Method

Chocolate Crumble

Put all ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer and mix with a paddle attachment until crumbs form. Spread on a tray and dry overnight in a cool, dry place covered with a thin layer of paper towel. The next day, pre heat the oven 160º C and bake on a tray in the oven for 10 – 25 minutes or until cooked. Store in a cool airtight container when cooled.

Chocolate Mousse

Whisk the cream to medium peaks, cover and refridgerate.

Melt chocolate gently over a bain-marie and fold in half of the cocoa.

Whisk yolks with half the sugar to a stiff sabayon and fold in half the cocoa.

Whisk the egg whites with the other half of the sugar to a medium stiff meringue. Add the chocolate croquant and fold all together.

Salted Caramel and Vanilla Sauce

Heat the cream, vanilla seeds, pod, salt and star anise in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove and keep hot.

Heat a heavy-based saucepan; when it’s hot sprinkle over half the sugar and shake the pan to evenly caramelise the sugar, when it reaches an even golden colour, add the rest and shake the pan. When the sugar is a nice dark colour and you see a whisp of smoke, add a little of the hot cream – it splutters so be careful. Take off the heat and stir. Add the rest of the cream mix, spices and all, you may have to boil out the lumps quickly.

Cover and cool for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir in the lemon juice and then the Calvados. Once mixed strain through a sieve to remove the pod and anise. Cover and chill.

Foodie Fact: Calvados is a French brandy made from apples or a combination of apples and pears. It is produced in several areas in France but its true home is in the Normandy region.

Grilled Banana

Heat a non-stick pan over a high heat, add the butter and sugar and allow to brown slightly. Add the banana and drop the heat to medium and cook for 15 – 20 mins, turning once or until cooked and evenly browned. Keep at room temp in the pan.

Poached Pear

In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the sugar stock and aromatics up to the boil, remove from heat and allow to infuse until cool and then strain.

Using an apple corer push long-ways down the length of the pears to create tubes of pears. Bring the sugar stock back to the boil and add the pears, cook at a medium heat for 10 minutes. Allow the pears to cool in the stock at room temperature.

Chocolate Tuiles

Pre heat oven to 150º C.

Beat the butter and icing sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add egg whites one at a time.

Beat in the vanilla, then lower the speed and add the flour and cocoa, mix until well combined. Chill the mixture for 1 hour.

Spread on a silicone pad or a lined baking tray and bake at for 5 minutes.

Milk Chocolate Tubes

Temper the chocolate according to the instructions on the packet.

Make a template from acetate 6 cm x 15 cm, pour the chocolate over the template, let the chocolate start to set slightly then roll into cylinders. Place them into a ring or tie with a piece of string to allow them to set to that shape. Gently peel away the acetate and use a little melted chocolate to ‘glue’ the two pieces together, smoothing it off with your finger.

Vanilla and Ginger foam

Bring the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla to a simmer in a saucepan and remove from the heat. Allow to cool and then strain out the vanilla pod.

Add the agar and whisk back up to the boil for two minutes, remove from heat and whisk in the ginger juice. Allow to cool until it sets like a jelly, then blitz it into a smooth paste using a hand blender. Put in a piping bag with a 1 cm nozzle.

Chocolate Paint

Mix all the ingredients together and gently melt over a double boiler. Keep warm for when you are ready to plate.

A good bought vanilla and or hazelnut ice-cream for plating.

To plate your dish, paint two single strokes of chocolate paint in the middle of the plate making a half square. Place the chocolate cylinder in the middle of the plate sitting on the corner or the two brush strokes.

Add 1 tablespoon of chocolate crumble inside the cylinder then fill it one third full with the mousse. Add two thin slices of roasted banana pushing it down slightly, add one teaspoon of salted caramel and pipe in more chocolate mousse until almost full.

Place the warm pears on either side of the chocolate cylinder and scoop two rochers of ice cream and place them on the plate in front of the chocolate.

Place the chocolate tuile on top of the cylinder and pipe in a round shaped ball of vanilla and ginger cream. Garnish with a few roasted hazelnuts and serve immediately.

Foodie Fact: A rocher is a culinary technique similar to that of a quenelle. Where a quenelle would give a lovely oval shape using 2 spoons, a rocher is a one-handed technique which gives the same effect but in a smoother manner.