Smoked Tonka Bean &...Smoked Tonka Bean & Caramelized Chocolate Entremet with Sudachi Gel

A refined haute-pâtisserie creation featuring velvety smoked tonka bean and caramelized white chocolate mousse atop a crisp toasted buckwheat sablé, balanced with an electric sudachi citrus gel and crystallized shiso.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   To prepare the Buckwheat Sablé: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream cultured butter and confectioners' sugar until pale. Add the egg yolk and fleur de sel, mixing until fully emulsified. Fold in the buckwheat flour until a homogenous dough forms. Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper to 3mm thickness and freeze for 20 minutes.

2. 02

   Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Stamp out four 7cm rings from the chilled sablé dough. Bake on a perforated silicone mat for 12-14 minutes until evenly browned and nutty in aroma. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

3. 03

   To make the Smoked Tonka Mousse: In a small saucepan, bring whole milk and 100ml of heavy cream to a gentle simmer with the grated tonka bean. Remove from heat, cover tightly with film, and steep for 15 minutes. Pass through a fine chinois.

4. 04

   Reheat the tonka-infused dairy to 75°C. Squeeze excess water from the bloomed gelatin and whisk it into the hot liquid until dissolved. Pour the hot infusion over the chopped Blond Dulcey chocolate in three additions, whisking from the center out to form a glossy, elastic emulsion. Cool to 30°C.

5. 05

   Whip the remaining 200ml of cold heavy cream to soft, supple peaks. Gently fold one-third of the whipped cream into the 30°C chocolate base to lighten, then delicately fold in the remainder. Pipe into four 6.5cm silicone dome molds and freeze for at least 4 hours until solid.

6. 06

   To prepare the Sudachi Fluid Gel: Whisk sudachi juice, granulated sugar, and agar-agar in a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil for 60 seconds, stirring continuously. Pour into a shallow tray and chill until fully set into a brittle gel. Transfer to a high-speed blender and shear on high speed until glassy and smooth. Transfer into a fine-tipped piping bottle.

7. 07

   Assembly: Place a crisp buckwheat sablé disc in the center of each chilled presentation plate. Unmold the frozen tonka Dulcey domes and place directly onto the sablé bases, allowing them to temper in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before serving.

8. 08

   Garnish each dome with precision dots of sudachi fluid gel around the perimeter, a dusting of finely powdered buckwheat crisp, and finished with delicate micro purple shiso leaves.