Yesterday’s posting “Another visit to Vienne en Isère” ended with a menu from a 1971 lunch Bonnie and Ed Campbell had at the fabulous restaurant La Pyramide in Vienne in 1971; I wondered what choices they had made from the menu, and Bonnie recalled that they had chosen La Marjolaine as the dessert. A specialty of the house, as it turns out. A photo of this remarkable flourless cake, and then crucial information from the Epicurious site’s “This Classic French Cake Tastes Like the World’s Best Candy Bar: The majestic marjolaine — beloved by chefs all over — is worth making for your special celebration” by Genevieve Yam on 1/20/22:
(photo by Joseph De Leo for Epicurious)The marjolaine cake may not get quite as much attention as the Opera or Mille-Feuille, but ask any chef who is well-versed in classical French cuisine and it’s likely they’ll start going on and on about how delicious this layered dessert is. The marjolaine — made with nutty meringue, rich chocolate ganache, and vanilla and hazelnut buttercreams — was created by celebrated French chef Fernand Point. During its heyday in the 1930s, Point’s restaurant La Pyramide, located in Vienne, France, was a culinary temple for many — including famed chefs Paul Bocuse and the Troisgros brothers.
… Within the pages of [Point’s book Ma Gastronomie] is the original recipe for marjolaine, the majestic cake Point served at La Pyramide. There is an air of mystery surrounding the cake’s name: Marjolaine means ‘marjoram’ in French, but no one knows why Point named it so, as none of the herb appears in the cake.
Marjoram is cousin to oregano in the genus Origanum, and its pine and citrus flavors would be odd among the chocolate and nut tastes of marjolaine. It might be relevant that Point was a notorious practical joker.
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