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Chef Giordano Marchese

Norman’s
21 Almeria Avenue
Coral Gables, FL 33134
305.446.6767

Giordano Marchese, a Peruvian-born, Italian-trained pastry chef who speaks Italian, Spanish and English, feels right at home at Norman's, where global cuisine is prepared with artistic flair. Working with celebrity chef Norman Van Aken, Marchese creates knockout finishes to the Latin-inspired menu. One minute he's whipping up pineapple-and-chile ice cream, the next it's warm, cinnamon-scented churros with cajeta (dark, thick, sweet syrup) and goat's milk ice cream, or perhaps a New World banana split with macadamia nut-brittle ice cream and rum-flamed bananas.

Marchese has a passion for pastry, for playing with flavor, color and design, and for using only natural ingredients. Each week he tries to add one or two new desserts to the menu, fully up to the challenges Norman Van Aken sets in the kitchen.

Marchese's chocolate cognac cake with mascarpone mousse is light, fluffy and easy to make. The cognac adds a little richness and gives it a unique, distinctive edge.

Meet Chef Giordano Marchese
Saturday, August 28th at 2pm
Gulfstream Park
Miami, FL

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Chocolate Cognac Cake with Mascarpone Mousse

Serves 6

Chocolate Sponge Cake
9 ounces cake flour (1 cup + 1 tablespoon)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 ounces cocoa powder
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup eggs (4-5 eggs, depending on size)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.
3. Using the paddle attachment from a food processor, cream the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Scrape into a medium-size (18" by 13") sheet cake pan and bake for 20 minutes. Once the cake has cooled, unmold onto a work surface. It should be about 1 1/2 inches high.

Gianduja Chocolate Mousse
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 sheets of gelatin¹, bloomed in cold water until soft
3 ounces gianduja chocolate, melted
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

1. Beat egg yolks with sugar to the ribbon stage², about 15 minutes. It should be light-colored, like mayonnaise.
2. In a small saucepan heat 1/4 cup heavy cream and combine with gelatin sheets. Fork mixture until fully dissolved. Pour the heavy cream and gelatin mix into the melted chocolate. Blend the egg yolk and sugar mixture with the chocolate mixture.
3. Fold in whipped cream.

Mascarpone Mousse
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2 ounces Amaretto brandy
2 1/2 sheets of gelatin, bloomed in cold water until soft
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

1. In a stainless steel bowl set over a bain-marie, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the Amaretto brandy and whisk until the mixture is hot and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add gelatin sheets1 and continue to whisk until dissolved. This will make a sabayon. Remove from heat and return to room temperature.
2. Add the mascarpone, blending well. Fold in the whipped cream.

For Assembly
1 1/2 teaspoons cognac
1 medium-size metal cake ring

1. The ring works like a big cookie cutter on the chocolate sponge cake. Cut two circles with the mold and keep one on the bottom over a plate. The cake should fit snugly inside the ring mold. Sprinkle the cake with cognac. Add chocolate mousse and top with another ring-mold cut of cake. Fill the ring to the top with mascarpone mousse.
2. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours. When set, use a knife to loosen it around the edges. Push the cake out onto a serving plate and serve.

¹Not as readily available as granulated gelatin is leaf (or sheet) gelatin, which comes in packages of paper-thin sheets. Four sheets of leaf gelatin equal one package of powdered gelatin. Leaf gelatin must be soaked longer than granulated gelatin and is therefore not as popular. This product is often called for in jelled European dessert recipes. It can be found in some gourmet and bakery supply shops. – Source Epicurious.com

²When a dessert recipe calls for egg yolks, the yolks often need blending with a little sugar until they reach what is called a "ribbon stage." The mixing of sugar with egg yolks into a ribbon stage helps to prevent yolks from becoming granular when heat is applied. The ribbon stage is the point when some of the mixture can be lifted with a beater or spoon and forms a slowly disappearing ribbon on the mixture’s surface when falling back into the bowl. Egg yolks and sugar can be beaten by hand using a whisk, or they can be beaten using an electric mixer.