Strawberry Sake Mousse 2 . 0 with White Chocolate Shell – Recipe

Remember my original Strawberry Sake Mousse recipe for the Gekkeikan Masters Cooking Competition? And that I'll be taking part in the live finals in a week tomorrow? Well as it turns out, I won't have six hours to make that recipe: I'll only have about two.

Also, I won't have access to an oven.


Challenge accepted.


The recipe is almost exactly the same, with the only difference being that the shortbread is cooked in a frying pan pancake style (I like calling them 'hob biscuits'), and the addition of white chocolate to create a thin shell to encase the mousse: this means I don't have to wait for the mousse to freeze solid to get it out of the mould. I did have to use different moulds though, as the original ones are too intricate and the chocolate would be too thick where it would collect in the ridges.


With that in mind, here's how to do it. Let's go!




Serves: 4
Total preparation time: 2 hours


Ingredients for Shortbread:

1/2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp butter, softened
1.5 tbsp plain flour
Pinch of salt

Ingredients for Mousse Domes:

100g white chocolate, melted and tempered
50g strawberries, puréed
50ml double cream
1.5tsp gelatin soaked in 1tbsp water
2tbsp caster sugar
75ml Gekkeikan Petit Moon nigori sake
1 egg white (use pasteurised)

Ingredients for Mango Sake Salsa:

1 mango, chopped into small bits
Zest from 1 lime
2tbsp Gekkeikan Petit Moon nigori sake
1tbsp caster sugar

Ingredients for Strawberry Coulis:

100g strawberries, puréed
1tbsp caster sugar
1tbsp Gekkeikan Petit Moon nigori sake

Ingredients for Chocolate Decorations:

50g dark chocolate, melted and tempered
Thin strips of chocolate transfer sheets/ clear acetate

Ingredients for Chocolate Sauce:

Leftover melted chocolate from making your decorations
1tbsp hot water
3tsp glucose syrup

To Decorate (optional):

Coloured cocoa butter spray
Gold leaf
Extra strawberries

Method:

1) First, make the biscuits. Mix all the ingredients together to form a smooth dough, and roll out between two sheets of baking parchment. Stamp out four rounds a little smaller than the circumference of your moulds. Heat a frying pan on a low to medium heat, and cook your rounds of shortbread just like pancakes, turning every so often until golden brown. Let cool completely on a wire rack.


2) Next, make the chocolate shells. Brush on a thin layer of the tempered white chocolate inside your silicone moulds, and pop in the freezer for five minutes to set. Brush on another thin layer, and pop in the freezer to set again.


3) Make the mousse next: gently heat the strawberry purée in a small saucepan and melt the soaked gelatin in it (don't let it boil). Take off the heat, and stir in the sake. Whip the egg white until it forms stiff peaks like a meringue, then whisk in the sugar until glossy. In another bowl, whip the cream until it forms very soft peaks. Lightly stir half of the cooled strawberry mixture into the egg white and the other half into the double cream, taking care not to be too rough to keep it foamy. Stir the cream and the egg white mixtures together (I use a small whisk to very gently incorporate everything at this point).

4) Pour the mousse mixture into four little silicone moulds, float a shortbread biscuit on top of each and set in the freezer for about half an hour.

5) Meanwhile, stir all the mango salsa ingredients together, cover and chill to marinate.

6) To make the strawberry coulis, place the ingredients in a small saucepan and just bring to a simmer for five minutes. Turn off the heat, strain through a fine sieve and cool.

7) Place your can of cocoa butter spray in a warm water bath of about 50°C for about 10 minutes to melt the contents.

8) While the cocoa butter spray is melting, melt and temper some dark chocolate, and paint four strips  of acetate/ chocolate transfer sheet with the chocolate. Transfer them onto a lined baking tray so you have clean strips, and leave them on the side. As soon as they stop looking shiny and look a bit matte, shape them into rings and sit them up. Refrigerate until needed.

9) To make the chocolate sauce, stir the hot water and glucose syrup into the rest of the melted chocolate until smooth, and set aside.

10) Pop the desserts out of the moulds, place them in a deep tray and spray them with the cocoa butter until they have an even coating.



11) Smear a little strawberry coulis onto the plates and apply gold leaf.

12) Peel the acetate off your set chocolate decorations and arrange them on the plate as you like with the mango salsa, strawberries and chocolate sauce. Finally... serve!





That's it – wish me luck!

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