Dessert First

A Sip of Summer

 

 Whenever I'm in the mood for summer holiday, my mind always drifts to soft sandy islands afloat in glass-clear seas, bare feet dangling over hammocks, and tropical fruits hanging lush and ripe from the trees. 

Alas, no island getaway for me this summer, but fortuitously, I received a sample of The Perfect Puree of Napa Valley in my mail - in mango!  Although it's certainly great to be able to take advantage of seasonal produce, it's nice to have a quality alternative. When I was working at the bakery and we were making raspberry and passionfruit pates de fruits year round, fruit purees like these were a lifesaver: the consistent quality of good fruit purees takes one less variable out the complicated calculus of pastry.

I had also just gotten these adorable little dessert glasses - perfect for making verrines, those gorgeous French desserts that look like captured rainbows. Verrines are meant to be a feast for the senses - a beguiling combination of colors, textures, and tastes. I got out one of my favorite inspirations, a book on verrines by Stéphane Glacier, and there, as if pulled right out of my daydreams, was a mango-and-coconut striped number, ready to quench my thirst for a tropical getaway.

The coconut cream uses pastry cream lightened with whipped cream, one of my very favorite techniques. Although pastry cream has a glorious multitude of uses, sometimes I like to mix it with whipped cream to give an airier texture and soften the flavor. With intensely rich and creamy coconut milk added, the whipped cream also prevents the final mixture from becoming too cloying or sweet.

I combined the mango puree with a little sugar and gelatin to create a jelly layer. Glacier's original recipe combines mango and passionfruit purees, if you want your tropical verrine to be a veritable orchard of fruit. One note with using purees: as with using fresh fruit, the amount of sugar to add depends on the existing sweetness. Some purees are presweetened, so be sure to taste before putting extra sugar in.

I've made mango mousses before, but I like this mango jelly because it preserves the brilliant golden-sunset hue of the fruit, and provides a nice contrast to the coconut cream. Also, since it's a jelly, you only want to have a thin layer (unless you're going for Jell-O-esque cubes), so it makes for an elegant visual.

The very lovely photo in the cookbook showed the verrines decorated with chocolate curls, but since it was nearly 90 degrees in the city (yes, in SF, no joke!) I decided against the pain of tempering chocolate in high heat and opted for some chocolate wafers instead. I think it makes them look like little ice cream sundaes - sipping up summer, indeed!

Although San Francisco is not exactly the ideal place for outdoor unheated swimming pools, all the bodies of water I passed by this shimmeringly hot weekend looked mighty tempting. I hope you all get to enjoy a splash in the pool this summer!

Tropical Verrines

adapted from Verrines et Petits-Gateaux

makes 12 verrines

Coconut Cream

2 cups milk

10 tablespoons sugar

6 large egg yolks

4 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

8 1/2 ounces coconut milk

8 1/2 ounces whipped cream

Mango Jelly

10 1/2 ounces mango puree

2 ounces sugar

6 grams (1 packet) powdered gelatin

For the coconut cream: heat 1 1/2 cups of the milk and 4 tablespoons of sugar in a medium saucepan on medium heat until it comes to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar and the egg yolks together in a medium bowl.

Whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk and cornstarch together in a small bowl, then add to the eggs and whisk to combine.

When the milk on the stove has come to a simmer, pour in a slow stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens into pastry cream, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.

If you see any lumps or cooked bits in your pastry cream, press it through a strainer. Place a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming and let cool.

Whisk the coconut milk into the pastry cream until combined and smooth.

Gently fold in the whipped cream into the mixture into combined.

Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip for ease of filling the glasses.

Combine the mango puree and sugar in a small bowl.

Bloom the gelatin with about 1/4 cup of water, then microwave for about 10 seconds until it is liquid.

Add liquid gelatin to the mango puree and stir to combine. Let sit for about 5 minutes to cool.

Pipe some of the coconut cream into the glasses, about 1/3 of the way up.

Pour some of the mango puree on top in a thin layer. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes to let the mango set slightly.

Pipe some coconut cream on top of the mango layer.

Pour some more of the mango puree on top, stopping short of the top of the glass.

