Gateau Marcel w/ passion caramel - best ever chocolate cake

Gateau Marcel with a gooey center of passionfruit caramel is Indulgence on a high level. I have baked Gateau Marcel a couple of times, especially this last year with a apricot marmelade center. I took it with me to work on a spring day in 2013, and since then it has been asked for a few times. Gateau Marcel is really just a baked chocolate mousse, using the same mousse for the whole cake, so it ‘s insanely easy to make.
Despite the fact that it is one of the world’s easiest cakes, it is not modest in taste. Gateau Marcel is super soft, dense, sticky and airy at the same time. The cake consists of a baked chocolate mousse at the bottom, a layer of jam (or in this case a passionfruit caramel sauce) and then topped with chocolate mousse.

In the original recipe they used orange marmalade, I don’t like that because of the lumps, so I have instead chosen to use apricot “creamy” from “Den gamle fabrik” (“The old factory” is a Danish company producing marmelade). You can use what ever marmelade you prefer. I’ve tried a couple of different marmelades, but it is without no doubt that i prefer the apricot marmelade. But in my oppinion the chocolate cake is a lot better with caramel sauce than with marmelade, so it is definitely worth making the passionfruit caramel sauce. I hope you have fun with baking your Gateau Marcel.

Passion Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup passionfruit puré (warm)
1/3 cup heavy cream (warm)
2 tbsp butter, room temperature
Grains of 1/2 vanilla pod

Method:

Heat the sugar, syrup and water in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly.
Meanwhile heat up the heavy cream and passionfruit puré in the microwave.
When the sugar boils you stop stirring and let it cook until it has a nice amber color. Remove immediately from the heat.
Pour the passionfruit cream a little at a time into the caramel with constant whipping.
Stir until the caramel is completely smooth. Are there any lumps, then give it a little heat until dissolved.
Soften the butter and ad the vanilla beans.
Stir the vanilla butter into the caramel a little at a time until completely smooth.
Use immediately or store in refrigerator until needed. Take the caramel out before use so that the texture is soft and gooey.

The recipe is for 10 persons and is available in a 22 cm/8.6 inch springform. The original recipe is from Sweet Valentine at “Torvehallerne” Copenhagen.

Ingredients:

350 g – 12,5 oz dark chocolate 70% (roughly chopped).
350 g – 3 sticks of butter
350 g – 1 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
230 g – 8 oz – 1 cup pasteurized egg yolk
275 g – 9,8 0z pasteurized egg whites
approx. 150 g /150 ml passionfruit caramel sauce
Cocoa powder for garnish and possible. chocolate for decoration.
Cold butter and sugar to grease the springform.

Method:
1. Heat the oven to 175°C/347°F.
2. Mix chocolate and butter in a bowl and put over a water bath. (Not boiling hot water)
3. Whip 1 cup of sugar and the egg yolks until they are fluffy.
4. Whip the rest of the sugar and egg whites into a meringue.
5. Now gently fold the melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.
6. Fold the chocolate/egg mixture into the meringue.
7. Line the bottom of a 22 cm/8.6 inch springform with baking parchment and sides greased with butter and sprinkled with sugar.
8. Put half of the mousse into the springform and bake for approx. 30 minutes. (It will look unfinished)
9. Let it cool in the refrigerator. Leave the rest of the mousse in the bowl at room temperature.
10. Mix the seasalt and the dulce de leche.
11. Take the cold cake out and top it with the dulce de leche (keep approx. 1 cm free around the edge)
12. Top of with the second half of the chocolate mousse and smooth the top as much as possible.
13. Put the cake in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
14. Remove the cake from the tin and put in on a platter.
15. Sprinkle the cake with cocoa powder and decorate it.