The Cactus Cake

• In a mixer, using a whisk, mix the softened butter with the icing sugar. Then, add the eggs, which should be at room temperature, and continue to whisk the mixture. Gradually drizzle in the milk, which should already be brought up to room temperature. Lastly add the baking powder and flour mixture.
• Whip the egg whites to soft peaks and stiffen with the sugar. Add the whisked egg whites to the first mixture.
• Use some of the mixture in the oil and carefully mix it all together with the basic mixture.

• Mix the cocoa powder together with the muffin mixture. Bake in a lined mould that is 20 cm in diameter for the large cake, and in baking tins that are 7.5 cm in diameter for the individual cakes. Use 1500 g and 70 g of mixture respectively for each mould. Bake at 160 °C in a convection oven for 25 minutes to 1 hour depending on the weight. Check whether the cake is cooked using the tip of a knife. Remove from the mould straight away once cooked and leave to cool.
• Slice the cakes horizontally so that you have three layers of cake that are each 2 cm high. Cut the sponge again widthwise so that the cakes measure 19 cm and 7 cm in diameter.

• Heat all of the ingredients together until the mixture begins to boil. Soak both sides of the sponge layers with this syrup.

• Bring the milk, Sculpture, pepper and the tonka bean aroma (or 2 grated tonka beans) to a boil in a saucepan.
• Mix the egg yolks together with the sugar and add this to the first mixture. Then, cook to 85 °C. Pour the resulting crème anglaise through a chinois onto the chocolate couverture. Using a hand-held blender, mix for a long time, being careful not to introduce any air bubbles.
• Refrigerate until assembly.

• Bring the cream to a boil and pour over the chocolate and invert sugar. Mix thoroughly using a Bamix®. At 45 °C, add the butter and mix again. Leave to crystallise before use.

Ensure the ganache is at room temperature before assembling the cake.

• Using a piping bag fitted with a No. 20 tip, pipe a ring of dark chocolate ganache around the edge of the first cake layer. Using a piping bag, fill the middle with 300 g of cream, scattering the crunchy pearls in the middle of the cream. Cover with a layer of cake and repeat the process. Place the last layer of soaked sponge on top making sure that the top of the cake is flat. Use the rest of the ganache to cover the cake on all sides then, place in the refrigerator.
• Proceed in the same way for the individual cakes.

• After having covered the cake with a good layer of Corman Sculpture, make stroke marks with the rounded tip of a metal spatula.
• For the cactus decorations, use different types of tips (fluted, basket weave, round, etc. ) to pipe the Corman Sculpture, coloured beforehand with food colouring. Make the cacti in different sizes to add volume to the cake.
• Make the cactus flowers using very bright colours and a cone or a flower tip.