Refrigerate verrines until set.

Cherry Ice Cream Profiteroles with Almond Granita

Is everyone swooning over cherry season like I am? Of all the myriad sybaritic pleasures of summer, a bowl of ripe cherries ranks near the very top. At the waning of a lazy, sun-drenched afternoon, bare legs turned a few shades darker, book propped open and half-finished in your lap, a pile of cherry pits and ruby-stained fingers - perfection.

So, what to do when you get carried away at the market and come home with more cherries than even you can possibly eat? Solution: Ice cream, another summertime icon.

When I make fruit ice creams, I like to try and preserve as much of the fresh fruit as possible. So instead of pureeing the cherries to a perfectly smooth coulis, I roughly chopped them up, then cooked them in a saucepan with a little sugar on a low simmer until the cherries had softened up, and their juices had thickened slightly. Then I swirled the cooled, jammy mixture into ice cream base, poured it all into my ice cream maker and let the machine do its magic. The result? A gorgeous cherry-blossom-pink ice cream studded with pieces of cherries, tasting vividly of the fruit. There's no eggs in this ice cream, so it's closer to a sherbet; especially when trying to showcase fruit, I find the fewer ingredients, the more your star flavor will shine.

 

Now, I could also just sit on the porch and eat my way through a tub of this ice cream (are you sensing a theme here?), but to take this ice cream to the next level, I decided to make some pâte à choux and create some cherry ice cream profiteroles. To finish it off, I remembered an almond granita that I'd had at a local restaurant - I'd been wanting to try to reproduce it and now it seemed like the perfect accompaniment. If you're wondering how this simple summer treat turned into a major dessert project, umm, it seems to happen to me quite often. Inspiration may be a capricious muse, but I'm never one to turn down her visits!

Granita is the Italian version of snow cones, made from water mixed with fruit puree or other flavorings, which is then frozen and broken up into sparkling crystals. Icy-cold fruit granitas are a natural refresher for a hot day in Rome; however, I'd encountered an almond granita served with espresso cream at an osteria in SF that had me swooning. 

While most granitas are made with water, this one is also made with almond milk and almond paste, which gives extra depth of flavor. It's also why it's less icy-looking. I spent an interesting morning trying to make almond milk from almonds - while the result is tasty and certainly a tasty alternative to dairy milk, you're perfectly fine picking up some almond milk from the store.

Making granita is a fascinating exercise as well: to get the crystals to form, you should break up the granita with a fork about every half hour so it doesn't freeze into a solid block. If you're the multitasking type, you can work this into the pate a choux making process, so that when you're finished baking the puffs and filled them, you'll also have a beautiful granita ready!

 

Does it seem like an awful lot of work to get up from the poolside lounge for? Well, I think it's worth it - I'll certainly be making another batch before cherry season is over!

Oh, and by the way, if you haven't noticed to the right of the Dessert First page, I've put some some of the videos I made for Chow to promote my Field Guide to Cookies. I demonstrate a few cookie-making tips in the kitchen. I also hope to have some news to share about the candy book very soon!

Cherry Ice Cream

makes about 1 1/2 quarts

3/4 pound cherries, pitted and roughly chopped

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

Combine cherries, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cherries turn soft and jammy and the mixture is  bubbling. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

In another medium saucepan combine the cream, milk, and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is almost simmering.

Remove from heat, pour mixture into a bowl, and chill over an ice bath until it is room temperature.

Stir in the cherries. Cover and chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.

Freeze in an ice cream maker per manufacturer's instructions.

Pâte à choux Dough

makes 20-24 puffs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water
4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 + 1 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Combine milk, water, butter, sugar and salt In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan and heat on medium high.

Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough should come together into a ball. Continue stirring for another 3-4 minutes until it is completely smooth and soft.

Transfer the dough into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat to cool it down slightly. Add in four eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. The dough should be very thick and shiny but not liquidy.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1 inch plain tip. Pipe out mounds of dough on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Beat the last egg with a little water to form an egg wash, then brush lightly over the puffs.

