eau du gateau: DedCool's Mochi Milk
recipes for sandalwood chiffon and jasmine poached peaches
hey hi hello!
WOW, am I thrilled to be doing a write up for a second perfume cake in just as many weeks :) I was able to collab with DedCool to bring this cake to life- so everyone say thank youuuu DedCool <333
As we know most if not all of my cakes follow the same formula, soft layers of chiffon, a flavorful soaking liquid, creamy and light fillings, more often than not wrapped up in a Swiss meringue buttercream- as highlighted in this post here:
So, all of the cakes in this series are built off of the same formula using the same base recipes. Instead of matcha the cakes get flavored with sandalwood powder. Instead of fresh strawberry pieces we used saffron poached pears. Instead of strawberry custard we infuse the base with oud or patchouli. You can swap components and flavors infinitely for a new cake experience every. single. time. I like to think of this series as the final boss to recipe riffin’, another frontier for me to remind you that you have free will and you can use it when you bake.
With out much more yappin’ let’s get it xx
*This cake was made as part of a paid collaboration on Instagram- the choice to share the recipe was all mine. This post has a few affiliate links, which if you click and purchase from I receive compensation at no additional cost to you.*
So, taking a look at the notes the edible standouts are: Marshmallow, Peach Nectar, Sweet Rice Milk, Vanilla Bean, Jasmine Petals and Sandalwood.
Looking to my cake formula, we see where each flavor can fall into place:
Soft and airy layers of sponge cake, usually a chiffon
A complementary soak- not just simple syrup okay and not to moisten a dry cake- NEVER THAT. This is another spot for you to bring more flavor ya know.
Creamy filling(s)- Curds, pastry creams, light as air mousses, you get the vibe
Buttercream- ideal for the style of decorating I do
Variable: sometimes will throw chunks of fruit or a layer of jam in, if that’s the flavor vibe I’m going for.
Before I give up the route I went for this cake, I want you to think about where you’d plug each flavor of the perfume in. At this stage, things don’t really need to be sensible, you just need to let your mind wander through these flavors and components. Sometimes I start by envisioning every flavor as every component until it’s something that does make sense.
Marshmallow chiffon: Okay, not sure how I’d do this in a way that is practical. So maybe not the right flavor for this piece of the puzzle.
Marshmallow soak: I could melt marshmallows into water or milk for a sweet soak. Or even infuse marshmallow root tea for an earthier complement to the other notes in the perfume. Viable option
Marshmallow filling: could infuse marshmallows into pastry cream r some sort of mousse. Also, viable.
Marshmallow buttercream: could do a torched Swiss since it has a marshmallow mapley flavor going on. Would work.
You could slowly work through everything like that until you find a place for each note to fit. But, a lot of the times theres more notes than there are components for them to live so some pieces will double up on flavors. Or, you could just leave them off… right, this is for fun and just a little bit of a flavor experiment. It’s your imaginary cake- do what you want.
So, for my caked up version of this perfume I went with a sandalwood chiffon cake, jasmine poached peaches, the poaching liquid gets drain from the peaches before assembly and I use that to soak the cake layers with, then I make a marshmallow rice pudding mousse and finish the whole thing off with a vanilla swiss buttercream!!
This cake can be broken up into a 3 day project:
DAY ONE- Bake your cake layers, poach the peaches, make the mousse
DAY TWO- Make the swiss buttercream. Assemble the cake + crumb coat. Optionally, you can make the mousse fresh this day and put it into the cake straight away.
DAY THREE- Final decor of the cake.
SANDALWOOD CHIFFON CAKE
So far, anytime sandalwood has shown up in a perfume I’ve default put it in the cake component. I think that’s sort of the easiest place for it to fit- since I used sandalwood powder as my flavoring ingredient- if I had sandalwood chips I’d prob find more use for it in creams and fillings as an infusion. Not to say that I couldn’t throw some of the powder into the custard or buttercream.
At first I was a little apprehensive about wood in cake but, then I remembered cinnamon is literally tree bark and I don’t bat an eye at that! As more sandalwood cakes are sure to come, this will be the recipe they’ll reference back to. This’ll make 2 8” round that will be torted into 4 layers.
TOOLS:
Stand or hand mixer
Mixing bowls
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Serrated knife/ cake knife
INGREDIENTS:
125 grams water
85 grams brown sugar
85 grams canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
3/4 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt
6 large eggs separated
100 grams granulated sugar
175 grams all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sandalwood powder
DIRECTIONS:
Begin by preheating your oven to 330°F.
