to
2 full minutes on high speed, until semi stiff but not dry. Remove the mixing
bowl from the machine, place a small bowl on your scale and weigh out 120
grams of the meringue. Fold this into the egg yolk mixture. Do not over-fold
or you will deflate the batter and your cake will be tough. Return the mixing
bowl to the machine and continue to whip the remaining meringue on the
lowest speed just to maintain it.
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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
Stop the mixer, take out the bowl and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold in
the cocoa powder mixture. Scrape into the almond-lined bread pan, and using
a small spatula, gently spread it evenly all over the sides and bottom of the
pan to create a chocolate meringue shell.

Fill the chocolate shell with the cake batter and smooth the top with a small
offset spatula. The pan will be about 2/3 or 3/4 full. Place the mold on a sheet
pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350ºF/180ºC. Reduce the heat to 325ºF/170ºC
and bake for another 20 minutes, until firm. Insert the tip of a paring knife into
the center of the cake; it should come out clean. If it does not, bake for another
5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately reverse the cake
onto a wire rack, un-mold and gently wrap the cake in a towel. Allow the cake
to cool to room temperature; this will take one hour.

In the meantime, make a half recipe of ganache, cover with plastic and allow
it to cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Weigh out 75 grams and store the
remaining ganache, wrapped airtight, in the refrigerator or freezer (it’s great
for hot chocolate!).

Place the cake on a cutting board with the bottom facing up. Using a long
serrated knife create a V cut by cutting from the edge of the cake to the middle
on an inward 45º angle. Repeat on the other side of the cake so that you can
now remove the triangular slice. Spread the surface of the V cut with the 75
grams of ganache. Return the triangular slice to the cake, setting it right on top
of the ganache filling and pressing down gently but firmly so that it sticks to
the ganache. Place the cake back in its original mold and refrigerate for 30
minutes. This will allow the ganache to set and keep the whole cake together.
Let come to room temperature for 30 minutes and unmold. The cake is now
ready to be served.
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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Ganache
Yield: 575 grams / about 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons
Ingredients:
Cacao Barry Dark Chocolate Couverture
64%
Plugrá Butter 82% Fat
Honey
Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean
Fresh Heavy Cream 35%
Total Weight
300g
50 g
20 g
½
275 g
645 g
Method:
 If you purchased your chocolate in a block form, place it on a cutting board.
Using the largest chef knife you own, shave the chocolate off the side of the
block from the top down; the tip of the knife should never leave the cutting
board while the middle of the knife goes up and down. Once you shaved off
enough chocolate, chop the shavings into ¼-inch pieces. It’s important to have
uniform pieces so that they will melt evenly. If you are using coins there is no
need to chop them.

In a small bowl, soften the butter by creaming it with the honey with a small
rubber spatula. Microwave it for 5 seconds if it is too firm, but do not melt it.
If the fat crystals are melted they’ll make the ganache feel greasy.

Place the chopped shaved chocolate or coins in a medium microwave-safe
(non-metal) bowl. Microwave the chocolate for 30 seconds at 50 per cent
power. Melting at 50 percent power is crucial: since chocolate does not
contain any water, high heat will make it go straight from melting to burning.
The chocolate should just be semi-melted – stir for 5 seconds and you should
see some of it beginning to melt. Repeat this process if you don’t; the key is to
have some melted chocolate and some that is still hard.

Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a paring
knife. Place the cream in a medium saucepan with the vanilla bean and seeds.
Bring it to a boil, remove from the heat and remove the vanilla bean.

Immediately pour the hot mixture over the half-melted chocolate; do not wait
or the cream will cool down and will not melt the chocolate properly. Waiting
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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also allows steam to escape from the hot cream. Steam equals water, so if the
steam escapes, water escapes and your ganache will be dry. Cover the bowl
tightly with plastic wrap and let the mixture stand for 60 seconds before
mixing. Remove the plastic wrap and shake off the condensation clinging to it
into the ganache. Using a rubber spatula, stir the mixture by making very
small circles beginning in the very center, to homogenize. You will see the
mixture begin to emulsify in the center of the bowl; once you see this
beginning to happen (and not before), you can gradually stir from the center to
the edges of the bowl by making wider and wider circles, until the cream and
chocolate are completely homogenized into a thick, smooth mixture.

It is now time to add the butter. But you cannot just add it without measuring
the temperature of the ganache. The optimal temperature for the ganache
before adding the butter should be between 100.4ºF/38ºC and 104ºF/40ºC. A
ganache that is too hot will instantly melt the butter, causing it to lose its
creamy texture. If you try to mix the butter into a ganache that is too cold at
room temperature it will become so cold that it will trigger the crystallization
of the cocoa butter and butter fat crystals -- which both start to crystallize at
around 90ºF/32.2ºC -- , making them separate from the water in the ganache.
In cooking when a fatty sauce gets too cold and the fat separates out we call
this a broken sauce; it’s a common occurrence. With ganache we call it a
broken ganache, but if you use a thermometer before you add the butter your
ganache won’t break. To bring the temperature down, just simply wait; do not
stir too much otherwise the ganache will be full of air bubbles and it won’t be
as appealing to the eye. Once the ganache has reached the right temperature,
add the butter. Mix it first with a small whisk and immediately finish the
mixing with an immersion blender for about 30 seconds, until the ganache is
smooth and shiny. Use as needed.
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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About The French Pastry School
The French Pastry School of Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago is
the premier international institution of pastry arts education. Superb instruction,
superior equipment, and top quality ingredients enable the co-founders, Chefs Jacquy
Pfeiffer and Sébastien Canonne, M.O.F., to uphold an exceptional educational facility
for all things sweet and baked.
The French Pastry School instructs over one thousand students and pastry
professionals in hands-on classes each year and offers three main programs: L’Art de
la Pâtisserie, a full-time 24-week pastry and baking certificate program; L’Art du
Gâteau, The Professional Cake Baking and Decorating Program, a full-time 16-week
certificate program; L’Art de la Boulangerie, an 8-week Artisanal Bread Baking
Course; and Continuing Education courses, 3- to 5-day long classes year-round for
professionals as well as food enthusiasts. Additionally, the Chef Instructors of The
French Pastry School lead demonstrations on the premises and around the country for
thousands more pastry professionals and enthusiasts.
The French Pastry School offers you the rare opportunity to learn the art of pastry in
an intimate setting, being personally mentored by masters in their field. Your skills
will be finely honed through hands-on practice and repeated exposure to the best
pastry techniques, tools, and ingredients. Our school is dedicated only to the art of
pastry, and it is our goal to be the finest pastry school in the United States, producing
the best-prepared professionals entering the industry.
The French Pastry School's programs are approved by the Illinois Community
College Board through Kennedy-King College at City Colleges of Chicago. Students
in our full-time certificate programs earn from 16 to 24 college credit hours.
"© 1994.2015 S.R.Canonne & J.A.Pfeiffer" The French Pastry School, LLC
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