Posts Tagged ‘dessert’

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An unbeatable mass of mousse

Sunday, May 25th, 2008


Purists would say white chocolate can’t really be called ‘chocolate’, as it does not contain the essential cocoa solids. Instead, it is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids and lecithin.

Make sure when you’re buying white chocolate that it contains cocoa butter – some inferior brands use vegetable fat. Green & Blacks does an up-market white chocolate which can be found in food stores and most supermarkets. Or you could go all-out and source Valhrona’s wonderful Opera Chocolate.

Not only is its status as a chocolate under fire, but white chocolate is also difficult to work with. When melted, the cocoa butter in white chocolate can occasionally split, creating an oily compound that can be recovered by re-emulsifying.

To do this, melt a small amount of butter or chocolate and whisk back in the ‘oily’ compound.

As with other chocolate, the melted product rapidly turns lumpy and grainy when water is added. To save the mixture, just bring some cream to the boil and add the chocolate a little at a time.

This is a dessert I have being doing on and off in the restaurant for 20 years. What a scary thought!

When I first started doing it, two regular customers used to travel from outside Dublin to the restaurant just for the mousse. I hope you like it too.

White chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce


250ml cream
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
2 leaves of gelatin
675g white chocolate
1.25 litre of lightly whipped cream

For the sauce
Raspberry sauce
500g raspberries
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp of water
Extra raspberries and cocoa powder for serving

Sauce method
First, make the sauce by placing the raspberries into a pot, adding the sugar and water and keeping it on a low heat for a few minutes.

Remove the raspberries and place into a blender to puree. Then pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Mousse method
Cut the vanilla pod in half and remove the seeds, then place the pods and the cream in a stainless-steel pot. It is a good idea to place a film of cold water on the bottom of the pot before you add the cream, as this stops it from burning.

While you are bringing the cream to the boil, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla seeds for one minute.

When the cream boils, add half of it to the eggs and sugar and mix, stirring constantly. Then add the remainder of the cream and return to the heat, mixing slowly with a wooden spoon. Cook on a low heat for about two minutes.

The chocolate should be cut into small pieces and added to the mixture, a little at a time. Stir until the chocolate has dissolved, remove the mixture from the heat and cool slightly.

Soak the gelatine in cold water. When it becomes limp, remove it and squeeze it to remove excessive water. Place the gelatine in a pot, along with a few tablespoons of the chocolate mixture, and leave it on a low heat until the gelatine dissolves.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and add to the chocolate mixture. If you can’t get gelatine leaves, use 10g of dried gelatine, dissolved in a little warm cream and strained into the mix.

Cover the chocolate mix. Lightly whip the cream in a stainless steel bowl. Then fold the cream into the chocolate mix, a little at a time. Now divide the chocolate into moulds, or a bread tin lined with cling film. Cover and place in a freezer for about five hours.

To serve
Remove the mousse from the freezer and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving. Place the mousse on the plate, add a little sauce, arrange the raspberries and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

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Succulent summer strawberries

Sunday, May 18th, 2008


Strawberries conjure up images of long summer days spent outside in the garden. During my childhood, strawberries grew in our small garden and we devoured them on site – they never got as far as the kitchen table.

Strawberries are a good place to start if you’re interested in growing your own food. They require little maintenance other than watering. With a decent enough summer, fresh garden strawberries can grow until late August.

Two years ago, I grew some Alpine strawberries in my garden to include in my photography book, Food for Life. To my surprise, I was able to grow enough to use some in the restaurant, as well as having enough for use at home.

As with all fruit, you should smell strawberries before buying them. Don’t put your money down if they don’t have that wonderful, unmistakable strawberry scent.

Sable and strawberries with crème anglaise


Ingredients, serves four
2 punnets fresh Irish strawberries, washed and with leaves removed
Crème patisserie
Sable pastry
Crème anglaise
20g icing sugar for dusting
50ml raspberry coulis for garnish

Crème Anglaise
9 egg yolks
130g icing sugar
1/2 litre cream
1/2 litre milk
1vanilla pod

Sable pastry
416g flour
250g butter
166g icing sugar
8g salt
3 yolks
1vanilla pod

Crème patisserie
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
180g icing sugar
150g flour
1vanilla pod
1/2 litre cream
1/2 litre milk
200g butter

Method: crème anglaise
1. Heat the milk and cream with the vanilla pod in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and sugar until smooth.

