Organic red chocolate chilli peppers
Ingredients
(Makes four portions)
For the chocolate ganache
60ml whipping cream
5g unsalted butter
53g Peruvian (65%) chocolate
For the red pepper tuile
1 large red pepper, stem and seeds removed
100g icing sugar
2g gomme Xantana (xantham gum)
For the chocolate chilli mousse 32g Peruvian (65%) chocolate
10ml whole milk
64g whipping cream
For the chocolate crumble 150g unsalted butter
150g plain flour
75g jumbo oats
75g caster sugar
60g cocoa powder
For the red pepper purée
2 large red peppers
For the red pepper sorbet 250ml sugar syrup (30°)
350g red pepper purée (from above)
150g raspberries
Method For the chocolate ganache, boil the cream and butter and pour into a mixing bowl. Add the chocolate, and whisk. Place the mixture in the fridge to cool for about 15 minutes.
For the red pepper tuile, purée all the ingredients together â¨in a high-speed blender and then pass through a fine sieve.
Spread the mixture thinly and evenly on a non-stick mat. Cook in the oven at 140°C for 15 minutes.
Once done, cut into roughly 3in squares. Do not let the tuile cool completely before cutting. Peel each square off the mat and shape the still-warm tuile into a flower-shaped cup. Set each tuile cup aside and cool until ready to use.
For the chocolate chilli mousse, chop the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl with the milk and chilli. Place the bowl over â¨a bain marie or a simmering water bath. Once melted, set aside.
In a separate, cold bowl, whisk the whipping cream to the soft stage. Gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture and then whisk together. Place the mousse in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving.
For the chocolate crumble, mix all of the ingredients together and bake in a pan for 15 minutes â¨at 160°. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool. Blend to a rough powder when cold.
For the red pepper purée, char the skins of the peppers and scrape them off. Halve and core the peppers. Blend in a food processor.
For the red pepper sorbet, make the sugar syrup by boiling equal parts by volume of sugar and water and chilling. Use a standard ice-cream machine to create the sorbet with the rest of the ingredients. Churn to manufacturer's directions.
To serve Pipe a ribbon of the ganache on toâ¨a chilled plate.
Take a spoonful of the mousse and drop it into the chocolate crumble. Toss it gently in the crumb to coat (you will be able to pick it up after it has been chilled).
Space the three tuiles evenly along the ganache ribbon. Place â¨a crumb-coated spoonful of mousse into each tuile.
Quenelle (or scoop) the sorbet into the two open areas of the plate.
Chan Beevers, head pastry chef, Sushi Samba
RECOMMENDED WINE This is quite a tricky dish, and matching similar flavours can â¨be hard, so I would recommend going for something with a total contrast.
A semi-sweet sparkling wine that is low in alcohol and served very cold will act as a wonderful refreshing contrast â¨to the rich chocolate and warm earthy flavours of red pepper and chilli. Try a light Moscato d'Asti from Piedmont in northern Italy - La Spinetta makes the best.
Ronan Sayburn is head of wines at the Dorchester Collection UK