Bake in oven for about 15-18 minutes, rotating halfway through. The puffs should turn golden brown and be dry to the touch. It's easier to underbake than to overbake; make sure they are dry before taking out.

Place sheet on a wire rack and let puffs cool before slicing in half and filling with ice cream to make profiteroles.

Almond Granita

1 cup almond milk

1 cup water

3 ounces almond paste

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until very smooth.

Strain into an 8 inch square baking pan (stainless steel is best).

Place in freezer and let freeze for about an hour. Using a fork, break and crush the mixture into small pieces. Freeze for another 30 minutes and repeat the process, turning the pieces into even small crystals. The mixture should be firm and ready to serve after about 2 hours of this process.

Macaron Mania in 805 Living

 

It's been a busy week for me, and unfortunately not in the kitchen. I don't have a new recipe to share this week (although the near-bushelful of cherries I got at the market today might provide a hint as to what's in store), but I'd like to share something else!

A couple months ago, I was contacted by 805 Living Magazine and asked if I'd like to share some tips on macaron-making. I love that the macaron craze continues unabated in the food blogging community, especially in the US (yes, Veron, I'm looking at you!!). It gives me hope that M. Hermé might finally get an outpost opened here someday! And, a chance to differentiate between macarons and macaroons - in print! I know there are ardent devotees of both kinds of these two cookies that have caused so much gastro-linguistic confusion, so I was glad to be able to discuss both!

I hope you enjoy these scans of the article from the May issue. Continue on with the macaron/macaroon merriment!!

 

 

 

Article posted with kind permission from 805 Living Magazine.

Valrhona Demo - A Surfeit of Chocolate

My take on the Valrhona Damas

Hi dear readers! Sorry this post has been a long time in the making, but I had a lot I wanted to share with you all!

A few weeks ago, I got an invitation to attend a dessert demonstration by Valrhona. Valrhona is, of course, considered among the creme de la creme of fine chocolate; appending "Valrhona" to the ingredient list of any chocolate dessert is like shorthand for the most luxe and elegant of indulgences.

Valrhona chocolate can be pricey, but in their case you truly get what you pay for: beautiful, full-flavored chocolate that tastes dreamy and performs wonderfully. Whenever I get to use Valrhona in my baking, I'm a happy girl.

I was especially excited to attend this demonstration because not only was Valrhona unveiling some new products, but they were bringing in some of their in-house pastry chefs to demonstrate how to use them. Another thing that impresses me about Valrhona is their dedication to the industry and art of chocolate: they are involved in both the production and harvest of cacao beans around the world, as well as the creative and thoughtful use of the created chocolate in pastry. Valrhona has a chocolate school, l'École du Grand Chocolat at their headquarters in France, that provides classes in patisserie and confectionery to professionals and enthusiasts.

One of the chefs from the school, Philippe Givre, was flown all the way to the Bay Area to lead this demonstration, along with Derek Poirier and Alex Espiritu, pastry chefs for Valrhona's USA division. Needless to say, what an exciting opportunity!

Chef Philippe Givre. Looks like the quintessential French pastry chef, no?

Really, the demonstration was more like an intense four-hour pastry class taught by a master - I got a lot more technical information and baking tips than I thought I would from a demo, which was great. Chef Givre went into very detailed explanations of the importance of ingredient temperatures, especially when making ganaches, custards, and mousses; how to whip cream properly to maximize its volume, and even a mini-digression into the the importance of dry to liquid ratios in making ice creams and sorbets. Hey, after this I am fully convinced that going to l'École du Grand Chocolat would be an awesome experience(not that it would take me a lot of convincing to go to chocolate school).

In four hours, Chef Givre and his two assisting chefs blitzed through three plated desserts, demonstrating numerous techniques and also explaining how each one utilized different Valrhona products. And yes, we got to sample everything! I think everyone was on a sugar high by the end of the demonstration!

