Belgium Ale – Chocolate, Coffee, Black Olives

Black olives, beer and chocolate ice cream in the same dessert? Can that be right? It certainly can, if you’re talking about a dish created by the young modernist cuisine master, Chef Jordi Cruz. Textures of chocolate (ice cream, sponge cake, parfait), coffee (frozen shingle, sand, toffee), licorice (sponge cake, jelly), beer jelly, cocoa sand, black olives and fennel sprouts.

You’ll find this dish on the tasting menu at Chef Jordi’s award-winning restaurant, Angle, located in Hotel Cram in Barcelona. The 2-michelin-star chef describes the food at Angle as “evolutionary and restless”; that description applies perfectly to this dish. Though certainly edgy, this molecular creation provides a surprising  coherency even while offering so many different flavors and textures that every bite will be a unique experience. Thanks Chef Jordi, for sharing your genius!

Ingredients

Yields 5 small servings

Chocolate Ice Cream Ingredients

- 250ml (8.45oz) Whole milk

- 100gr (3.53oz) Dark chocolate (72% cocoa) chips

- 20gr (0.71oz) Invert sugar (may use corn syrup)

- 30gr (1.06oz) Sugar

- 10gr (0.35oz) Dextrose

- 1.5gr (0.05oz) Ice cream stabilizer

- 8gr (0.28oz) Powdered milk

Chocolate Sponge Cake Ingredients

- 120gr (4.23oz) Egg whites

- 120gr (4.23oz) Dark chocolate, tempered (72% cocoa)

- 62gr (2.19oz) Dark chocolate, finely chopped (72% cocoa)

- 62gr (2.19oz) Egg yolk, room temperature

- 50gr (1.76oz) Butter, softened

- 33gr (1.13oz) Sugar

- 13gr (0.46oz) Cocoa nibs

Coffee Butter Shingle Ingredients

- 150gr (5.29oz) Butter

- 1.5gr (0.05oz) Glycerine

- 65gr (2.29oz) Espresso, chilled

- 15gr (0.53oz) Sugar

- 0.75gr (0.03oz) Sucrose ester

Ingredients Licorice Sponge Cake

- 85gr (3oz) Almond flour

- 125gr (4.41oz) Egg whites

- 80gr (2.82oz) Egg yolks

- 80gr (2.82oz) Sugar

- 40gr (1.41oz) Black licorice

- 30gr (1.06oz) Flour

Cocoa and Coffee Sand Ingredients

- 63gr (2.22oz) Butter

- 63gr (2.22oz) All purpose flour

- 63gr (2.22oz) Brown sugar

- 63gr (2.22oz) Almond flour

- 15gr (0.53oz) Cocoa

- 50gr (1.76oz) Instant coffee

Licorice Jelly Ingredients

- 13 Licorice strings (black)

- 38gr (1.34oz) Simple syrup

- 30ml (1.01oz) Water, boiling

- 0.35gr (0.01oz) Agar Agar

- 0.75 Sheet unflavored gelatin

Chocolate Parfait Ingredients

- 133gr (4.69oz) Dark chocolate (72% cocoa)

- 150ml (5.07oz) Fresh cream

- 2.25 Sheets plain gelatin

- 50gr (1.76oz) Pasteurized egg whites

Coffee Toffee Ingredients

- 1 Vanilla bean

- 125gr (4.41oz) Sugar

-125ml (4.23oz) Cream

- 5gr (0.18oz) Instant coffee

Beer Jelly Ingredients

- 75g (2.65oz) Begian dark ale, your choice

- 1/2 Sheet or 1g soaked gelatin

Garnishes

- 10-15 Greek black olives, pitted, dried and chopped

- Several Fennel sprouts

Preparation

Chocolate Ice Cream Preparation

1 - Heat the milk in a saucepan to 35ºC (95 ºF).

2 - Add all other ingredients except chocolate.

3 - Cook while stirring until it reaches 85ºC (185 ºF).

4 - Add the chocolate chips.

5 - Let rest 30 seconds then place mixture in blender.

6 - Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth and combined.

7 - Mature 8 hours in the fridge.

8 - Freeze in the ice cream maker.

Chocolate Sponge Cake Preparation

1 - Using your mixer, make a meringue with the egg whites and sugar. Reserve.

2 - Add the softened butter to mixer.

3 - Slowly pour in the tempered chocolate while still beating.

4 - Add the egg yolks at room temperature.

5 - Fold this base, the chopped chocolate and cacao nibs into the meringue.

6 - Pour in a pan and spread to an even 2.5cm deep.