3. When warm, add the cream/milk mixture, little by little, to the eggs and sugar, stirring constantly.

4. Return to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the liquid coats the back of the spoon. Remove from the heat, pass through a fine sieve and cool quickly in cold water.

5. Store in a covered container in the fridge until needed.

Method: sable pastry
1. Dice the butter and cream until the mixture is smooth and white.

2. Add the sugar and salt and mix. Then add in the flour and finally, the egg yolks, and combine into a ball.

3. Remove the pastry from the bowl and flatten it out on a tray lined with parchment paper. Cover with film and allow to rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

4. When the pastry is ready, roll it out into a 4mm thickness. Rest the pastry.

5. Cut disks with a 5cm diameter round cutter. Rest the pastry.

6. Bake in the oven for 6-7 minutes at 175 C, until golden brown.

Method: crème patisserie
1. Whisk eggs, yolks and sugar in a large stainless steel bowl until smooth.

2. Heat milk, cream and vanilla pod in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.

3. When warm, add a little of the milk mix to the eggs, stirring all the while. Add the remainder of the milk mix to the eggs/sugar stirring constantly.

4. Return the liquid to a low heat and cook, stirring constantly (make sure the eggs don’t scramble on the bottom of the pan). The mix is ready when it coats the back the spoon.

5. Mix in the flour, place in an oven dish, cover with parchment and cook at 150 C for 25 minutes.

6. Let the mix cool a little and buzz in the diced butter when still warm.

To serve
1. Place five dots of coulis, (decreasing in size) from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock on the plate. In between these, place five dots of anglaise, again decreasing in size. Draw a cocktail stick through them to make heart shapes.

2. Assemble the dessert by placing one sable disk on the board, and piping crème patisserie from the centre of the pastry out to the edge.

3. Quarter the strawberries from the top of the cone to the base.

4. Place the strawberry quarters (narrow end towards the centre) around the sable to make a flower shape. Put a dot of crème patisserie in the centre and place another pastry disk on top.

6. Repeat the above (crème patisserie and strawberries) for this layer. Place a sable on top, and place a dot of crème patisserie in the middle. Dust half of the pastry with icing sugar, using a knife to help you get a sharp line. Place half a strawberry on top (with the green leaf still intact).

7. Place the sable stack in the centre of the plate, on top of a small dot of crème patisserie.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

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Clafoutis with a kick

Sunday, May 11th, 2008


Clafoutis is a French take on baked egg custard and, despite custard’s connection with stodgy school dinners, it is in fact a wonderful dish to round off a meal. The dessert has changed little since its creation in 19th-century France.

The trick to achieving a light clafoutis is to add lots of fruit. My favourite sweet clafoutis is one made with griottines (black cherries marinated in kirsch). Other soft fruits work well, however, such as raspberries, blueberries and apricots. Savoury clafoutis are also sometimes on the menu at Thornton’s. I serve courgette clafoutis with spring lamb and wild garlic sauce.

When I first cooked this clafoutis recipe at home for my parents, my dad remarked that he could get drunk on it. There certainly is a kick from the kirsch, but you can omit the alcohol if you like and the recipe will still work well without it.

Clafoutis can be cooked in a flan dish, but at Thornton’s we serve individual clafoutis, as indicated in this recipe.

It is delicious served with fresh vanilla ice cream as the cold of the ice cream contrasts well with the heat of the dish.

Warm cherry clafoutis with lemon sabayon

Ingredients, serves six
300g pitted, halved black cherries
80ml kirsch
sachet of gelatine
500ml milk
250ml cream
1 vanilla pod (split)
6 eggs
150g granulated sugar
100ml flour
5g melted butter as needed
5g granulated sugar as needed

Sabayon
5 eggs
75g granulated sugar
Juice of 2 lemons

The dish
Caster sugar as needed
Vanilla ice cream

Garnish
Whole black cherries
Sugared vanilla beans

Method: clafoutis
1. Marinade the cherries in the kirsch overnight. Dissolve a sachet of gelatine in water as per instructions on the packet. Set aside for a few minutes.

