Dark Chocolate Delice with Coffee, Feuilletine, Sour Cherry and Bee Pollen
A dark, glossy slab of set chocolate cremeux on crisp feuilletine from the Riverside kitchen, served with coffee syrup, sharp sour cherry sorbet and chocolate shards dusted with bee pollen.
A delice is French for delight, and this one earns the name. It is the dark chocolate delice from our Riverside dessert menu, the one Chef Paul plates for pudding: a dark, glossy slab of set chocolate cremeux on a crisp feuilletine base, with coffee syrup, a quenelle of sour cherry sorbet and shards of dark chocolate dusted with bee pollen. It is what we reach for when someone wants chocolate done properly, rich but balanced, with sharp fruit and bitter coffee to keep it honest.
The heart of it is the cremeux, a custard base cooked to a nappe and poured over good dark chocolate so it sets to something between a ganache and a truffle, dense and silky rather than heavy. Use the best 70 percent chocolate you can find, because with so few ingredients there is nowhere for it to hide. The sour cherry sorbet is not a garnish but a counterweight, its tartness cutting straight through the richness the way a squeeze of lemon lifts cream.
The one thing worth knowing is that this is a make-ahead dessert through and through. The delice needs a long, cold set, at least four hours and happily overnight, to slice cleanly, and both the sorbet and the coffee syrup can be made days in advance. Cook the custard gently to 82°C to 84°C and no further, because once the eggs pass a simmer they scramble, and warm a knife between cuts for those clean restaurant edges.
Method
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1
Start with the sorbet so it has time to firm. Warm the sugar, water and glucose (if using) in a small pan until the sugar dissolves, simmer for 2 minutes, then cool completely. Blitz the frozen cherries with the cold syrup and the lemon juice in a food processor until smooth and deep ruby, then pass through a sieve to catch any skins. Churn in an ice cream machine until smooth and scoopable, then freeze until firm. Without a machine, freeze the base solid in a shallow container and blitz it in a food processor straight from the freezer just before serving for a smooth soft scoop.
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2
Line a 20cm (8in) square tin with cling film or baking parchment, leaving plenty of overhang so you can lift the delice out later.
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3
For the feuilletine base, melt the dark chocolate gently over a pan of barely simmering water, or in short bursts in the microwave, until just fluid at around 45°C. Stir in the praline paste and a pinch of salt, then fold through the feuilletine so every flake is coated. Tip into the lined tin and press into an even, thin layer about half a centimetre deep with the back of a spoon, keeping a spoonful back for a crumb garnish if you like. Chill while you make the delice.
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4
For the delice, put the finely chopped dark chocolate in a large bowl. Heat the milk and cream in a pan to just below a simmer. Whisk the yolks and sugar together, pour over a ladleful of the hot cream while whisking, then return everything to the pan. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon and reaches 82°C to 84°C, about 3 to 5 minutes. Do not let it boil or the eggs will scramble.
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5
Pour the hot custard through a sieve onto the chocolate and leave for 1 minute, then stir slowly from the centre outwards until you have a smooth, glossy emulsion. Stir in the softened butter and a pinch of salt, then blend for a few seconds with a stick blender for extra shine, keeping the head submerged to avoid working in air bubbles.
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6
Pour the warm delice over the chilled feuilletine base, tap the tin gently on the worktop to level it and release any bubbles, then leave to cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, until firm and sliceable.
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7
For the coffee syrup, combine the hot coffee, sugar and espresso powder (if using) in a small pan and stir until the sugar dissolves. Simmer gently until reduced by about half to a light syrup that coats the back of a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes, then cool. It thickens as it cools, so loosen with a drop of water if it becomes too sticky.
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8
For the chocolate shards, melt the dark chocolate and spread it thinly over a sheet of baking parchment or acetate. Dust with the bee pollen while the chocolate is still wet, lay a second sheet on top and set flat in the fridge. Once fully hard, peel away the paper and snap into jagged shards. Tempered chocolate gives the cleanest snap and shine, but a simple melt and set works well if you keep everything cool.
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9
To portion, lift the set slab out of the tin using the overhang. Warm a large knife under hot water and wipe it dry, then cut into 6 to 8 neat pieces, reheating and wiping the blade between each cut for clean edges.
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10
To serve, this is the one Chef Paul plates at the Riverside: sit a portion of delice, feuilletine side down, on each plate. Add a swipe or a few dots of coffee syrup, scatter over a little feuilletine crumb and rest a quenelle of sour cherry sorbet on the crumb so it holds in place. Finish with a couple of chocolate shards and a light dusting of bee pollen.
Chef's tips
- Make ahead: this is a proper make-ahead dessert. The delice keeps for up to 3 days covered in the fridge, the coffee syrup and sour cherry sorbet both keep for several days, and only the chocolate shards are best made on the day so they stay crisp.
- Vegetarian but not vegan: the dish contains eggs, dairy and bee pollen (a bee product, like honey). The feuilletine base also contains gluten, as feuilletine is made from wafer thin wheat crepes, so for a gluten free version swap it for crushed gluten free wafers or a crisped rice and praline base.
- Rescuing the custard: if it looks grainy or threatens to split, take it straight off the heat and blend hard with a stick blender or pass it through a fine sieve. If the finished emulsion looks oily or broken, whisk in a splash of warm milk a little at a time and it will come back together glossy and smooth.
- No ice cream machine: freeze the sorbet base solid, then blitz it straight from the freezer in a food processor just before serving for an instant soft scoop. Refreeze for 20 minutes if it softens too much to hold a quenelle.
A small glass of Recioto della Valpolicella, a sweet Italian red whose black cherry and cocoa depth chimes with the dark chocolate and lifts the sour cherry sorbet.
Taste the Dark Chocolate Delice as we plate it.
Coffee, Feuilletine, Sour Cherry, Bee Pollen
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