In a bowl whisk together the 125 grams water, 85 grams brown sugar, 85 grams canola oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 6 egg yolks together until combined. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment begin to whip your 6 eggs whites and 100 grams granulated sugar on medium speed. You could also use a hand mixer here if you don’t own a stand mixer.
Whip until medium peaks form. The meringue will be stiff enough to hold some shape but the top will fall over on its side. If you’re unsure about the stages of whipping egg white to, this video is a helpful guide. Do not over whip your egg whites- this can lead to issues with folding them in to your batter as well as result in a dry cake.
As your whites near doneness, add your 175 grams all-purpose flour, 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder and 2 teaspoons sandalwood powder to the wets from earlier. Whisk until a loose batter forms, being careful not to over mix.
Add 1/3 of your meringue into your batter from earlier. Using a spatula gently fold the meringue in. add the next 1/3 of meringue folding it in until incorporated. Add the final amount of meringue, folding in just until evenly combined. You don’t want to over work they egg whites as this will knock out all of the airy you adding by whipping resulting in a dense and almost rubbery cake.
Weigh the batter into 2 8” cake rounds, 405 grams of batter per pan. Do NOT use any oil sprays or fats to grease your pans. You want the batter to be able to cling to and essentially climb the sides of the pans.
Bake the cake layers for 25-30 minutes until evenly golden brown on top and the cake bounces back when gently tapped in the center.
Remove the cakes from the oven and drop them onto the counter from about 6 inches high before inverting on to a cooling rack to cool UPSIDE DOWN. This is another reason why would don’t want to grease your pans, the cakes will fall out otherwise. Dropping the cake against the counter helps to shock and set the structure of the cake.
Once cooled remove from the pans. Run a knife or off set spatula around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Give the pan a nice firm whack on the the counter and the cake should release. (This video is here to help).
Using a serrated knife, torte the cakes into two layers by slicing through the center horizontally creating a total of 4 layers, 2 from each cake. Individually wrap each layer and chill them in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to build your cake. Do not stack them on top of each other if you can avoid it.
JASMINE POACHED PEACHES (+ PEACH NECTAR FOR SOAKING)
I love love loooove a poached fruit in a cake or on a dessert. Poaching is a great way to infuse fruit with more flavor. For these peaches I strong brew some jasmine tea into hot water. When I say strong brew I usually mean, brew more tea, coffee, etc etc into the amount of water than is typically called for. Ex: steep 1 teabag into 8 oz of hot water. When I “strong brew” I steep 2 bags in the same amount of water for a more concentrated flavor, ya know what I’m saying?
The length of time the peaches take to poach will depend on their ripeness, in this application I do tend to lean towards slightly firmer, underripe peaches as they hold up a little better during the cookie process. If you find yourself using riper, softer peaches adjust the time otherwise they’ll overcook and become too soft.
TOOLS:
Electric tea kettle *optional*
Sharp chef’s knife
Mixing bowls
Tea infuser
Slotted spoon or fine mesh strainer
INGREDIENTS:
400 grams water, 165F in temp
6 grams jasmine tea leaves, approx 3 tablespoons
3 large yellow peaches, (approx 1 pound of peaches)
80 grams granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
DIRECTIONS:
Heat your 400 grams water to 165F before adding the 6 grams of jasmine tea to steep for 45 minutes.
While your tea infuses, dice your 3 large yellow peaches into 1/2” cubes.
Once the tea has infused, strain into a medium saucepan and add the 80 grams granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
Once at a boil add in the diced peaches and drop the flame to low. Allowing the peaches to simmer in the tea for 10-15 minutes. The peaches should be for tender but still maintain some of their body.
Strain the peaches from the liquid or remove them with a slotted spoon, while reserving the poaching liquid. Allow the peaches and the poaching liquid to cool completely independently. Spread the peaches out on a 1/4 sheet pan to cool evenly. You’ll then transfer the cooled peaches and infused liquid to the same container and store tightly covered in the fridge over night.
MARSHMALLOW RICE PUDDING
I heavily debated on including this recipe in this post. Mostly, because to have everything cook and whip properly the smallest batch of this ended up making 1,500 grams and this cake uses about 450-500 grams total. Ultimately though, you can serve the extra rice pudding mousse up in vessels with more of the poached peaches, you’d just need to throw one more diced peach into the liquid. The mousse was inspired by this dish from Fallow in London. They made a rice pudding mousse by folding whipped cream and pate a bombe into rice pudding. So you know what I did?? Folded whipped cream and pate a bombe into rice pudding- duh!
