Smoked Vanilla Crémeux with...Smoked Vanilla Crémeux with Miso-Roasted Black Mission Figs and Buckwheat Sablé

An avant-garde dessert harmonizing cold-smoked Tahitian vanilla crémeux, umami-glazed caramelized figs, a rich port reduction, and delicate crisp buckwheat sablé.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Bloom the gelatin sheets in ice water for 10 minutes. Melt the white chocolate over a gentle water bath and set aside.

2. 02

   In a heavy saucepan, gently scald the cream with the scraped vanilla pod and seeds. If using a smoking gun, cold-smoke the warm cream with applewood smoke for 3 minutes before proceeding.

3. 03

   Whisk egg yolks gently, temper with one-third of the warm cream, and return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula until the custard reaches 82°C (180°F).

4. 04

   Strain through a fine chinois onto the melted chocolate. Squeeze excess water from the gelatin and whisk it into the mixture. Emulsify with an immersion blender without incorporating air bubbles. Pour into circular silicone molds and chill for at least 4 hours.

5. 05

   For the sablé, combine buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour, confectioners' sugar, and fleur de sel. Rub in cold butter until the texture resembles fine wet sand. Bring together into a flat disc, wrap in film, and chill for 30 minutes.

6. 06

   Roll the sablé dough between two sheets of parchment paper to 2 mm thickness. Bake at 170°C (340°F) for 12 to 14 minutes until deeply golden. Cut into discs matching the size of the crémeux molds while still warm, then cool on a wire rack.

7. 07

   Simmer Tawny Port in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced by three-quarters into a lustrous, viscous glaze. Cool to room temperature.

8. 08

   Whisk shiro miso with wildflower honey and 1 teaspoon of warm water to create a glaze. Brush generously onto the cut surfaces of the figs. Caramelize under a high broiler for 2 minutes or torch with a culinary blowtorch until blistered and fragrant.

9. 09

   To assemble, place a buckwheat sablé disc in the center of each chilled plate and set an unmolded smoked vanilla crémeux directly on top. Arrange two warm miso-glazed fig halves adjacent to the crémeux, draw a crescent of Port glaze across the plate, and finish with micro shiso leaves and a crystalline pinch of fleur de sel.