Gâteau Chocolat-Menthe (Chocolate-Mint Cake)

Christophe Michalak is the charismatic star of the Paris gâteau scene. His master-class book, called Michalak Masterbook, is illustrated with rocket ships and the stuff of superhero cartoons—in other words, he plays the boy genius who never grew up. A second look, however, and you’ll discover a true and original talent who owns several of the best pâtisseries in Paris. Much awarded, much lauded, published by no less than Alain Ducasse Édition, Michalak is playful, energetic and ready at every turn to flip an idea. He took Paris by culinary storm with his Gâteau Opéra Menthe. The traditional opéra is composed of several thin layers of almond joconde, steeped in coffee, slathered with coffee buttercream and dark chocolate ganache and glazed with even more chocolate. Michalak replaced the coffee with mint, producing a cake that tastes like the very best version of an After Eight. This is the cake for those of you who keep their freezers stocked with mint-chip ice cream.

I’ve stripped away the hours of arduous and intricate labor and simply run with the idea, but the flavor is fantastic. Mint appears in three places in this chocolate-mint cake recipe. The soaking syrup is infused with fresh mint leaves, the Chantilly is infused with either a little crème de menthe liqueur or a little more of the mint soaking syrup and the cake is decorated with candied mint leaves. The quality and freshness of the mint is key. If you don’t have access to really fragrant and fresh mint or want a shortcut, Woodford Reserve and Sonoma Syrup Co. both make mint syrups that are easily found online. Either can be used both to steep the génoise and perfume the cream.

This recipe was excerpted from ‘Gateau’ by Aleksandra Crapanzano. Buy the full book on Amazon.