For the rice pudding itself I wanted to hit a little bit of that marshmallowy note from the perfume, so I replaced the sugar in the recipe with marshmallows- which ya know are mostly sugar whipped in to gelatin. To do this, I find the amount of sugar in one serving of marshmallows and divide that by the original amount of sugar in the rice pudding recipe. Then find the appropriate amount of servings to equal that amount of sugar and replace with mallows. yayayay MATH. The little hit of gelatin helps the mousse set up nicely in the fridge later on. From there I whip up a pate a bombe- classic mousse component, and fold that into the prepared rice pudding, to that I add a bit of whipped cream- et voila, marshmallow rice pudding mousse was born.
TOOLS:
Digital scale
Stand mixer or hand mixer
Rubber spatula
Mixing bowls
INGREDIENTS:
WHIPPED CREAM
400 grams whipped cream
RICE PUDDING
475 grams whole milk
150 grams water
75 grams arborio rice
100 grams mini marshmallows
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
PATE A BOMBE
80 grams egg yolks (approx 4 large egg yolks)
50 grams water
175 grams granulated sugar
DIRECTIONS:
To the bowl of a stand mixer add the 400 grams of heavy cream. Using the whisk attachment whip on medium speed until stiff peaks form.
Transfer to a small bowl and place in the fridge until ready for use.
In a medium saucepan combine 475 grams whole milk, 150 grams water, 75 grams arborio rice and 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste. Bringing to a simmer over medium heat, stir constantly to avoid scorching the rice.
Cook the pudding for about 35-40 minutes, until it starts to thicken and the moisture has reduced by about 50%. At this point toss in the 100 grams mini marshmallow, 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, and 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt.
Continue to cook the pudding, stirring until the marshmallows have fully melted into the pudding along with the butter.
The pudding is done when the rice is soft and the mixture is thick.
Prepare an ice bath filling a larger bowl with ice water and placing a slightly smaller bowl into the ice water- it shouldn’t sink under the water, just sit above the ice.
Add the pudding to the bowl seated within the ice bath. Stirring every few minutes to aid in the the cool down process.
While the rice pudding cools you’ll prepare your pate a bomb. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment add the whisk attachment add the 80 grams of egg yolks. Begin to whip on medium.
While the yolks whip add the 50 grams of water and 175 grams of sugar to a medium saucepan, in that order to prevent crystallization. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Should crystals of sugar catch around the sides of the pot, wipe them away with a slightly damp pastry brush.
Cook the sugar mixture to 245F. Once at temp you’ll slowly stream the syrup into the whipping egg yolks.
Carefully stream the sugar into the whipping egg yolks down the side of the bowl.
Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed, about an 8 on a kitchen aid. Whip until the egg yolks are pale with stiff peaks and about tripled in volume.
By now the rice pudding should be cooled to around 80F. If it’s hotter than that, give it some time to cool down a bit more before the next step.
Once the rice pudding is at temp you’ll fold the pate a bombe into the pudding 1/2 of the mixture at a time. Once the pate a bomb has been folded in you’ll go in with the whipped cream, folding it in 1/3 at a time until full incorporated.
Cover directly with plastic wrap and store until ready to use.
FOR ASSEMBLY
YOU’LL NEED:
Cake turntable
A cake board or plate 10-12” in diameter
A pastry brush or squeeze bottle
Piping bags
Piping tips (optional)
Sandalwood chiffon layers
Jasmine poached pears, separated from the poaching liquid
Marshmallow rice pudding mousse
1.25x batch of my vanilla swiss buttercream recipe
DIRECTIONS:
Pour the reserved poaching liquid from the peaches into a squeeze bottle for easy soaking but, you can also use a pastry brush to brush it on too.
Load up your piping bag with buttercream and cut the end at about 1/2” thickness.
Place your cake board/plate on your turntable. Pipe a small dollop of buttercream to help secure the cake to.
Place the first layer of cake on the board.
Give the layer an even squirt of the peach nectar. Just enough to moisten the layers, not to where it’s sopping wet. Anywhere from 50-75 grams of soaking liquid should be plenty.
Using the piping bag create a dam of buttercream round the outer edge of the cake layer.
Fill the center of the dam with about 1/3rd of poached peaches spread into an even layer. Top the peaches will rice pudding mousse and use a small off set spatula to evenly spread it over the fruit.
Place the next layer of cake over the mousse. Repeat soaking, creating a damn, laying down peaches and mousse for all remaining layers.
Once you’ve topped the cake with the final layer— cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream, this is your crumb coat.
Place the cake in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes for the crumb coat to set- preferably overnight to give all the components a chance to mingle.
Decorate the cake however you’d like.
Store the cake in the fridge until an hour and a half to two hours before serving. Pull the cake and let it come to room temp before slicing.
Enjoy!!
Till next time my bake chat baddies ♡