2. In a large saucepan combine the milk, cream and vanilla pod and bring to the boil.

3. In a small bowl combine the eggs, sugar and flour and whisk to incorporate. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add a quarter of the boiling liquid to the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Pour the egg mixture into the rest of the cream mixture, turn the heat down low and continue to stir constantly until the mixture thickens to a loose pudding consistency. Discard the vanilla bean. Remove from the heat and cool in a basin of cold water.

4. Preheat the oven to 150C. Arrange six ring moulds 10cm in diameter on a parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the moulds and sheet with melted butter and dust with granulated sugar.

5. Line the bottom of each mould with marinated cherries and pour the cooled cream mixture on top, barely covering the cherries.
Place in the oven to bake for 12 minutes, or until the custard is set and begins to bubble. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Method: sabayon
1. Fill a medium-sized saucepan with 5cm of water and bring to the boil.

2. Combine the eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a separate bowl and whisk to incorporate. Set the bowl into the saucepan, ensuring that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
Reduce the heat and continue to whisk until the sabayon is light and thickened. Remove from the heat and set aside.

To serve
1. Spoon some sabayon on a plate, set a clafoutis in the centre and carefully lift off the ring mould.

2. Sprinkle the entire dish with sugar and caramelise the sabayon and clafoutis with a propane torch if you have one, or quickly, under hot a grill.

3. Place a scoop of ice cream on top of the clafoutis and garnish with black cherries and a vanilla pod.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

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Sweet treats for after dinner

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008


Petits fours are small dessert pieces, usually served after a meal with coffee. The last part of a meal at Thornton’s is just as important as the first, and it’s the part of the menu we like to have fun with.

Our passionfruit and raspberry ice lollies, which we serve at the end of the eight-course surprise menu, go down a treat.

The petits fours we serve with coffee are a selection of fresh fruit and berry tartlets, tuile biscuits, chocolates, jellies, marshmallows, chocolate lollipops and madeleines, which traditionally are light, lemon-flavoured miniature cakes baked in a shell-shaped baking tray. You can buy these trays in good kitchen equipment shops.

Petits fours also make a delicious gift. Everyone loves to receive a present that has been made specially for them and has taken time and effort. The cost and sophistication of the gift does not matter – it’s the thought that counts.

I hope you will be inspired to give them as gourmet gifts, using the recipes below.

Almond tuiles (makes 30)


187g icing sugar
5 egg whites
30g strong flour
200g flaked almonds
40g melted butter
10g melted butter (for baking tray)

1. Mix all the ingredients together with a spatula in a stainless-steel bowl. Mix well, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

2. Butter a baking tray and place a dessert spoonful of mixture for each tuile onto it. Use a fork to spread the mixture and leave 3cm between each spoonful of it.

3. Place the tray in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees centigrade and cook for approximately four minutes. Remove once the tuiles are golden brown.

4. Use a spatula or a scraper to remove the tuiles. You can shape them by placing each one over the back of a dessert spoon. This has to be done when they are just out of the oven, as they set quickly. Store in an airtight container.

Mango & passion fruit jellies (makes approx 30)


275g caster sugar
750g passion fruit puree
62g mango puree
61g glucose
6g pectin
10g granulated sugar for the finished jelly

1. Place mango and passion fruit puree in a stainless steel pot and heat to 70 degrees centigrade. Remove from the heat and mix in 50g caster sugar using a spoon.

2. Return to the heat and gradually add the rest of the sugar. Add the glucose, stirring constantly. Cook until the mixture registers 110 degrees centigrade on a sugar thermometer and keep it on the heat for five minutes.

3. Remove from the heat. Line a deep small tray with parchment paper and pour in the jelly mix. Spread it evenly on the tray using the back of a dessert spoon. Cover with parchment paper and let it rest for a couple of hours.

4. Remove the jelly from the tray and remove the parchment paper. With a knife, cut the jelly into small triangles of about 3cm in length. Dust with granulated sugar.

