INGREDIENTS
Passionfruit x 1
microherbs
Chocolate Spheres
600g 55% dark chocolate
Bronze lusture dust
Passionfruit Cream
65g caster sugar
75g eggs
5g lemon juice
55g passionfruit puree
1.5g gelatin, softened and drained
115g unsalted butter, room temperature
20g passionfruit puree, extra
Milk Chocolate Mousse
70g thickened cream
60g full cream milk
40g castor sugar
60g egg yolks, room temp
120g milk chocolate callets.
30g 55% dark chocolate
2g gold leaf gelatin, softened and drained
260g thickened cream
Chocolate Sponge
4 eggs
135g caster sugar
30g dutch cocoa
65g plain flour
1/4tsp salt
1tsp vanilla
40g butter
Peanut caramel
60g caster sugar
100g thickened cream
30g liquid glucose
25g unsalted butter
60g salted peanuts, chopped
½ vanilla bean
Peanut snow
80g peanut butter
120g maltodextrin
Pistachio Moss
80g pistachio paste
120g maltodextrin
Avocado green (Americolour) gel food colour, QS
METHOD
Chocolate Spheres
1. Have ready a 7cm, 6cm & 5cm hemisphere moulds.
2. Temper the chocolate and fill the moulds. Tap to remove an air bubbles, turn upside down to remove excess chocolate, scrape off any excess and let harden.
Passionfruit cream
3. Combine the eggs, passionfruit puree, sugar and lemon juice and cook to 85c.
4. Add pre-soaked gelatin, whisk and strain.
5. Add in the butter one tablespoon at a time to create an emulstion. Add in the second amount of passionfruit puree.
Chocolate mousse
6. Bring first lot of cream, milk, sugar to boiling point.
7. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. When the cream mixture comes to the boil, remove from the heat and gently pour over the egg yolks whilst whisking.
8. Transfer the cream/egg mixture back into a small saucepan. Whilst constantly stirring, cook the custard mixture until it coats the back of a spoon.
9. Place chocolate in a medium bowl with the gelatin with sieve placed over the top. Pour the custard over the chocolate.
10. Let it sit for a moment and then using a small whisk gently start stirring to bring the mixture together. When the mixture is homogenous, set it aside and let it cool down to 30-35c.
11. Whilst the chocolate custard mixture is cooling, whisk the remaining cream to soft peaks and set aside in the fridge.
12. Gently fold in the cream starting with 1/3 of the cream to loosen the mixture up then finishing off with the remaining 2/3 cream. Pipe into 4cm hemisphere moulds. Freeze
Chocolate sponge
13. Preheat oven to 180c. Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.
14. Combine eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer set over a small pan of boiling water. Heat the eggs until luke warm and the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes,
15. Transfer to the stand mixer and beat on high until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
16. Gently fold through 1/3 of the flour mix, followed by the second third and finshing off with the remaining.
17. Take a cups worth of the batter and mix through the melted butter. Fold this mix back into the remaining batter. Pour batter into a lined 30 x 40cm baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes.
Peanut caramel
18. Make a dry caramel with the sugar. Meanwhile, heat the cream, glucose and vanilla in a small pot. Deglaze with the hot cream. Whisk in the butter and add the peanuts.
Peanut snow
19. Put ingredients in a food processer and process until crumbly.
Pistachio Moss
20. Put ingredients in a food processer and process until crumbly. Add some green colour to brighten the moss colour.
Assembly
21. Make a doughnut shape out the sponge using 5cm & 4cm round cutters. Place in centre of the plate.
22. Take a 7cm chocolate hemisphere. Pipe in some passionfruit cream, top with a 5cm disc of sponge and arrange the peanut caramel, peanut snow and top with a half sphere of mousse.
23. Heat a frying pan and turnover. Using the heat, take a second chocolate hemisphere and melt the edge of the chocolate, place on top of the other half of the hemisphere and seal. Brush with the bronze.
24. Repeat with the 6cm & 5cm hemispheres.
25. Place the 6cm sphere on the plate. Slightly Melt the base of the 6cm sphere and attach to the side of the 7 cm sphere. Repeat with 5cm sphere.
26. Arrange the moss, microherbs, florals around the base of the chocolate sculpture.