By Maralyn D. Hill, The Epicurean Explorer
Decadence d'Or - The $750.00 Cupcake
What is Decadence d’Or? For me, a $750 cupcake satisfies that answer. Before sharing the cupcake, discovering the passion of the chef also matters to provide full appreciation.
Hailing from France, Johann Springinsfield’s passion for pastries developed as a youngster when his mother taught him the art of making homemade cake.
Like many European chefs, by 16, he moved from home to attend an apprenticeship program to hone his pastry making skills. For 10 years, Johann learned by moving around France and working under some of the great chefs of the world. Then, he accepted the position as chef for a catering company. With his helping the owners, the company grew from seven employees to more than 30 in one year.
By 2002, he opened his own business in the French Riviera. Johann’s move to Las Vegas happened in 2006, to help a friend who owned a catering company. While dealing with the difficulties of learning a different culture and language, he took the pastry chef position with The Venetian and The Palazzo. There, he was able to indulge his passion for decadent pastry and created Decadence D’Or. Describing the ingredients of this creation shows why it is so expensive.
Decadence D’Or is a cupcake, created using the most audacious ingredients, gathered from around the world and handcrafted by chefs here at the Venetian/Palazzo Hotels. This sumptuous cake, made from Palmira Single Estate Chocolate, Charentes Poitou AOC Butter and Tahitian Gold Vanilla Bean Caviar, is painstakingly topped with edible gold flakes and Louis XIII Cognac, encased in a hand blown sugar Fleur-de-Lis.
Chef Johann Springinsfield
This cognac, Louis XIII de Rémy Martin, is manufactured using grapes from the Grande Champagne territory of Cognac, France. Each bottle is a blend of 1,200 cognacs, ranging from 40 to 100 years old, across three generations of Cellar Masters, resulting from the combined labor of 10,000 people. According to Rémy Martin’s philosophy, if you start with the finest grapes from the best vineyards, sift them through the best eaux-de-vie, and blend artfully, you will produce the finest cognac.
In 2004, Valrhona wished to develop a new chocolate in the Single Estate and Vintage chocolate range. Valrhona’s Venezuela plantation, Palmira, was given the opportunity to experiment with a rare, precious and very fragile cocoa: Porcelana, a very old and rare type of Criollo bean. Trees of Palmira had been individually planted by Jean Francois Dargein, who was determined to safeguard this special Criollo varietal. The resulting chocolate, known as Palmira Single Estate Chocolate, is very complex, with many sensations, and extremely rich.
Vanilla Caviar-Vanilla is the world’s most labor-intensive agricultural crop, which is why it’s so expensive. After the vines are planted, up to three years are required before the first flowers appear. Tahitian Gold vanilla is laboriously hand-pollinated. The fruits, which resemble big green beans, must remain on the vine for nine months to develop completely their signature aroma before they are hand-harvested. Then, the lengthy process of curing, sweating and drying begins. Tahitian Gold Vanilla Caviar is obtained by manually splitting the beans and carefully extracting all seeds.
Edible gold flakes are extremely delicate, require patience and dexterity, but are well worth the effort. Metallic gold is biologically inert and has no toxic effect on the body over time. Alchemists of the 15th century used gold medicinally. Europeans have a very old tradition of using edible gold on food. In the 16th century, Italian Dukes and Earls used to decorate their risotto with gold leaves. Japanese have been adding edible gold to foods and even to their sake for centuries.
For those who can afford to pamper themselves to the extreme, this may satisfy your taste buds. How did we happen to taste this work of culinary art? The International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association held its 2012 Conference at the Venetian/Palazzo and the hotel was gracious enough to share this experience with us.
We were able to watch Johann create his masterpiece with such pride. Although I imagined it would be giant size, it was nevertheless a $750 cupcake—sheer decadence. Where else but in the Venetian/Palazzo would something like this be available? Gratefully, we did get to taste his $750 cupcake creation.
