Joconde

[chefpeon]

This question was posted on the YahooGroups Pastry Chef list....

I've never done Joconde myself......anyone care to take a stab at what his problem is?

Lately I've been trying to bake colored Joconde biscuit, but all the

colored bits remain on the sheet, instead of sticking to the joconde.

Tried silpat, baking sheet, anything, greased and not, but in vain.

It isn't the first time I do it, and up to now it was fine....but

recently...

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks

[Catfood]

Hi there-

I was a pastry chef for a number of years and did lots of Jocondes.

I just baked them off on a regular parchment lined sheet pan - not greased. You want to make sure that the colored bits and the background bits are the same temperature going into the oven. I would lay it all out on the sheet and then pop it in the frig for awhile before putting it in the oven. what are you using to color your joconde?

Hope that helps.

Cheers-

Cat

This question was posted on the YahooGroups Pastry Chef list....

I've never done Joconde myself......anyone care to take a stab at what his problem is?

←

[chromedome]

At school we always popped 'em into the freezer for 20-30 minutes before baking. That worked well.

[pjm333]

chef peon

post your recipes for jaconde and the tuile batter you are using..and I will give you mine..it always happens sometimes, but if your tuile isnt to thick it shouldnt be a big problem..Did you ever try the wood grain tool with the tuile..it works well and its very very thin...let me know

pat

[Wendy DeBord]

I've never had luck using parchment paper with joconde. It always wrinkles so much that my sheets have permenant wrinkles in them too and the wrinkles are weak spots. I use a silpat instead so they can't wrinkle. I put my decorative cigarette paste down in whatever design I wish, freeze it, whip up my joconde and place it straight on cig. paste while it's frozen so it won't smear and bake right away.

If your joconde is too airiated if might sit above the joconde unstead of filling into every little pocket. If you give your sheet pan a little tap on the counter before you bake it that should correct any non-contact areas. BUT don't bang it so hard or too much that you take all the air out of your batter. Or when you spread your joconde on the cigarette paste use some downward pressure while doing so.

I can't recall what the issue was, but several years back I had problems with my joconde and another pc came to my rescue.

[chefpeon]

I have this, uh, FRIEND, yeah, that's it, and my friend can't make joconde, and my friend was wondering if I could ask you guys what his problem is.

And you guys think it's ME! Ha ha!

It's really not my problem....this guy posted on a Yahoo group asking for help, so I thought I'd stick his question out there for y'all to ponder.

BUT......since I am always looking to try everything under the sun and I haven't tried joconde yet, I might as well try. Amazingly I do not possess any recipes for it, even with all my books, so if someone could generously post a recipe it would be much appreciated!

Wendy

I've had the same exact problem you mention with parchment wrinkling when I do thin sponge sheets......good idea on the silpat....I have to get some full sheet ones though....I only have the half sheet size.

And what is cigarette paste? Is that the same as tuile paste?

[Swisskaese]

Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat suggest freezing the cigarette cookie batter on a sheet of Silpat before spreading the Jaconde batter on top.

[chefpeon]

Just bumping this up 'cause I'm still hoping for that Joconde recipe......

and answers to my above questions......

[Kapuliperson]

what is jaconde? never heard of it before.

[Swisskaese]

Joconde is a type of sponge cake that used for multi-layer gateaux and jam rolls, jam sandwiches and linings that are used for charlottes. The difference between joconde and regular sponge cake is that joconde is made with whole eggs and almond-sugar powder.

Edited September 18, 2004 by Swisskaese (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

The recipe I use for cigarette paste comes from Michael Roux.

7 tbsp./100g softened butter

1 c./100g confectioners sugar sifted

7 tbsp./110g egg whites

9 tbsp./80g flour, sifted

Method: cream the butter and xxx sugar together until smooth, gradually add the egg whites. (It will look curdled) Then add your flour, but don't over mix.

To color this you add any food paste you'd like. For chocolate color add cocoa powder, a couple tsp. will be enough.

You then spread this on your silpat in a very thin layer and using a comb scrap off to leave exact stripes. The striped effect is probably seen the most often but this paste can be used like paint or piped like frosting and you can apply any pattern, or effect you'd like. For example: for halloween I'll pipe out cobwebs or spiders. You can draw anything you want with multiple colors being used on the same sheet if you wish. Before you apply a thin cake layer to this (the joconde) I freeze the image for aprox. 10 minutes to harden the paste. Then when I spread my cake batter over the top of the paste it won't smear.

I used to use Mr. Roux's joconde recipe also. Here's his recipe:

13 oz./375g tant pour tant (equal weights of ground almond and confectioners sugar, sifted together)

5 eggs

5 egg whites

2 tbsp./25g superfine sugar

3 tbsp./40g butter, melted and cool

1/3. c./50g flour

Yield=1 16 x 24" sheet pan. 500F oven (but I use 450f).

Method: beat tant pour tant with whole eggs until ribbon. Whip egg whites with sugar until firm peaks. Fold butter then flour into the tant pour tant mixture, then fold in egg whites. Spread ontop of frozen paste and bake imediately. You want to bake this just until the cake is set and does not take on color. Stay by your oven as it only takes a couple of minutes. (Mr. Roux notes that it's not easy to achieve good results using less then the given quantities.)

I liked his (Michael Roux's) sponge/joconde but it wasn't quite as flexible as I wanted/expected.

I recieved a recipe from another pastry chef a few years back that I like better because it is very flexible when finished. I was wrong- I didn't get it from pmj333 I got it from "pastry--chef", whom said they were from Alberta, Canada. Here's their recipe and the notes they offered:

20 eggs

750 g almond meal

150 g melted butter

750 egg whites

300 g castor sugar

Method: warm the whole eggs to blood temp over a double boiler, add the almond meal and butter. Whip white and sugar until firm. Fold whites into almond mixture. Bake at 200C. This is the recipe I use for joconde, I like it alot because it's very flexible. Yield: aprox. 2 to 3 full sheet pans. (I spread to whatever thickness I want)

They wrote, "Some people will say this is not the correct method for making your Joconde and I can agree, for the ciarette paste I want a sponge that is flexible, thin and will retain it's moisture so as not to dry out and crack during baking, another method for Joconde is to whisk whole eggs and 1st. measure of sugar to the ribbon stage then whisk the whites to a firm shiny meringue, add your yolks to your whites in three parts alternating with the dry ingredients. This is the method I use for the opera getting a lighter sponge then the 1st method but not as flexible and with a more aerated texture it detracts from the smooth cigarettes striped."