Madagascar – Pink pepper chocolate dessert with banana and passion fruit sauce

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This tribute to Madagascan chocolate by Emanuele Scarello includes a trio of chocolate-laced goodies including a chocolate and rum biscuit, a cocoa crumble and a pink pepper-infused chocolate cream for a hit of spice. Be sure to plan ahead as this dessert also includes a velvety vanilla ice cream that is made using a pacojet and will need time to set overnight.

First published in 2016

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Vanilla ice cream

  • 500g of milk
  • 75g of cream
  • 20g of caster sugar
  • 30g of milk powder
  • 30g of glucose
  • 20g of inverted sugar syrup
  • 80g of egg yolk
  • 3g of stabiliser
  • 3 vanilla pods, scraped

Chocolate and rum biscuit

  • 100g of eggs
  • 30g of inverted sugar syrup
  • 50g of caster sugar
  • 30g of almond flour
  • 50g of whole wheat flour, preferably stoneground Petra 5 flour
  • 10g of cocoa powder
  • 3g of baking powder
  • 40g of butter
  • 50g of cream
  • 20g of 64% dark chocolate, preferably Madagascan Manjari, melted
  • 10g of rum
  • 10g of water

Cocoa crumble

  • 100g of butter, cubed
  • 100g of caster sugar
  • 100g of almond flour
  • 75g of flour, preferably Petra 1
  • 17g of cocoa powder, bitter
  • 0.7g of salt

Pink pepper chocolate cream

  • 200g of milk
  • 200g of cream
  • 80g of egg yolk
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 210g of 64% dark chocolate, preferably Madagascan Manjari, roughly chopped
  • 5g of pink peppercorns, ground

Passion fruit sauce

  • 400g of banana, ripe
  • 200g of passion fruit juice
  • 4g of agar agar
  • 8g of pectin

Equipment

  • Pacojet
  • Thermometer
  • Food mixer
  • 3cm diameter cutter
  • Blender

Method

1
For the ice cream, place the milk, cream and vanilla seeds in a pan and bring to a simmer over a gentle heat
  • 500g of milk
  • 75g of cream
  • 3 vanilla pods, scraped
2
In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar with the stabiliser, milk powder, inverted sugar and glucose, then stir in the egg yolks using a spatula until combined
  • 20g of caster sugar
  • 3g of stabiliser
  • 30g of milk powder
  • 20g of inverted sugar syrup
  • 30g of glucose
  • 80g of egg yolk
3
Add the egg mixture to the hot milk pan and heat to 83°C. Once it reaches this temperature, remove from the heat and transfer to a pacojet beaker and freeze for 24 hours
4
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4, and line a baking tray with baking paper
5
To prepare the chocolate and rum biscuit, beat the eggs together and then stir in the inverted sugar syrup. Transfer to a food mixer, add the dry ingredients and combine
  • 100g of eggs
  • 30g of inverted sugar syrup
  • 50g of caster sugar
  • 30g of almond flour
  • 50g of whole wheat flour, preferably stoneground Petra 5 flour
  • 10g of cocoa powder
  • 3g of baking powder
6
Gently heat the butter and cream together in a small saucepan. Take the pan off the heat and stir in a third of the batter from the mixer to loosen and cool the cream, then mix in the remaining batter from the mixer
  • 40g of butter
  • 50g of cream
7
Stir in the melted chocolate, followed by the rum and water until combined. Spread the mixture evenly across the lined tray to a thickness of 2cm and bake for 10 minutes
8
After this time, turn the oven temperature down to 160°C/gas mark 3. Remove the part-baked biscuit from the oven and cut out 3cm circles using a cutter. Return the cut biscuits to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, then set aside to cool on a wire rack
9
To make the cocoa crumble, place the dry ingredients in a food processor or stand mixer and mix briefly to combine. Add the cubed butter and mix until it comes together as a dough. Tip the dough out on to a large sheet of cling film and roll into a tight cylinder. Place in the freezer to chill
  • 17g of cocoa powder, bitter
  • 100g of almond flour
  • 100g of caster sugar
  • 75g of flour, preferably Petra 1
  • 0.7g of salt
  • 100g of butter, cubed
10
For the pink pepper chocolate cream, start by bringing the milk and cream to a simmer in a large pan. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until doubled in size
  • 200g of milk
  • 200g of cream
  • 80g of egg yolk
  • 40g of caster sugar
11
Pour a third of the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks and sugar and combine with a spatula. Pour this back into the pan with the rest of the milk and cream and heat to 83°C
12
Gradually pour the hot liquid over the chocolate and mix until smooth. Stir in the ground pink pepper and refrigerate until needed
  • 210g of 64% dark chocolate, preferably Madagascan Manjari, roughly chopped
  • 5g of pink peppercorns, ground
13
To make the passion fruit sauce, place the bananas and passion fruit juice in a large pan and mash together. Place over a medium heat and bring to the boil, then add the pectin and agar agar and cook for a few seconds. Leave to cool and set in the fridge
  • 400g of banana, ripe
  • 200g of passion fruit juice
  • 8g of pectin
  • 4g of agar agar
14
Preheat the oven to 150°C/gas mark 2
15
Remove the cocoa crumble dough from the freezer and unwrap from the cling film. Coarsely grate the hard dough on to baking tray to form crumbs. Bake for 15 minutes until crisp, then set aside to cool
16
When nearly ready to serve, finish the ice cream by churning in the pacojet. Blitz the set passion fruit and banana mixture to a smooth sauce with a blender then transfer to a piping bag
17
To serve, smear a spoonful of the pink pepper chocolate cream across each serving plate. Add the chocolate biscuits and pipe dollops of the passion fruit sauce, adding a few smeared lines for decoration (if liked)
18
Finish with some of cocoa crumble and quenelles of the churned vanilla ice cream to serve

When he’s not in the kitchen of his two Michelin-starred restaurant, Emanuele Scarello is in the Fruilian countryside, seeking out wild herbs and rare ingredients to incorporate into his dishes.

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