This recipe is part of the book Pasteles de Viaje 2.0 by our ally Adamance, the second instalment of a collection that continues to explore the limits of the most practical format in shop pastry. If you are not familiar with the concept, a travel cake is one that keeps longer than a fresh cake, can be stored at room temperature, withstands transport without any risk of spoiling, is easy to eat and contains no fresh fruit or cream. A classic that in this book finds new technical and creative dimensions.

Nicolas Pierot and Llyod Hamon, authors of this recipe, explain it honestly:

“When we tried the fruit cake from the first little book, we were impressed, but we felt that with some fruits it was missing something to achieve the fruit intensity we were expecting”.

A precise technical observation that opens the door to a brilliantly simple solution.

The solution: grating the fruity gellan

The answer did not come from a complex technique or an elaborate new formulation. It came from an unexpectedly straightforward idea:

“Grating the gellan interiors from the first little book into the fruit cake batter! It is very simple and quick, but it delivers a spectacular result.”

The process is as follows: prepare the fruit cake batter, hot soaking syrup, glaze, and *blueberry fruit gellan. Once gelled and firm, the gellan is grated directly — like cheese or chocolate — and the resulting fragments are weighed and incorporated into the cake batter before baking.

Gellan Gum: the ingredient that makes grating possible

The technical key to this preparation is Gellan Gum from Sosa Ingredients. This high heatresistant gelling agent generates firm, clean gels with a compact texture that, once cold, can be physically manipulated — including grating — without losing their integrity.

Unlike other gelling agents that produce softer or more elastic gels, Gellan Gum generates a structure firm enough to be grated with a conventional grater, producing fragments of fruity gel that maintain their shape, color and flavor within the batter during baking.

This baking behavior is fundamental: the grated gellan does not completely melt into the cake. It maintains visible fragments of concentrated fruit that, when the cake is sliced, reveal an interior of intense colors and an irregular distribution of flavor that creates surprise in every slice. Each bite is different. Each cut, a different image.

The result: a fulfilled cake

A more intense cake thanks to a play of colors and textures with the grated gellan. The combination of the two techniques also allows making cakes with two flavors and two colors, doubling the creative possibilities. Truly, we have the impression of having a culminated cake, the one we would like to buy from an artisan or enjoy at a tea time.”
— Nicolas Pierot and Llyod Hamon.

The Blueberry Cake is not simply a fruit cake with more flavor. It is a new way of understanding intensity in pastry: not through more sugar, more flavoring or more coloring, but through texture. The grated gellan acts as concentrated pockets of real fruit within the batter, generating points of intense flavor that contrast with the cake crumb and create a layered tasting experience.ence.

The visual result is equally striking. When sliced, the blueberry gel fragments — in that characteristic deep blue-purple — contrast with the cake batter in an irregular, natural pattern that no artificial coloring could replicate. It is the fruit itself that paints the inside of the cake.

Storage and professional format

This cake keeps at room temperature for approximately 8 to 10 days, making it an ideal product for shop pastry, online orders, gourmet gifts, or any context where product shelf life is a relevant factor. The recipe is formulated for *6 cakes of 18 × 4.5 cm, with 240 g per unit, an individual portion format that facilitates both sale and transport.

The grated gellan technique is not limited to blueberry: it can be applied with any fruit and combined with batters of different colors and flavors, multiplying creative possibilities without adding complexity to the process. Two fruits, two colors, one cake. The combinations are endless.