Scott Barnard Dessert
Dark chocolate ganache, banana and passion fruit sorbet and cocoa nib tuile
It took eleven months... but I finally got round to making my version.
The following picture is taken from a thread on Scott Barnard's Facebook page. He had just posted details of a dessert cooked by him on Masterchef: The Professionals. My comment at the end was made in January 2016 so when December arrived I thought it was high time I came up with the goods!
Here is a link to Scott's Facebook recipe generosity.
And 'muddy stilettos' (a well-shod blogger who isn't too careful where they step?) has also published a version including the panna cotta which I added to my efforts.
Passion fruit purée and cocoa nibs were ordered from the very useful souschef.co.uk and things began to take shape.
Blitzing that caramel produced an incredibly fine powder and resulted in a lovely thin sheet on melting. I cut these into generous tuiles which, although large, were delicate enough to dissolve in the mouth rather than creating a chewy stickiness.
The sorbet is a stunner. Anything with passion fruit is a winner with me but the addition of banana here makes the whole thing into a heady tropical cocktail (without the alcohol!)
I had doubts about the panna cotta while I was making it. The mix, although sieved, was rather thick even before adding gelatine. I will modify this in future, creating a more fluid mix by doubling the milk content. The friends who I shared this with were very forgiving but it's an element which needs correcting.
The soil is a much-needed combination of texture and bitterness amid all the silky luxury of chocolate and cream.
Among so much competition, the ganache just about managed to survive as the centrepiece. I was really pleased with its texture and richness. They were set in metal rings and it's the first time I've released things from such a mould with a quick flash of a blow torch around the edge. As each cylinder slid perfectly free I had a tiny, foolish notion that I might be able to survive in a professional kitchen.
This was a delight to make. It's not as demanding as some online comments suggest... and my strong suspicion that all would be worth the effort was proved undeniably in the eating.
Scott recently reviewed his year since making it to the finals of 'Masterchef: The Professionals' on his Instagram account. As you can see, he has an exciting 2017 ahead, taking on the duties of cooking as head chef at Crockers -Chef's Table-
I can't guarantee that I'll make it to Potten End straight away but I'm certainly going to make any more recipes which chef sends our way. Good luck, Scott... and thanks for all the delicious inspiration.