Macaroon cake with chocolate cream and rhubarb ragout

Ingredients for 16 servings:

• 3 sheets of white gelatin
• 820 ml whipping cream (30% fat)
• 360 g dark chocolate coating (60% cocoa)
• 1 kg rhubarb (e.g. raspberry rhubarb)
• 150 g sugar
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 vanilla pod(s)
• 500 g strawberries
• 120 g flour
• 260 g walnuts, ground
• 260 g hazelnuts, ground
• 8 eggs, size M
• 520 g sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 2 hours

With strawberries

Kitchen utensils required for preparation: Springform pan (24 cm Ø), piping bag with a 1 cm Ø nozzle and a 1 cm Ø star nozzle. For the chocolate cream, soak the gelatine in cold water the day before. Boil the cream in a saucepan (see tip) and set aside. Finely chop the chocolate coating, add it to the hot cream and dissolve it (mix with a hand blender if necessary). Squeeze out the gelatine well and dissolve it in the warm cream and chocolate mixture while stirring. Chill in a bowl for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight. For the ragout the next day, trim and wash the rhubarb, peel it if necessary, and cut it into pieces about 1 cm wide. Mix the rhubarb with the sugar and lime juice in a saucepan and let it steep for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the vanilla seeds and pod to the rhubarb, bring to a boil, and simmer covered for 12-15 minutes over low to medium heat. Remove the vanilla pod. Mix the cornstarch with a little cold water until smooth, then add to the rhubarb and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. For the macaron bases, sift the flour. Mix with the walnuts and hazelnuts. Beat the egg whites in a food processor with a whisk for about 1 minute until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and beat until a firm, shiny mixture forms. Add the nut-flour mixture and fold in. Transfer the macaron mixture to a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm diameter nozzle. Line the bottom of the springform pan with baking paper. Pipe 1/3 of the macaron mixture into spirals or circles in the springform pan and bake on the middle rack of a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius (convection not recommended) for about 20 minutes. Carefully remove the macaron base from the baking paper while it is still warm and allow to cool on a wire rack. Use the remaining macaron mixture to make 2 more macaron bases, one after the other, as above. Whisk the chocolate cream until fluffy using a hand mixer and fill a piping bag fitted with a 1cm diameter star nozzle. Pipe about 1/3 of the mixture in dots around the edge of an upside-down macaron base and pipe the inside of the base in a wavy pattern. Place about 1/3 of the rhubarb ragout in the centre of the cream and spread lightly to the edge. Place the 2nd base on top of the filled 1st base and fill in the same way. Place the remaining base on top, not upside down, pipe the remaining chocolate cream in dots around the edge and spread the remaining cream over the base. Chill the cake for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, sort the strawberries, hull and wash them, pat them dry, and cut them into quarters or sixths depending on their size. Mix with the remaining rhubarb ragout. Spread the strawberry-rhubarb ragout in the center of the cake, dust with cocoa powder, and serve. Serves 12-16. Per piece (for 16): 12 g protein, 45 g fat, 64 g carbohydrates = 738 kcal (3089 kJ).