Natural Chocolate Deco

I first saw this technique demonstrated by Jordan Kahn. I believe he used white chocolate and matcha. (dont quote me on that) Basically all I did was take some tempered dark chocolate and piped random swirls onto sifted coconut powder. I then sifted more coconut powder on top of the piped designs. I let the chocolate crystallize and then carefully removed the deco from the coconut powder. I think this technique is a pretty cool way to make natural looking vines, twigs, shapes, etc. Not to mention the chocolate and coconut powder go really well together and taste great. Enjoy!

Perfect Chocolate

What a sharp looking chocolate.

24k Deco

So I first saw this technique on the pages of one of my favorite books, Siete. Paco Torreblanca, the father of pastry in my mind had his hand in on developing this method. I think the broken shards of gold chocolate are visually appealing. They also give texture, with the snap of your properly tempered chocolate.

I first lay out small sheets of acetate on top of a flat service, in this case a cutting board. I then place the gold leaves down on the pre cut acetate.

Next, I spoon a small amount of tempered dark chocolate on top of the gold leaf.

I then lay another sheet of acetate on top of the tempered chocolate and gold leaf. I use a pallet knife to spread the chocolate evenly over the gold.

I then lay another cutting board on top of the deco. I weigh the top cutting board down until the chocolate has fully crystallized.

A finished gold shard

Hermetic Jars

I have always been a firm believer of organization inside and outside of the kitchen. Just a few of my personal belongings.

New Dessert Cont.

Kaffir, Coconut, Pineapple, Macadamia nut

Basil Seeds

Vietnamese Basil Seeds. I have also heard them called Subja Seeds, Sabja Seeds, Takmaria Seeds, as well as a host of other names. This specific seed is one of the main ingredients in the Indian dessert Falooda. This varietal of basil seed begins to bloom when submerged in water. The whole process from seed to bloomed seed only takes about 5-10 min. The finished product does not have a lot of flavor. I think it is more of a texural and visual component. The bloomed seeds remind me of tapioca pearls with a little crunch on the inside. I will be using these seeds on a new dessert at Corton. The pictures below are unbloomed seeds, seeds blooming in water, and the finished bloomed seeds

Congratulations

Congrats to Chicago for finally getting rated by the Michelin guide. And Congrats to both former employers Grant Achatz and Laurent Gras of Alinea and L20 for recieving 3 stars. Well done