7 - Bake 12 minutes to set.

Coffee Butter Shingle Preparation

1 - Put the butter in a saucepan and heat to 60°C (140°F)

2 - Add glycerine.

3 - In a blender, combine the coffee, sugar and sucrose ester.

4 - Add butter/glycerine mixture and blend until smooth.

5- Let it rest in the fridge for a few hours.

6 - To finish, use a thick steel surface cooled with liquid nitrogen. Spread out a small amount of the mixture with a spatula. It will freeze quickly. You can also use an Anti-Griddle.

7 - Place the shingle on top of the ice cream and serve immediately.

The intent of this detail is to obtain a shingle that 'falls' in front of the diner, covering the ice cream and part of the dessert with a thin layer of coffee butter.

Licorice Sponge Cake Preparation

Made using the iSi Whip and a microwave like in the Black Sesame Microwave Sponge Cake and Miso recipe.

1 - Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend.

2- Pass through the iSi funnel and sieve and pour into a 1L iSi Whip.

3- Charge the 1L iSi Whip with 4 N2O charges and shake each time.

4- Let it rest in the fridge for at least 2 to 4 hours.

5- Prepare the paper cups by cutting 3 small slits on the base of the cups using scissors. This will allow the vapor generated while heating to escape.

6- Spray the cups with a light coat of non-stick spray to make it easier to release the delicate sponge cake once cooked.

7- Using the iSi Whip siphon, fill about 1/3 of the paper cup with the black sesame foam. Foam will expand significantly when cooked so don’t fill the cup!

8- Place the filled cup in the microwave and cook for 60 seconds at 600W power. You can cook 2 or 3 sponge cakes at a time.

9- Remove from microwave and let it cool at room temperature.

10- With the help of a small spatula, carefully release the sponge cake from the paper cup. Flip the cup and tap the top to release the sponge cake.

11 - When ready to serve, break with your fingers into pieces the size of a walnut.

Cocoa and Coffee Sand Preparation

1 - Whip the butter until very creamy.

2 - Add the other ingredients except for the coffee and cacao without overworking.

3 - Spread between two silpats creating a thickness of 3 to 5mm.

4 - Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ten minutes.

5 - Let it cool and crush the dough with a rolling pin.

6 - Toss with cocoa and reserve in an airtight, dry container.

When ready to serve, add instant coffee to the cocoa sand. Vary the amount depending on the strength of coffee flavor desired . Be careful that it doesn’t overtake the other components.

Licorice Jelly Preparation

1 - Boil the water with the agar and simple syrup.

2 - Boil for around 30 seconds.

3 - Add the hydrated unflavored gelatin and licorice paste, and cook til dissolved.

4 - Pour into a container to a thickness of 0.5cm (0.2in).

5 - Allow to set.

6 - Dice into half-centimeter cubes.

Chocolate Parfait Preparation

1 - Bring the cream to a boil.

2 - Add the soaked gelatin and finely chopped chocolate.

3 - Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is totally combined.

4 - Remove from heat and cool til the temperature drops to 30/35ºC (86-95°F).

5 - Add the egg whites and pour parfait mixture into the iSi Whip and charge.

Coffee Toffee Preparation

1 - Infuse the cream with the vanilla by letting them rest in the fridge for a few hours.

2 - In a medium skillet or saucepan, caramelize over low/medium heat the sugar until it reaches a nice golden color.

3 - Slowly add the cream.

4 - Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

5 - Add the coffee.

6 - Allow to cool and pour into a bottle with a fine tip so that you can garnish with it.

7 - Refrigerate until ready to use.

Beer Jelly Preparation

1 - Hydrate gelatin in ice water  for 10 minutes.

2 - Dry it well on absorbent paper.

3 - Boil 25ml (0.85oz) of the beer and add gelatin.

4 - Once the gelatin is dissolved, add the remaining beer.

5 - Pour into a container to a depth of 1.5cm (about 0.5 inch) and set aside.

Assembly

1 - At the center of the plate, draw two lines with the coffee butter and toffee.

2- Add two cubes of chocolate sponge cake.

3 - Add crumbled licorice sponge cake.

4 - Add two teaspoons of beer jelly.

5 - Add three or four buttons of chocolate parfait.

6 - Cover the whole thing with a thin layer of cocoa coffee sand.

7 - Around the sand put two dices of licorice jelly and two teaspoons of dried and chopped black olives.

8 - In the center, put a scoop of chocolate ice cream.

9 - On top of this, place a coffee butter shingle.

10- Garnish with a couple of fennel sprouts.

11- Serve immediately.