Here's the first dessert: Diagonale of Candied Pineapple with Whipped Lime Ganache, Almond Shortbread, and Fromage Blanc and Lime Sorbet. The idea is really cute: A U-shaped base of shortbread (you can see Chef Poirier making it in the next pic) with piped lines of milk chocolate and lime ganache, topped with candied pineapple and a scoop of sorbet. The ganache is made of cream infused with lime zest, then combined with Valrhona Tainori 64% and Jivara 40%. The mixture is then refrigerated before being whipped to a light, pipable texture - something I haven't done often, but which I'm now obsessed with! Chef Givre indicated that this recipe was specifically created to utilize the Valrhona Tainori, a dark chocolate with notes of almond and yellow fruits, meant to work best with citrus fruits. Of course it's a great way for Valrhona to illustrate their long line of chocolates, but I like the point that not all chocolates are the same and it would be a educational experience to taste different chocolates you use and consider which ones might work with different ingredients.

Here's Chef Derek Poirier showing the U-shaped metal molds used to form the shortbread bases. By the way, he was really concerned that I was going to take a photo of him with his eyes closed. So I hope this one is satisfactory to him!

Chef Givre plating the dessert.

This is the second dessert, called "Damas", consisting of an emmanuel curry sponge base topped with almond mousseux, a milk chocolate namelaka, and orange jelly. This was probably the most adventurous of the desserts and also the one I liked best, so I spent last week reproducing it! Compare the one I made in the first photo to this one; what do you think?

The last dessert was what Chef Givre dubbed "New Opera", a reimagined version of opera cake. The traditional version of opera cake is layers of almond genoise layered with coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache. In this deconstructed version, a layer of chocolate cake is topped with a square of tempered chocolate. The piece on top is whipped coffee ganache sandwiched between pieces of coffee nougatine. Finally, the cake is served alongside a coffee granité topped with more whipped coffee ganache. I think I counted about four different kinds of chocolate being used in this dessert. Chef Givre said he wanted to play around with textures while preserving the original flavors of the opera cake. It was a really playful, modern take on an old pastry warhorse; I especially liked the granité with the whipped ganache.

Here's Chef Givre putting those little millefeuiles of nougatine and ganache together.

In addition to these three desserts, the chefs also presented a taste testing of chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream made with Valrhona's newest chocolate, Coeur de Guanaja 80%. Without getting overly technical, this is a dark chocolate specially formulated with lower cocoa butter content, which can allow for a stronger chocolate taste in desserts. Basically, since cocoa butter is a fat and is solid at room temperature, it increases the firmness of pastry items like cakes and ice creams. Since fats can also dilute the purity and intensity of flavors, more cocoa butter can also decrease the strength of chocolate flavor in a dessert. That's why some recipes using chocolate sometimes call for cocoa powder, since it provides chocolate flavor without adding any fat.

Coeur de Guanaja was developed especially to address this issue - it has a lower cocoa butter content, so you can use it and get a strong chocolate flavor in your pastries without compromising the texture of the final result. The taste tests really helped illustrate the difference: a chocolate cake made with Coeur de Guanaja had distinct, chocolately flavor, and was also moister and softer than a cake made with cocoa powder, which was slightly tougher. Chocolate ice cream made with Coeur de Guanaja had a pure, almost bitter chocolate flavor (80% cacao content is pretty dark) and a long, smooth finish, while ice cream made with a regular chocolate had a lighter, sweeter flavor.

I found this all very educational. Even if you don't have the luxury of choosing between ten different chocolates when baking, it's always good to increase your knowledge of how ingredients, especially one as complex as chocolate, works. Then when you want to tinker with your recipes to get different results, it's easier to figure out what you want to change.

 

The chefs were kind enough to pose for photos at the end of the demo. From left to right, Chef Alex Espiritu, Chef Philippe Givre, yours truly, and Chef Derek Poirier. Yes, I know I look really short compared to all of them. The tall chef's hats probably don't help.

Deborah, the public relations contact, was also kind enough to send me a box of samples from Valrhona's current line after the demonstration. Talk about unexpected Christmas, a big box of Valrhona is enough to turn any day into a celebration! What I love is that Valrhona used to provide chocolate exclusively for professionals, but they've really reached out to the consumer market, producing both bars for eating and bars for baking - you don't need to have a contact in the food industry to procure Valrhona or be forced to buy giant five lb bars (fun, but hard to store at home). They have 70g Grand Crus bars in eight of their signature blends, including their famous Manjari, Caraïbe, and Jivara Lait, 250g baking bars in dark, milk, and white chocolate, and Gourmet Grand Crus bars, their very sophisticated version of candy bars. I've been enjoying the Manjari Orange, with pieces of orange inside, and Jivara Pecan, embedded with pecans, for the last week.

