Kirsch brandy snaps with cherry mascarpone and chocolate

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Josh Eggleton created this recipe after being inspired by his trip to Zug, Switzerland, where he discovered the sumptuous kirsch the city is known for. His stunning dessert is inspired by the area's amazing cherries, with a cherry cream and kirsch brandy snap served alongside a rich chocolate soil and gel.

First published in 2018

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Chocolate gel

  • 500g of water
  • 140g of caster sugar
  • 150g of cocoa powder
  • 5g of agar agar

Crème pâtissière

  • 175ml of whole milk
  • 75ml of whipping cream
  • 1/2 vanilla pod
  • 25g of caster sugar
  • 50g of egg yolks
  • 17g of cornflour
  • 7g of plain flour

Cherry mix

  • 250g of cherry purée
  • 1 sheet of gelatine, (optional – it helps to stabilise the mixture)
  • 10g of caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp malic acid, or 1/2 lemon, juiced

Mascarpone mix

  • 175g of mascarpone, (firm)
  • 10g of caster sugar
  • 25ml of sweet wine
  • 10ml of kirsch

Cocoa soil

Kirsch snaps

  • 55g of golden syrup
  • 55g of Demerara sugar
  • 55g of unsalted butter
  • 50g of plain flour
  • 1 tbsp of kirsch

To serve

Equipment

  • High-power blender
  • Piping bags
  • 1.5 cm thick metal tube

Method

1
To begin, make the chocolate gel. Place the water, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking regularly to avoid the liquid catching on the bottom of the pan. Once boiling, remove from the heat and set aside to cool
2
When the mixture is cool, whisk in the agar agar and return to the heat. Bring back to the boil, whisking continuously
  • 5g of agar agar
3
Pour the liquid into a container and chill until set. Once set, transfer to a high-powered blender and blitz to a smooth gel. Place in a piping bag or squeezy bottle and keep in the fridge
4
Next, make the cherry mascarpone cream. Begin by making a crème pâtissière, which will later be added to the cherry and mascarpone mixes. Place the milk, cream, vanilla and half the sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to the boil
  • 175ml of whole milk
  • 75ml of whipping cream
  • 1/2 vanilla pod
  • 25g of caster sugar
5
Mix in the remaining sugar, egg yolks and flours thoroughly before taking off the heat. Pour into a tray, cover with cling film to stop a skin forming and allow to cool. Once cool, blend until smooth and set aside
  • 50g of egg yolks
  • 17g of cornflour
  • 7g of plain flour
6
For the cherry mix, pour the cherry purée into a heavy-bottomed pan. Place on a low heat and bring up to a gentle boil, stirring regularly. The plan is to reduce the purée by half (to 125g). This will take time, and it is important to continue stirring so the purée doesn't stick to the pan
7
Meanwhile, soak the gelatine sheet in cold water and set aside. When the purée has reduced to 125g, season with 10g caster sugar and the malic acid (or lemon juice). Once the gelatine in soft, wring it out and mix thoroughly into the hot purée before taking it off the heat and setting aside to chill
  • 10g of caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp malic acid, or 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 1 sheet of gelatine, (optional – it helps to stabilise the mixture)
8
Place the mascarpone in a mixing bowl. Stir in the caster sugar, sweet wine and kirsch until well-combined
  • 175g of mascarpone, (firm)
  • 10g of caster sugar
  • 25ml of sweet wine
  • 10ml of kirsch
9
Now, fold 250g of the crème pâtissière into the cherry mix and finally fold in the mascarpone mix. Transfer to a piping bag and place in the fridge. (Please note, you will have crème pâtissière and the final mix left over, both of which can be used for a number of other dishes – for example, simply add to a fresh fruit salad)
10
To make the cocoa soil, heat the white chocolate in a heavy-bottomed pan until the oil separates out and the chocolate has melted. Stir in the flour and cocoa until the mixture has formed into one hard lump. Set aside to cool
11
Place the lump in a blender and pulse until a soil/crumble mixture has been created. You may have crumble left over – it keeps well in an airtight container and can be used as a garnish in many dessert dishes
12
To make the kirsch snaps, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
13
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, gently heat the golden syrup, Demerara sugar and butter until the sugar has melted
14
Mix in the flour and kirsch and cook out for about 3 minutes. Place the mixture in a container and set aside briefly
  • 50g of plain flour
  • 1 tbsp of kirsch
15
Meanwhile, take a baking sheet and cover it with baking parchment. Roll the mixture into rough balls the size of a 20p coin and place evenly across the baking parchment, making sure there is enough space between each ball so they can melt without touching each other
16
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, or until each ball has melted and is bubbling and golden in colour. Remove from the oven and set aside – the mixture needs to be cool enough to roll but not so cool that it becomes brittle. Using a metal cylindrical object, roll the snaps around it into cylinders. Store the kirsch snaps at room temperature in an airtight container with pieces of baking parchment separating them
17
To assemble the dish, fill each kirsch snap with the cherry mascarpone cream. Dab two small dots of the cream on the plate and position the snaps on top so they don't roll about
18
Squeeze dots of the chocolate gel around the plate and crumble over the cocoa soil. Finally, garnish with some whole and half cherries and serve

It can take decades of dedication and dogged effort to win a Michelin star. Josh Eggleton, though, was ‘shocked’ to win his first Michelin star at the age of 27, after only a few years of being a Head Chef.

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