Madeleines (plain)


100g melted unsalted butter
2g sea salt (small pinch)
125g icing sugar
4 organic eggs
1 organic egg yolk
125g flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
5g melted unsalted butter for the moulds
5g flour for dusting
To finish:
Juice of half a lemon
5g of icing sugar for sprinkling

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder and icing sugar into a stainless steel bowl. In another bowl, mix the eggs and egg white and the sea salt with a whisk.

2. Slowly add the flour and sugar to the eggs and then mix. Add the melted butter and mix again until smooth. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any lumps. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix in well. Cover mixture and refrigerate for about three hours.

3. Butter the madeleine tray and sprinkle with flour. Fill each mould with mixture and place the tray in a freezer for an hour.

4. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 5 minutes. Remove when biscuits are golden brown and brush with lemon juice when hot. Allow to cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and the owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

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Conference pears with panache

Sunday, March 16th, 2008


When I was growing up in Cashel, our neighbours had a pear tree, some branches of which overhung our back wall.

As children we’d help ourselves to the odd pear, never waiting long enough for them to ripen. Not surprisingly, we didn’t much like the fruit as they were often hard, dry and difficult to digest. Today my home also has overhanging Conference pear branches – from the back garden of our lovely neighbour Lil.

She provides us with bags of pears each year and we use them at home for sorbet or to prepare pear puree. We also use them in the restaurant for this dish. Like a lot of my recipes, you can use all or some of the elements.

Poached Burgundy pear with pear parfait and sorbet


500g pear parfait
200g pear sorbet
2 litres Burgundy pear syrup
8 slices of dried pears

Ingredients: pears in pear syrup
13 Conference pears
550ml port
550ml red Burgundy wine
1 litre stock syrup
250ml fresh pear juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 fresh vanilla pod
1 star anise
1 lemon rind
1 orange rind
3 cloves

Method
1.Mix all ingredients together in a pot and bring to the boil.

2.Wash and peel the pears, remove the core and place them into the pear juice and cover. Cook over a low heat for approx 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the heat and place in a basin of cold water to cool it down quickly.

3. Remove the pears from the liquid and place into a clean container. Pour the liquid on top and rest in the refrigerator for 36 hours.

Ingredients – Italian meringue
2 free-range egg whites
50g icing sugar
50g granulated sugar
15ml water

Method
You will need this Italian meringue for the pear parfait.

1.Place egg whites and a third of icing sugar in a mixing bowl and mix until stiff. Add remainder of icing sugar and mix for a further two minutes.

2.Place 15ml water and 50g granulated sugar in a pot and bring to the boil without stirring, until the syrup registers 112c on a sugar thermometer. Remove and place the pot into cold water for a few seconds until it reaches 110c.

3.Pour the mixture slowly into the egg whites and mix for a further five minutes.

Ingredients: pear parfait
500ml pear puree
100g Italian meringue
900ml whipped double cream
5 leaves gelatine
10ml Poire William Liqueur
2 pears (taken from burgundy liquid and finely chopped)

Method: parfait
1.Dissolve the gelatine in cold water. When soft, remove the gelatine and squeeze off the excess water. Place in a pot and add 20ml of the pear puree (wash and peel the pears and remove the cores. Cut into small pieces and place in a pot. Add the juice of one lemon to pears and puree in a blender until smooth).Place over a low heat to dissolve gelatine completely. Remove and add to the rest of the pear puree through a fine sieve.

2.Whip the cream and pour in the Italian meringue. Fold in the remainder of the puree and add the chopped pears. Add the Poire William Liqueur.

3. Pour the mixture into a lined mould (eg bread tin lined with cling film). Cover and place in the freezer overnight.

Ingredients – pear sorbet
1 litre pear puree (36 pears 1 lemon)
210g caster sugar
1 teaspoon glucose
430ml water

Method
1.Place the sugar, glucose, water and puree into a pot and cook until it reaches 72c on a sugar thermometer. Remove and return to the blender for 3-4 minutes until smooth. Remove and pass through a fine sieve.

