Chocolate and brown butter ganache, coconut, avocado ice cream

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David Everitt-Matthias fully demonstrates his playful flair with this chocolate and brown butter ganache recipe. The nuttiness of the brown butter along with the rich chocolate, coffee-tinged chicory glaze, avocado ice cream and coconut gel makes this harmonious dish something a little more challenging than your standard chocolate pudding, but the finished dish is truly astonishing.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Chocolate and brown butter ganache

Chicory glaze

  • 17g of chicory essence
  • 125g of sugar
  • 50g of water
  • 135g of double cream
  • 1 gelatine leaf, soaked
  • 20g of vegetable oil

Coconut chips

Coconut cream gel

  • 500g of coconut purée, Sicoly
  • 200g of coconut milk
  • 100g of Malibu
  • 100g of double cream
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 10g of agar agar

Avocado ice cream

  • 700g of avocado, flesh only
  • 750g of milk
  • 500g of double cream
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 200g of caster sugar
  • 50g of dextrose
  • 10g of dark rum
  • 1 lime, juice and zest
  • 3g of vitamin C powder

Chocolate crumble

Method

1
To start the dish, make the coconut chips. Preheat the oven to 120°C/gas mark 1/2
2
Slice the coconut on a mandoline as finely as possible to get thin crescent shapes
3
Place the caster sugar, water and Malibu into a saucepan, bring to the boil and add the lime juice. Add the coconut slices and lower the heat until gently simmering. Poach for 20 minutes then drain, reserving the syrup for future use
  • 150g of caster sugar
  • 50g of water
  • 70g of Malibu
  • 1g of lime juice
4
Carefully lay the coconut slices on a silicone mat-lined tray and place in the oven for 4-5 hours until crisp and dry. Remove from the oven and leave to cool
5
Once cool, break into smaller pieces and store in an airtight container until needed
6
For the coconut gel, place all of the ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to the boil, whisking continuously
  • 500g of coconut purée, Sicoly
  • 200g of coconut milk
  • 100g of Malibu
  • 100g of double cream
  • 40g of caster sugar
  • 10g of agar agar
7
Cook for 2 minutes, then transfer to a blender and blitz. Pass through a fine chinoise and set aside in the fridge until cold and set hard
8
Return to the blender and blitz until smooth. Keep in a squeezy bottle
9
For the avocado ice cream, pour the milk and double cream into a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a gentle boil
  • 750g of milk
  • 500g of double cream
10
Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, caster sugar and dextrose together. Pour half of the milk mixture onto the egg yolks, whisking to combine, then pour back into the pan
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 200g of caster sugar
  • 50g of dextrose
11
Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (it should register about 84°C on a thermometer). Strain immediately through a fine sieve into a bowl and leave to cool
12
Place the avocado, rum, vitamin c powder, lime juice and zest in a blender and blitz until smooth
13
Pour the custard over the avocado mixture and blitz again until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve and churn in an ice cream maker
14
For the chocolate crumble, place all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix to a crumble consistency. Place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours
15
Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 3
16
Cook the crumbs in the oven, stirring regularly. Once ready, set aside until ready to serve
17
For the chocolate and brown butter ganache, melt the butter in a frying pan until it turns a nice golden brown colour. Pass through a sieve and allow to cool
18
Place 125g of the double cream in a thick-bottomed saucepan, bring to the boil and dissolve the glucose in the cream. Remove from the heat
  • 125g of double cream
  • 50g of glucose
19
Mix the 2 melted chocolates together in a heatproof bowl and pour the cream onto them. Mix until smooth and set aside
20
In a mixing bowl, whisk the yolks and salt until pale and creamy, then add the cocoa powder. Slowly drizzle in the beurre noisette, as if making a mayonnaise. Then, fold this into the chocolate and cream mix
21
Finally, whip the remaining double cream to ribbon stage and fold into the mix. Pour the mixture into 12 metal rings, 5cm in diameter and 5cm high, filling them two thirds full
  • 250g of double cream
22
Chill for 2 hours until set, keeping the remaining chocolate mixture at room temperature. Once the chocolate has set, push it up the sides of the moulds with your fingers so a well is formed in the centre
23
Squeeze in the coconut gel to just below the height of the chocolate. Place back in the fridge to set
24
For the chicory glaze, place the water and caster sugar in a small thick-bottomed saucepan. Dissolve the sugar slowly then raise the heat until a deep and dark caramel forms
  • 125g of sugar
  • 50g of water
25
Whisk in the double cream and the chicory essence - be careful as it will splutter
  • 17g of chicory essence
  • 135g of double cream
26
Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then whisk the soaked gelatine into the caramel. Whisk in the vegetable oil, bring back to the boil then pass through a fine chinois
  • 1 gelatine leaf, soaked
  • 20g of vegetable oil
27
Remove the chocolate ganaches from the fridge, cover with the remaining chocolate to within 2mm from the top of the ring and smooth over. Pour the chicory glaze onto the chocolate until level with the top of the moulds. Return to the fridge until needed
28
15 minutes before serving, remove the ice cream from the freezer and place in the fridge. Remove the ganache from the fridge and unmould
29
To serve, place a line of crumble on each plate then arrange the ganache alongside. Dot with the coconut gel and garnish the ganache with coconut chips. Place a quenelle of ice cream next to the ganache and lay a strip of butterscotch across the ice cream. Serve immediately
First published in 2015

David Everitt Matthias does not do anything by halves: he opened his restaurant, Le Champignon Sauvage, decades ago and hasn’t missed a service since, he writes his own cookbooks and forages himself for many of the ingredients that appear in his dishes.

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