CTV Recipes
Search Recipes
Chocolate sphere dessert
Ingredients
Chocolate sphere:
- 500 grams semisweet chocolate callets
- 100 grams semisweet chocolate callets, for seeding
- Gold luster dust (optional)
- 2 piece plastic sphere mold, 12 centimeters (120 millimeters) in diameter
- 8 centimeter ring cutter
Pistachio cake - Base:
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) melted butter
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup (105 grams) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) vanilla paste
- 3 tablespoons (70 grams) pistachio paste
Pistachio cake - Meringue:
- 4 egg whites
- 1/4 cup (52 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (43 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (43 grams) cake flour
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) almond flour
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
Sponge toffee:
- 1 tablespoon (20 grams) honey
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (35 grams) glucose
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
- 4 teaspoons (12 grams) water
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
Figs:
- 2 figs per dessert, halved
- Sugar
Caramel sauce:
- 1 cup (198 grams) white sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) water
- 3/4 cup (180 milliliters) 35% cream
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter
Directions
Recipe note: It is important to use good quality chocolate callets for this, as chocolate that contains other additives will not temper properly.
Chocolate sphere:
- Melt 500 grams semisweet chocolate callets over bain-marie. Bring to 114°F-118°F (46°C-48°C).
- Slowly add in 100 grams of seed chocolate, stirring well to melt each addition. This will slowly lower the temperature of the chocolate to 88°F-90°F (29°C-31°C).
- Add 130-140 grams into sphere mold. Hold together firmly and aggressively shake mold in all directions to distribute chocolate evenly inside mold. This could take approximately five minutes of shaking. Every so often, place mold on a flat surface and let go to see if the chocolate is heavy or if it’s settling in one area. If it settles in one area, work to shake it away from that area to make sure it’s as even as possible.
- Refrigerate mold for 10-15 minutes.
- When ready to remove the chocolate sphere from mold, carefully open mold and gently loosen the chocolate mold using fingertips. Using a blowtorch, or by placing on baking sheet in the oven, heat a metal ring cutter and place sphere on top of cutter to melt hole in the bottom.
- Using large fluffy paint brush, brush chocolate sphere with gold luster dust.
Pistachio cake - base:
- Butter and parchment line 20x10 centimeter loaf pan.
- Beat yolks, sugar, and vanilla.
- Add pistachio paste and melted butter.
Pistachio cake - meringue:
- In a clean mixing bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Then, raise speed and add sugar until stiff peaks form.
- Fold cake base mixture into meringue.
- Sift together all-purpose and cake flours. Mix with almond flour and salt. Fold into cake mixture.
- Pour combined mixture into prepared loaf pan. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until a cake tester (placed in the centre of the cake) comes out clean. Let cool completely.
Sponge toffee:
*Note: Once you add the baking soda to the hot caramel, the mixture will bubble up significantly, so ensure the pot used has high enough sides. A minimum 2-quart pot should work if the sides are approximately 12-15 centimeters high.
- In a medium pot, add honey, all glucose, sugar and water. Gently stir together before adding heat. Do not stir too much to avoid getting mixture up the sides.
- Bring mixture to a boil over high heat. As mixture starts to bubble, resist the urge to stir. Gently swirl if needed.
- Prepare a sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- When the mixture is deep golden brown in colour, hold the pot away from your face and add baking soda. Quickly stir and immediately pour the mixture onto the prepared baking tray to cool.
- Once completely cool, break into pieces.
Figs:
- Place figs cut side up on a baking sheet. Sprinkle cut halves of figs with sugar.
- Place baking sheet under broiler until sugar is caramelized.
- Remove from oven and let cool.
Caramel sauce:
- To a large shallow pot or pan, add sugar and water. Do not stir. Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. Resist the urge to stir any more than absolutely necessary. A gentle swirl can help bring the mixture together without risking crystallization.
- When the caramel is a deep gold brown, hold pan away from your face and add cream. Stir.
- Stir in salt and butter.
To assemble dessert:
- Place a small square of pistachio cake on a plate, ensuring it fits inside the hole cut in the sphere. Place three fig halves, cut side out, on top of the piece of cake.
- Gently place chocolate sphere over dessert.
- Break pieces of sponge toffee and decorate around outside of the sphere.
- When ready to serve, the caramel sauce should be bubbling hot. Pour hot caramel sauce over the sphere to melt the chocolate and reveal the dessert.