2.Place the pot into a basin of cold water to cool down. Prepare the sorbet machine by washing with hot water and allowing to cool. Pour half the mixture into the machine and turn until it binds together. Remove and place into a container, cover and place in freezer. Pour rest of mixture into sorbet machine and turn until it binds together. Remove and add to container and freeze.

To serve
Slice the parfait into thin slices and place in the centre of a wide soup plate. Using a warmed dessert spoon, spoon an oval shape of sorbet on top of the parfait. Cut the poached pears in half and slice thinly and fan around the sorbet.

Place some dried pear slices, which can be bought in the supermarket, beside the sorbet and pour a little pear juice around the bowl.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin.

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A very icy end to the meal

Sunday, February 17th, 2008


A sorbet aids digestion and leaves you feeling refreshed. They are as easy to make as soups and are a great finisher to a meal – and don’t contain any fat or egg yolks.

Historically, sorbets were the first iced desserts, as ice cream didn’t appear on the menu until the 18th century. They were made originally with fruit, honey, an aromatic substance and snow.

The Chinese introduced sorbets to the Arabs, and the technique travelled on to the Parisians, who in turn introduced them to the Italians.

There are many fruits you can use to make sorbets and they are a good way to use up excess fruit at home. You can also use a fruit vegetable such as tomato, pumpkin and courgette, in creating a savoury sorbet to serve between courses.

I like savoury sorbets to have a more slushy consistency, so they are best served with a liquid, such as with a dash of ginger ale with a red pepper sorbet or a splash of aqua libra with a tomato sorbet. Or try a thyme sorbet with a dash of Bombay Sapphire. Tea infusion sorbets are also delicious, using a wide variety of teas such as Earl Grey and green tea.

The sky is the limit in terms of combinations, and imagination is a great tool. At Thornton’s restaurant we use a Pacojet blender to get our consistency right and a sorbet machine is a great help.

If you’re making sorbet at home, the most important thing to concentrate on is the fruit-to-sugar ratio. Sugar doesn’t freeze, so the more sugar used, the softer the sorbet gets.

Another tip is that the fruit or fruit vegetables used should be fully ripe.


Raspberry sorbet (serves 4)
750g fresh raspberries
5g granulated sugar
10ml of water
140g castor sugar
10g glucose
255ml water

Method
1. Place raspberries in a pot, add granulated sugar and 10ml of water and cook over a low heat until the fruit is cooked through. Remove and place into a blender to purée. Remove and pass through a fine sieve to remove the raspberry seeds.

2. In a different pot place the castor sugar and 255ml water and cook over a medium heat to a temperature of 95 degrees centigrade (just until the sugar dissolves). Do not allow to boil as this will increase the sugar content.

3. Remove from the heat and add the glucose, allowing it to dissolve in the liquid. Add the puréed raspberries and mix well. Cover with cling film and place in fridge to cool.

4. Clean the sorbet machine before each use with boiling water only. Allow the machine to cool before adding mixture.

5. When the machine is fully cooled add half the mixture and turn for 20 minutes. If you add half the mixture at a time it puts less pressure on the motor. Remove the mixture and place in a cool container and freeze (-20C). Repeat these steps with the remainder of the mixture.

To serve
Remove the sorbet from the freezer and allow it to soften for about ten minutes. Use a heated dessert spoon to scoop and shape the sorbet onto a plate. The heated spoon gives a nice shine to the sorbet.

Tomato sorbet (Serves 4)


500g vine tomatoes (roughly chopped)
1 garlic clove (roughly chopped)
10 leaves basil
Half a shallot (roughly chopped)
40ml olive oil
5g carageen moss (available from most good health shops)
1 egg white
Pinch of sea salt

Method
1. Place vine tomatoes, garlic, chopped shallot, basil and olive oil in a blender and purée until smooth. Then allow to rest overnight in fridge.

2. Strain the juice from the mixture into a bowl. Place a little juice in the bottom of a pot and place the carrageen moss in on top and dissolve over a low heat.

3. Add to mixture and strain into sorbet machine. Mix until just about set (about ten to 15 minutes).

4. Whisk egg whites until stiff, then add pinch of salt and fold into the set sorbet mix. Remove and place in bowl. Cover and place in freezer.

