serves
8
prep
2 hours
cook
1:15 hour
difficulty
Ace
serves
8
people
preparation
2
hours
cooking
1:15
hour
difficulty
Ace
level
Ingredients
Vanilla jelly
- 4 g gold-strength gelatine leaves
- 235 ml water
- 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthways, seeds scraped
- 15 g caster sugar
Truffle ice-cream
- 170 g caster sugar
- 3 g ice-cream stabilizer (see Note)
- 70 g skim milk powder
- 1 litre milk
- 40 g trimoline (see Note)
- 60 g liquid glucose
- 300 ml pure cream (35% fat)
- Finely grated fresh black truffle, to taste
Honeycomb
- 105 ml water
- 120 ml honey
- 225 g liquid glucose
- 600 g caster sugar
- 30 g bicarbonate of soda
- Dark chocolate velvet spray (see Note)
- A few drops natural black food colour
Chocolate and hazelnut cream
- 200 g caster sugar
- 500 ml (2 cups) pure cream (35% fat)
- 25 g glucose syrup
- pinch salt
- 105 g dark chocolate (64% cocoa solids), chopped
- 75 g hazelnut gianduja, chopped
White chocolate and truffle cream
- 90 g white chocolate, melted
- 185 ml (¾ cup) cream (35 % fat)
- Finely grated fresh black truffle, to taste
Chocolate charcoal
- 140 g unsalted butter, softened
- 85 g caster sugar
- 5 g salt
- 105 g egg white
- 200 g cocoa powder
Hazelnut crumble
- 70 g hazelnut meal
- 130 g plain flour
- 65 g muscovado sugar
- 20 g caster sugar
- 85 g unsalted butter, chilled and chopped
- 120 g hazelnuts, lightly toasted, shells rubbed off and coarsely chopped
Freezing time: 4 hours
Instructions
To make the vanilla jelly, soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes or until softened. Meanwhile, place the water, vanilla bean seeds and sugar in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Squeeze out the excess water from the soaked gelatine leaves and stir into the sugar syrup until completely dissolved. Strain through a fine sieve into a small plastic container and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until set.
To make the truffle ice-cream, combine the sugar, stabilizer and milk powder in a bowl. Stir in enough milk to make a paste, then whisk in the remaining milk. Transfer to a saucepan and stir over low heat until warm. Whisk in the trimoline, glucose and cream. Using a digital thermometer as a guide, heat the mixture to 85°C for 2 minutes. Strain the custard through a fine sieve, then stir in the finely grated truffle to taste. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled.
To make the honeycomb, line a large tray with baking paper. Place the water, honey, glucose and sugar in a large heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Whisking regularly, gently bring to the boil. Increase the heat to medium and using a digital thermometer as a guide, cook until the temperature reaches 154˚C. Remove the pan from the heat and working quickly, whisk in the bicarbonate of soda (the mixture will expand rapidly), then pour the mixture immediately onto the lined tray. Stand until cool, then break into coarse pieces.
To make the chocolate and hazelnut cream, place a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and allow the pan to get hot for 1 minute. Stirring continuously with a heat-resistant spatula, gradually add the sugar and cook until a golden caramel forms.
While the caramel is cooking, heat the cream, glucose and salt in a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring the mixture to just below boiling and remove from the heat. Add the hot cream to the caramel, being careful as the mixture will bubble and spit furiously. Stir to combine, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until reduced by half.
Place the chocolate and gianduja into a large heatproof bowl and strain the caramel cream over the top. Gently whisk until smooth and well combined. Stand until cool, then refrigerate until ready to serve.
To make the white chocolate and vanilla cream, gently melt the white chocolate over a double boiler or in the microwave. Place 60 ml (¼ cup) cream and the scraped vanilla bean seeds in a small saucepan over low heat and stir until warm. Pour the hot cream over the melted chocolate. Stand for 30 seconds before stirring well with a spatula. Stir in the remaining cream and finely grated truffle to taste, then transfer the mixture to a large bowl, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
To make the chocolate charcoal, preheat the oven to 150˚C. Place the softened butter, sugar and salt in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until pale and smooth. Reduce the speed to medium, add the egg whites then the cocoa and mix just until dough forms. Turn out the dough onto a work surface and roll out on a lightly floured surface until 3 mm-thick. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 25 minutes or until just cooked. Stand until cool, then place the half the biscuit into a food processor and blitz until fine crumbs form. Store in an airtight container. Break up the remaining biscuit into coarse pieces to stir through the ice-cream once churned.
To make the hazelnut crumble, increase the oven temperature to 165˚C. Place the flour, hazelnut meal and both sugars in a large bowl and combine well. Rub in the cold diced butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the chopped nuts, then scatter the mixture over a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Stand until cool, then store in an airtight container.
Churn the chilled custard in an ice-cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions. Stir in the crushed honeycomb and chocolate pastry at the very end and mix until well combined. Spoon the ice-cream into a piping bag fitted with a wide plain nozzle. Pipe 8 truffle shapes onto a baking paper lined tray, then freeze for 1 hour or until firm.
Remove the ice-creams from the freezer and spray with the dark chocolate velvet spray mixed with a few drops of the natural black food colouring.
To assemble, whisk the white chocolate and truffle cream until thick and smooth, then transfer to a piping bag. Pipe a few dollops of the chocolate and hazelnut cream and the white chocolate and truffle cream onto each of 8 plates. Place small dollops of vanilla jelly onto each plate, then scatter with a little chocolate charcoal and hazelnut crumble to resemble earth. Top with the ice cream truffle, then spoon over a bit more of the crumbles and serve immediately.
Note
• Ice-cream stabilizer, trimoline and dark chocolate velvet spray are available from speciality food stores. If you don’t have a spray gun, just use the dark chocolate spray available in cans.
airs 8pm, Thursdays on SBS and then on . You can find the recipes and more features from the show .
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
