World Cup Cake

This cake, created by Chef Jacquy and Chef Sebastien,
won the Pastry World Cup in 1997

From the bottom up: Hazelnut Daquoise, Caramelized Hazelnuts,
Hazelnut Mousse, Chocolate Biscuit, Chocolate Mousse
and topped with a Chocolate Mirror Glaze.

    
     This cake is amazing.  It is my favorite cake so far and maybe my favorite thing we've made this whole time.  If you asked me how I felt about cake a year ago I may have told you I'm not a cake person.  Turns out I just wasn't eating the right cake.  Mousse is my new best friend; I'd like to take a bath in this hazelnut mousse.
     Saturday I had my first stage.  I worked at Julius Meinl all morning and I really liked it.  They do most of their production during the week so it was pretty low key.  They showed me around and actually trusted me to do things without looking over my shoulder.  It was a nice place for my first stage because a lot of their products are similar to the things we make in school; croissants, tarts and a lot of mousse.
     I lured Mom to the city on Sunday with the promise of cake.  While she was here we went across the street to get Chicken Works and realized it's closed on Sunday.  Then we walked the other direction to Thai Thai and it wasn't open yet.  So we finally walked another block down to Leona's, a family restaurant with good burgers, then came back to the house for cake.
     We watched Kings of Pastry and Mom really liked it.  When Rachael watched it she texted me right away to say how good it was.  Jen and I are planning to watch it with Derek, three peas in a pod style.  I think everyone should see it.  People watch those baking competition shows on tv all the time and they're not half as good.