To serve
As above. This sorbet is good served with a dash of fresh tomato juice (and an optional dash of vodka), between courses.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

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Da capo Dessert

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008


There are occasions in life when a special cake is required. If you are up for a challenge, this recipe for opera cake is perfect.

I first tasted this dessert when working in the pastry section of Paul Bocuse’s restaurant in Lyon. I loved the fact that it contained so many of my favourite ingredients.

In Bocuse they used pistachio cream to flavour the cake but, since I prefer vanilla, this is my version. I have been asked for this recipe hundreds of times over the years. It takes a long time to make but it is worth every ounce of patience and effort.

It’s possible to make the sponge the day before as long as it is kept in an airtight container overnight. Opera is broken down into three different stages: almond sponge, butter cream with vanilla and coffee and, finally, ganache.

Almond sponge
1 large free-range egg
50g caster sugar
10g unsalted butter noisette (butter heated until it turns golden brown)
1 free-range egg white
10g icing sugar
20g sieved flour
50g sieved, ground almonds
A pinch of sea salt

Method
1. Butter the baking tray and cover with parchment paper, brush with butter and sprinkle with flour. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. Beat eggs over low heat for a minute. Add the sugar and beat until the volume has doubled. It is ready when you can draw the figure 8 into the whipped eggs.

3. Fold in the almond and flour.

4. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites add a third of the icing sugar. When the eggs are nearly stiff add the remainder of the sugar and whisk until stiff. Add the salt and whisk for a minute.

5. Fold the whipped egg whites into the mixture. Fold in the noisette butter then pour the mix onto the baking tray, spreading evenly with a spatula. Cook in the oven for 12 minutes.

6. Remove from oven and remove the parchment paper from the sponge and rest it on the paper.

Coffee syrup
250ml water
42g ground espresso coffee or enough coffee for a double espresso.
1 cup espresso
100g sugar

Method
1. Bring water and sugar to boil, add coffee and rest for 30 minutes.

Coffee buttercream
117g butter
6g caster sugar
1tsp ground espresso
1 vanilla pod, de-seeded

Method
1. Dice the butter and mix until soft. Cream together with the vanilla and sugar, then add the coffee syrup.

Vanilla cream
10ml water
200ml of milk
50ml of cream
3 free range egg yolks
50g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod

Method
1. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into the egg yolks.

2. Mix the water, milk and cream in a pot, add the vanilla stems and bring to the boil.

3. Add the sugar to the eggs and vanilla and whisk. Then add half the boiled liquid and mix. Return pot to a low heat and stir with a spatula. Heat until the mixture coats the back of the spoon – do not boil. Place pot into cold water.

Italian meringue
75g free-range egg whites
65g icing sugar
50g granulated sugar
15g water

Method
1. Mix egg whites and a third of the icing sugar until stiff. Mix in the remainder of the icing sugar.

2. Bring the granulated sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan.

2. Boil without stirring until the syrup registers 112C on a sugar thermometer.

3. Pour the syrup into the egg whites and mix for five minutes.

4. Fold in the buttercream, then fold in half the vanilla cream. Place into a clean bowl and cover.

Chocolate ganache
500ml of cream
250g of 70 per cent dark chocolate
200g of 60 per cent dark chocolate

Method
1. Boil cream.

2. Melt chocolate over a bain-marie (a pot of water on top of which can be added another container).

3. Add the chocolate to the cream and mix well. Cover and cool.

Assembling the opera cake
1. Cut the sponge into three pieces and brush with coffee syrup.

2. Spread one third of the Italian meringue evenly on the sponge, place in a fridge for about 20 minutes to set.

3. Coat with 1/2cm of ganache.

4. Moisten the next two pieces of sponge and layer them using the same method.

The glaze
200g of 70 per cent chocolate 50g of unsalted butter

Method
1. Melt chocolate over bain-marie, melt butter and mix well, cool.

2. Coat the top of the cake with the glaze and cool for 20 minutes.

3. Cut the sides to clean the cake.

4, With the remainder of the glaze place into a plastic piping bag and decorate.