Ok, so I mentioned that my favorite dessert at the demo was the "Damas" - I really loved the texture contrasts of the sponge cake and the mousseux, and the curry was an inspired touch. Unfortunately, I didn't have the right spices in my cupboard (Chef Givre suggested using madras curry powder), but I had my own idea on how to spin this recipe.

Since the main flavors in the dessert were almond, milk chocolate, curry, and orange, I chose to eliminate the curry from the sponge and add in candied orange peel and cocoa nibs. Emmanuel sponge is a type of sponge cake made very similar to madeleines. You make the batter and let it rest overnight, which helps the flavors intensify and lets it bake up better the next day. Chef Givre indicated that this is a nice alternative to genoise, since genoise batter cannot be stored and can be finicky, requiring closer supervision while baking. Emmanuel sponge batter can be made ahead of time and bakes up quickly without much fuss. I'll admit the orange-and-cocoa-nib version was amazingly addicitive; I kept snacking on it without the rest of the dessert components!

The almond mousseux is a mousse made of almond paste, milk, and cream, mixed with a bit of gelatin and allowed to set. The cut cubes look a bit like tofu, don't they? And they should have the same perfectly silken texture - it's important to make sure there are no hard bits of almond paste floating around in the mix. I'd never made a mousse with almond paste, but this was light and airy, and delicious topped with some orange jelly.

Finally, you might be wondering what "namelaka" is - I know I hadn't heard of the word. Namelaka is the Japanese word for "creamy", and this little daub of chocolate is meant to embody "creamy". When I saw that it was made of milk chocolate, milk, glucose, cream, and some gelatin, I didn't see how it was different from a mousse. But the proportions of the ingredients means that the result should be very, very melt-in-your mouth, with no cloying taste. It requires some attention and precision - the mixture needs to absolutely, 100% smooth - Chef Givre used a stick blender to finish the mix off, and you can't add too much gelatin or it will be stiff and gummy. But I knew it was something good when I gave the boyfriend a spoonful and he remarked on how light and -yes!- creamy it was, before I had described what it was supposed to be.

This is definitely a small project of a dessert, but it's actually not that difficult to make, and it's become one of my favorites because of its elegance and flavor combinations. I'm really glad to have gotten a master lesson in chocolate and recharged my creative juices- and I hope it's inspired you to experiment with your favorite brands!

Damas - Emmanuel Sponge with Candied Orange Peel and Cocoa Nibs, Almond Mousseux, Valrhona Orizaba Lacteé Namelaka, and Orange Jelly

(note: All recipes adapted from the official Valrhona versions. Original measurements were in metric so if you want to be more accurate, use those!)

Emmanuel Sponge

makes one half sheet (13"x17") of cake, about (24) 2 1/2" square pieces

1 cup (238 g) cake flour

1/2 cup (116 g) powdered sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons (10 g) baking powder

3/4 teaspoon (3 g) salt

238 g eggs (about 5 eggs)

1/2 cup (126 g) trimoline (invert sugar - you can buy this online)

1/3 cup (74 g) whole milk

13 1/2 tablespoons (193 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3 tablespoons candied orange peel, finely chopped (I estimated)

1/4 cup cocoa nibs, finely chopped (I estimated)

1 1/2 cups streusel, see recipe below

Sift the cake flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

Combine the eggs and trimoline in a stand mixer and beat with paddle attachment until combined.

Add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.

Add in the milk and mix until combined.

Add in the melted butter and mix until combined.

Pour batter into a container and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours or overnight before baking. (Note: This really does make it bake better!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a half sheet pan with a silicone baking mat.

