Smoked Madagascan Vanilla Parfait...Smoked Madagascan Vanilla Parfait with Tonka Crémeux and Blackberry-Yuzu Gel

An avant-garde dessert exploring contrasts of temperature, smoke, and sharp acidity: velvet smoked vanilla parfait anchored by tonka bean crémeux, umami-rich miso caramel, and a piercing blackberry-yuzu gel.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Cold-smoke 180 ml of the heavy cream using a smoking gun loaded with applewood chips for 15 minutes beneath plastic wrap. Steep the scraped vanilla pod and seeds in the smoked cream over low heat for 10 minutes; strain and chill.

2. 02

   Prepare the smoked parfait: Whisk 3 egg yolks with 50 g caster sugar over a bain-marie until thick, pale, and reaching 82°C (sabayon). Remove from heat and whip until cooled. Whip the chilled smoked vanilla cream to medium peaks, then gently fold into the sabayon. Pipe into silicone quenelle molds and freeze at -18°C for at least 4 hours.

3. 03

   Create the tonka bean crémeux: Heat 70 ml heavy cream with the microplaned tonka bean to 80°C. Whisk the remaining 2 egg yolks with 20 g sugar. Temper the hot cream into the yolks, return to low heat, and cook to 83°C (crème anglaise). Pour over chopped white chocolate and emulsify with an immersion blender. Chill in a pastry bag for 2 hours.

4. 04

   Craft the blackberry-yuzu fluid gel: Combine blackberry purée, yuzu juice, and agar-agar in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil for 60 seconds while whisking continuously. Pour onto a cold tray to set fully in the refrigerator. Once set firm, blend in a high-speed blender until glossy and fluid; transfer to a fine-tip squeeze bottle.

5. 05

   Prepare the red miso caramel: Caramelize the remaining 40 g sugar in a heavy saucepan until a deep amber dry caramel forms (175°C). Deglaze carefully with 50 ml warmed heavy cream, whisk in butter, and finish with red miso paste until emulsified. Strain through a fine chinois.

6. 06

   Assembly: On chilled slate or fine porcelain, pipe three precise dots of tonka crémeux. Draw a dynamic arc with the warm miso caramel. Unmold the frozen smoked vanilla parfait quenelle and rest it upon a delicate bed of crushed caramelized feuilletine. Dot with blackberry-yuzu gel and crown the parfait with gold leaf.