5. Serve with the remainder of the vanilla cream. It is best served at room temperature.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

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Chocolate's hot secret

Sunday, January 27th, 2008


Learning how to make pastry and bake can take a great deal of time, and even more patience. But when it’s done right, this is an area of cooking with which you can have terrific fun.

Commis chefs and apprentices usually start in the pastry section – for a number of reasons, the first of which is discipline. Since everything has to be measured correctly, they learn precision. Pastry also allows for creativity and, as presentation is key, artistic flair.

Since both baking and pastry rely heavily on the way ingredients interact, many consider it a science. So, in order to be a good pastry chef, it is not only important to know how to create dishes, but it’s also essential to understand the basics behind the way the ingredients function.

During my own training, I spent two years in a pastry shop in Canada. If I was going to be a head chef one day, I wanted to know exactly what I was talking about. By the time I got my first head chef position, the experience enabled me to work confidently in the pastry corner.

Unlike other areas of the kitchen, very little has changed in pastry-making since the 1800s, when Antonin Careme – one of the greatest pastry chefs of all time – is said to have elevated French pastry to an art form.

Chocolate is a key ingredient for the pastry chef. Imagine how impressed someone would be on St Valentine’s Day if you could give them chocolate you made yourself.


The secret of chocolate is to understand exactly what happens when it is heated. Taking short cuts rarely works, and usually leads to the chef spending too much time fixing the errors.

To make chocolate truffles, use quality chocolate, such as Valrhona, Opera, Calabeau or Green & Blacks. Bars of these brands are available in most quality supermarkets and delicatessens.

Ganache for chocolate truffles

Ingredients
1/2 litre of cream
250g of 70 per cent chocolate
200g of 62 per cent chocolate
100g salted butter
20g cocoa powder for rolling the ganache
(Optional: hazelnuts)

Method
1.Heat the cream until it just comes to the boil

2. Roughly chop the chocolate and melt over a bain-marie (a pot of water on top of which another container can be added).

3. Add half of the melted chocolate to the cream, and mix. Add the remainder of the chocolate, and mix well.

4. Cut the butter into small pieces and fold it into the chocolate cream.

5. Place the chocolate into a dry, clean container, cover it with a lid, and allow it to rest until set in the refrigerator.

6. Remove and, with a small spoon, roll the ganache into small balls.

7. Sprinkle cocoa powder on the palms of your hands, and roll the balls. Be careful that the chocolate doesn’t melt.

8. Place the balls into the fridge for about 20 minutes to set. Now they are ready for dipping in couverture chocolate to finish them off.

Tempering chocolate
The process for preparing chocolate to coat truffles or to put in chocolate moulds is called ‘tempering’. Buy chocolate moulds from specialist food equipment shops, or via mail order. Tempering chocolate is very easy to do, but you have to be careful.

Method
1. Use 1kg of chocolate, keeping back 100g for later use.

2. Chop 900g of chocolate into even pieces, and place in a stainless steel bowl.

3. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure that no liquid or moisture comes into contact with the chocolate, so the water should be barely simmering.

4. Stir the chocolate so that it melts evenly and maintains an even temperature.

5. Bring the temperature of the chocolate up to 40°C. Use a thermometer for an accurate reading – make sure it doesn’t go above 43°C or the chocolate will be damaged.

6. Remove the chocolate as soon as it has reached 40°C.

7. Add the 100g of chocolate cut into four pieces to the rest, and melt it until the chocolate reaches 33°C, and then 29°C. Do not bring the chocolate below 29°C, as it will lose the shine you are looking for and you will have to repeat the process. Tempered chocolate should coat the back of a spoon and create a good shine.

8. Now the chocolate is ready to be used for covering the ganache balls for truffles, or poured into the moulds to make chocolates. Place the ganache balls on a cocktail stick and dip into the tempered chocolate. Then use a piece of air board or a potato to hold the cocktail sticks so that you get an even coating.

9. If you want to decorate the truffles, put some of the remaining chocolate into a small piping bag, and then style them to your heart’s content.

Kevin Thornton is a Michelin-starred chef and the owner of Thornton’s Restaurant on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin. www.thorntonsrestaurant.com

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