Flourless Duck Fat Valrhona Chocolate Cake | Compressed Papaya | Toasted Cashew Crumb | Papaya Lime Coulis | Allspice Cream | Plated on Front of The House
Makes 4 cakes
INGREDIENTS
- 14 oz. Valrhona chocolate
- 14 oz. Duck fat
- 14 oz. Sugar
- 13 ea. Eggs
- 1 ea. Large split vanilla bean
- pinch of salt
- 4 cups Chocolate ganache
- 4 cups Caramel with 1 cup slightly crushed cashews folded in
- 4 ea. Large ripe papayas
- 3 ea. Limes, zested
- 2 cups Domaine Sante grape nectar
- 1/2 cup + 1 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Lime juice
- 3/4 cup Raw sugar
- 1/4 tsp. Xanthan gum
- 6 cups Whipped cream flavored with allspice powder and vanilla extract
- 4 cups Toasted cashews seasoned to taste with salt and sugar
- Maldon Salt for finishing
- Red-Veined Sorrel for garnishing
DIRECTIONS
- For The Cake:
Combine duck fat and chocolate. Let it melt slowly over a double boiler. Combine the eggs, sugar, whole split vanilla bean and the pinch of salt in a mixer and beat on high until the eggs turn pale yellow. Add the melted duck fat chocolate to the mixer and continue to beat on high until well combined and aerated. Remove the vanilla bean. Grease four loaf pans with non stick cooking spray. Pour the cake mix equally into the four loafs pans. Place the loaf pans into a water bath and cook in a 300 degree oven for 40 minutes. Once the cakes come out of the oven, allow to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then place the cakes into the freezer for 20-30 minutes or until completely cold and hard.
Remove the cakes from the freezer. Warm up the cashew caramel if needed so it is easily pourable. Pour the caramel equally onto the cakes and spread into an even layer. Return cakes to the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Remove cakes from the freezer. Pour the chocolate ganache over the layer of caramel on the duck fat cakes. Smooth the ganache out evenly. Return to the freezer until ready to serve. - For The Compressed Papaya:
Combine the grape nectar, lime zest and 1/2 cup water and heat over medium heat for 5 minutes until lime zest is fragrant. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Remove the skin and seeds from two of the papayas. Portion the papayas into small rectangle pieces all the same shape. You will have trim waste from these two papayas, thats ok, put it aside and save it for the coulis. Place the portioned papaya pieces in sous vide bag with the lime zest grape nectar and vacuum seal tightly. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, it is best served ice cold. Drain the syrup before serving. - For The Coulis:
Skin and seed the remaining two papayas and chop roughly. Combine this in a large saucepan with the raw sugar, lime juice and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, and cook for 15 minutes or until the papaya is completely soft and the sugar has become syrup. Combine in a high speed blender with the xanthan gum and blend on high until completely smooth. Strain and cool.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Remove a cake from the freezer. Use a blowtorch around the bottom and edges of the loaf pan to loosen the cake. Invert the cake and flip it out onto a cutting board. Portion the cake into one inch slices. Allow the slices to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes to melt frost from the freezer.
- Place a silver dollar size circle of coulis in the middle of the plate. Place a slice of the cake off center on the left of the circle of coulis. Put your allspice whipped cream in a piping bag with a flat tip. Pipe a line of cream along the left side of the cake. Place 3 pieces of the compressed papaya around the cake. Place three small spoonfuls of the cashew crumb around the cake. Garnish with three leaves of red veined sorrel. Finish with a tiny pinch of maldon salt on top of the cake.
