Chef Riccardo Pinna of Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa recently shared an excellent recipe about how you can make Christmas bauble dessert. This beauty is mesmerising and absolutely something worth checking out, if you wish to make a treat that’s going to leave your loved ones awestruck. Take a look at the recipe!
Chef Riccardo Pinna’s Recipe For Christmas Bauble Dessert
Salted Caramel
Ingredients
(For making one cup)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (42g) light corn syrup
- 1/4 cup (60g) heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt (you can also use fleur de sel)
- 2 tablespoons (28g) butter, cut into small pieces
- 12g caramelised white chocolate (like Valhrona dulcey), optional
Direction For Making The Recipe
- You need to combine sugar, corn syrup, and a tablespoon of water in a small, high-sided saucepan set over medium-high heat. After this, bring it to a simmer and brush down any stray sugar crystals from the side of the pan with the help of a wet pastry brush. Once the sugar has dissolved you can stop stirring and bring the mixture to boil.
- Continue to boil, and keep stirring the pan occasionally to ensure there’s even cooking until the sugar darkens to a rich amber colour.
- Add butter and keep whisking until it has melted and smooth.
- Remove from heat and add the heavy cream. Once it starts bubbling and appears to seize up, continue to stir until smooth and uniform. Once you have reached this consistency, return to medium heat and boil until it reaches 230 to 235 degrees F.
- Let it cool for five minutes or so, then add caramelised white chocolate, stirring until melted and smooth. Let it cool down to room temperature before layering it onto frozen cremeux. Or, if you want to store and use it later, transfer the same to a jar or heat-proof container, then cover and refrigerate for up to seven days until ready to use.
Chocolate Crémeux
Ingredients
(For making 2/3 cup)
- 1/4 cup (60g) heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (60g) whole milk
- 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
- 75g semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used a mix of 50g of 60% dark chocolate and 25g of 38% milk chocolate)
- 1 sheet leaf gelatin (you can also use 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin, if you don’t have the former)
Direction For Making The Recipe
- Bloom gelatin. For leaf gelatin, cut them into strips and place them in a bowl with cold water for at least five minutes to soften. For powdered gelatin, sprinkle over one tablespoon of cold water and let sit for at least five minutes.
Gently melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl. Remove from heat and set aside. - After this, combine milk and cream in a small saucepan. Heat over medium flame until steaming and just barely starting to bubble.
- Whisk egg yolk in a small bowl, and then slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of hot milk mixture into egg yolk. Continue to whisk in a bit more hot liquid at a time until the egg mixture is hot to the touch. Now, add it back to the saucepan with remaining milk before returning it to medium flame.
- Cook, while stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and sides of the pan as you go, until the mixture thickens (it should read 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). Remove from heat.
- In case you’re using leaf gelatin, do wring out as much water as possible. While microwave powdered gelatin for 5 to 10 seconds and stir until melted. After this, add it to the hot milk mixture in the saucepan, and continue whisking until well combined.
- Add melted chocolate and mix it well to incorporate them.
- Spoon this mixture into silicone molds (approximately 1 3/4-inches in diameter), leaving about 1/4-inch of room at the top of each mold. But you can fill it to the brim, if you’re skipping the caramel mixture. Now, place mold on a flat surface like a sheet pan, and place in the freezer. After this, freeze until firm, at least for four hours.
Chocolate Pecan Crumb Crust
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons (25g) finely ground pecans
- 2/3 cup (80g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (67g) organic or demerara sugar
- 2 tablespoons (14g) cocoa powder
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons (70g) cold unsalted butter (these should be cut into pieces)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons whole milk
Also Read: The Michelin Guide Food Festival Is Taking Over Abu Dhabi This Weekend & Here’s All About It
Direction For Making The Recipe
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, pulse pecans until finely ground, until it’s coarse in texture.
- Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt and pulse until evenly distributed.
- Sprinkle butter cubes over dry ingredients. Pulse until the butter mixture forms coarse, dry crumbs. Once it reaches a sticky consistency, it’s good to go, you can do the pinch test for this. If not, sprinkle over a teaspoon or two of milk and pulse until evenly incorporated.
- Dump the crumb mixture into the prepared baking pan, and press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until set. Let it cool slightly, then cut out 5 rounds, but make sure to do it when it’s slightly warm.
Mirror Glaze
Ingredients
(For making 3 cups)
- 6 sheets leaf gelatin (you can also use 2 tablespoons powdered gelatin)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup (226g) corn syrup (You can also opt for glucose syrup)
- 1/2 cup (118g) water
- 12 cup (163g) sweetened condensed milk
- 7oz (200g) good quality white chocolate that should be finely chopped
- Gel or powdered food colouring
- Rolo candies, unwrapped and dusted with gold lustre, for decoration
Direction For Making The Recipe
- Cut gelatin into 1-inch strips and submerge in cool water for at least 5 minutes, so that it softens up. After this, place white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl and set aside.
- Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, making the mixture clear.
- Remove from heat and add gelatin and whisk until completely dissolved. Add in sweetened condensed milk. Pour hot mixture over chopped white chocolate and let it sit for 30 seconds, then stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Let the glaze cool, stirring occasionally, until it reaches approximately 90-94 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. The glaze needs to be the correct temperature or it will not form a thick enough layer on the outside of the cakes.
- When the glaze reaches 95-96 degrees, add powder or gel food colouring as desired. If at any point your glaze gets too cool/thick, microwave it in 10-second interval, stirring to even out the temperature throughout.
- Unmold frozen mousse cakes and place on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet to catch any excess glaze. Pour glaze generously over the cakes. If your glaze seems a bit thin, you can do another layer, or let the glaze cool down a few more degrees, which should give you a thicker layer.
- Allow the excess glaze to drip off for 5 – 10 minutes, then gently scrape the edges to remove any remaining drops. Carefully transfer cakes using an offset spatula to cardboard cake rounds or small pieces of cardboard for easy movement. Any leftover glaze can be scraped up and refrigerated in an airtight container for later use.
So, if you have also been planning to make a special Christmas bauble dessert by Chef Riccardo Pinna at home, this is just the one for you!
Cover Image Courtesy: Press Release
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