Pour the batter into the pan and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle the orange peel and cocoa nibs over the batter (I'm afraid I didn't keep accurate measure of how much I used - just enough so that the cake is pretty evenly covered, but you don't need to blanket the batter, or else there'll be too much add-ins and not enough cake! Just think of adding nuts to a cake batter - similar idea).

Sprinkle the baked streusel over the top of the cake.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, rotating halfway. The top should be firm and lightly golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack before cutting. This is a fairly sturdy cake and should not fall apart or stick, but if you're going to store it, it might be easier to cut into smaller pieces and store them in an airtight container layered between parchment paper.

Streusel

makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/3 cup (75 g) light brown sugar

1/3 cup (75 g) almond meal

1/4 cup (68 g) cake flour

1/4 teaspoon (0.5 g) salt

1/3 cup (75 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

 Combine all ingredients except butter in a food processor until finely ground and combined.

Add butter and process just until the streusel starts to come together into lumps.

If the mixture seems very soft, refrigerate for about an hour to firm up.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.

Spread streusel evenly over the sheet. Bake for about 6-8 minutes, until it is golden brown and baked all the way through.

Crumble into smaller pieces as necessary for sprinkling.

Almond Mousseux

makes one 8x8 square, about 25 pieces

This is basically a frozen mousse. It helps if you have a cake pan with a removable bottom - then it's easy to push the mousseux out from the bottom and cut into pieces. Otherwise, the mousseux will be frozen into the pan and you'll have to cut it out piece by piece.

1/2 cup (125 g) almond paste (Valrhona recommends their 70% paste, you may have to add sugar or use less paste depending on strength of flavor)

1 1/3 cups (300 g) whole milk

1/2 tablespoon (6.5 g) gelatin

1 cup (250 g) whipping cream

Process almond paste in a food processor until it is soft and pliable.

Add in milk and process until combined and smooth (You may have to do this in batches if your food processor is small). Alternatively, combine in a large bowl with a hand blender.

Combine gelatin with just enough water in a cup to let it bloom.

Heat about 1 cup of the almond milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the gelatin and swirl pan until it is fully melted and incorporated.

Pour heated milk back into main milk mixture and mix to combine. Let mixture cool to about room temperature.

While you are waiting, whip the whipping cream in a mixer to soft peaks.

Fold the whipped cream into the almond milk.

Pour the mixture into an 8"x8" pan with removable bottom and freeze overnight. Note: After it sets, you can store it in the freezer.

Valrhona Orizaba Lacteé Namelaka

makes about 3/4 cup

This recipe uses Valrhona Orizaba Lacteé 40%, but you can use another milk chocolate if you like. Also, one important tip is that in order for the whole mixture to set up properly, you should pour out in a thin even layer, so a wide shallow pan works better than a tall narrow container (if it's too deep the center won't set). I used a 9 x 13 pan and it worked well.

3/4 cup (200 g) whole milk

3/4 tablespoon (10 g) corn syrup

1 teaspoon (4.5 g) gelatin

13 ounces (375 g) milk chocolate

1 3/4 cups (400 g) whipping cream

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a metal bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.

Add corn syrup to melted chocolate and stir to combine.

Combine gelatin with just enough water in a cup to let it bloom.

Heat milk in a saucepan to boiling. Add in the gelatin and swirl pan until it is fully melted and incorporated.

Pour the milk mixture over the melted chocolate in increments, stirring to combine and emulsify each time. It's important to combine the two mixtures slowly and make sure they are fully incorporated or the texture won't be right.

Process the mixture with a hand blender to ensure smoothness.

Pour mixture into a shallow pan and refrigerate overnight to let set.

To assemble the dessert:

Take out the mousseux and namelaka. If they have been sitting in the refrigerator a while, they may need a little time to warm up and soften. However, don't leave them out too long or they'll melt.

Cut the sponge into 2 1/2" square pieces.

Cut the mousseux into roughly 1 1/2" square pieces. Place one cube of mousseux on top of each sponge.

Scoop the namelaka into a piping bag fitted with a round tip. If it seems firm, or chunky in the texture, place in a food processor and process to soften up. Pipe a big drop of namelaka on top of the mousseux.