If it could only be like this always – always summer, always alone, the fruit always ripe.

Evelyn Waugh

Already August waves goodbye, and I sneak into this place at the eleventh hour with a new recipe.
This past month was an “X” block—4 weeks of inpatient wards, which means 6 days a week of work. Each day was an early morning, a late night, and busy between; each week was long, strength-sapping, habit-challenging.
Now, I’m sitting squarely inside a 2-week “Y” block—outpatient, far more relaxed, with what feels like a truly luxurious amount of sleep. The contrast, while refreshing, is a challenge in and of itself. The sudden absence of hospital life and routine is a missing stair, all too eager to trip.

Getting into the kitchen to create was a nice breath of fresh air.
I had been dreaming of making a more complex dessert for a while. However, it was difficult to find any inspiration that was vegetarian. Most entremets utilize a decent amount of gelatin, in the mousse and in any crémeux inside.
I found a recipe for an agar-agar based mousse and started plotting a summer entremet and collecting all of the ingredients and special tools I would need.

At first, I was inspired by all of the zucchini that I somehow kept managing to accumulate in my crisper drawer. I thought that a zucchini cake entremet could be intriguing. I even tested a lemon-zucchini cake. However, I realized it would likely be too soft to hold up within a mousse cake, and the flavor wasn’t strong enough on its own. Ultimately, I think I prefer zucchini bread to cake anyways, for the additional body and heft.

Then, I remembered back to two years ago and these delicious sweet corn and blueberry cream puffs.
The addition of corn gave them such an interesting je-ne-sais-quoi. Slightly earthy and sugary. Making recipes with sweet corn doesn’t necessarily make them taste super corny (i.e., don’t hold your breath for cornbread-like flavors here).

It instead adds a complexity that is a little slippery to accurately pin down: a hint of umami, a big punch of simple sweetness; the most faithful way I can describe it is sugary juice down the chin, sweat on the upper lip licked away, big crunchy bites in the long dog days of August, when the corn has ripened to its most obscenely perfect and fleeting state.

Inside the entremet is an almond sablé Breton, which is a buttery, soft cookie with a dense crumb; it hardens in the freezer but softens back up in the fridge; it doesn’t absorb a great amount and is sturdy as a base.
Over top is a salted caramel, brought dangerously close to burnt, stretchy and lush on the tongue.
The corn and white chocolate mousse, light and sweet and ultra creamy, enrobes the caramel and cookie.
A thin shell of cocoa butter is sprayed over when the cake has completely frozen.
Fresh strawberries, raw corn, my pride and joy windowsill mint, and cornflowers crown the piece.

This entremet does take a decent amount of work and precision—no volumetric measurements here, as all must be done by weight. If it’s too over the top, you can always get a wheel of brie and top it in the same way, because honestly, the visuals would be spot on.

Special tools and ingredients:
High quality white chocolate couverture (I use Valrhona)
Freeze-dried sweet corn powder
Agar agar powder
Kitchen scale
6″ cake ring (I use Fat Daddio’s)
7″ silicone mold (I used a random Amazon mold, but have heard excellent things about Silikomart)
Cocoa butter spray (I use PME)
Kitchen thermometer

Caramel Corn Entremet
mousse recipe adapted from In Love With Cake
makes 1 7″ entremet

ingredients:
for the almond sablé breton:
72 grams butter
14 grams coconut oil
76 grams brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon instant coffee
2 egg yolks
100 grams flour
100 grams almond flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

for the caramel:
100 grams sugar
42 grams butter
60 grams heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

for the sweet corn mousse:
150 grams whole milk
25 grams freeze dried sweet corn powder
10 grams agar agar powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
205 grams white chocolate couverture
303 grams heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

to assemble:
cocoa butter spray
fresh strawberries
mint
cornflowers
corn kernels

directions:
Make the sablé breton first: preheat oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 6″ cake ring; place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Beat butter, brown sugar, and coconut oil together until light and fluffy and doubled in volume, about 5 minutes.
Add salt, coffee, egg yolks, and mix on low until homogeneous.
Add flour, almond flour, and baking powder and stir on low until the dough comes together.
Press about 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared cake ring and then make a loose shape next to it with the remaining scraps (chef’s snack).
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden on the edges and set in the middle but still soft.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then unmold and allow to cool completely.
Trim the edges and darkened bottom off; set aside.
Make the caramel: place sugar in a pot over medium heat and allow to caramelize, shaking occasionally, until a deep amber.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in the heavy cream and butter, whisking constantly (will sputter and expand in volume rapidly, beware).
Stir in the salt and allow to cool completely.
Prepare the corn mousse: melt the white chocolate in the microwave on 50% power until it reaches 45 degrees C.
Meanwhile, whisk milk, corn powder, agar agar, and salt together in a small pot; whisking constantly, cook until the mixture reaches 90 degrees C.
Pour over the chocolate and whisk until the mixture is creamy and shiny and fully incorporated.
Using an immersion blender, blend until shiny and smooth.
Meanwhile, softly whip the heavy cream and vanilla extract to soft peaks (be sure not to overwhip, or you will get oily mousse).
Once at soft peaks, carefully fold into the chocolate mixture.
Pour half of the mousse into a 7″ silicone mold.
Top with the sablé breton and press down gently to fully surround the sides.
Use about 3/4 of the caramel to carefully top the sablé breton.
Add the top portion of the mold (if using a two piece mold), then pour the remaining mousse on top.
Gently shake to ensure full coating.
Freeze for at least 4 hours, until completely solid.
Set up a spray box out of cardboard to protect your counters (no, seriously).
Unmold the mousse cake and spray with cocoa butter spray.
Place in fridge to allow to thaw.
Decorate as desired.
Serve cold from the fridge.