IC A . BE ST D ES SE RT 20 14

Edible Snow Globe Chairman’s Christmas Farewell

Synopsis “A MEMORABLE SEND OFF” was the instruction from our client as we received the brief for the chairlady’s farewell dinner. As this would be her last Christmas with the company the client decided to make this one she would never forget. Set in a winter wonderland, our menu had to capture the emotional essence of Christmas while incorporating sensational tastes bursting with different textures, flavours and smells that bring Christmas to life. We wanted to end the evening off with a huge impact, the proverbial high as it were and thus our Edible Snow Globe was created to do just that!

Concept & Objectives FROM THE OUTSET it was vital that we capture the essence of Christmas with the dessert in such a way that it would not only represent Christmas instantly on visual impact but also encompass all that Christmas is about, stirring real emotion and excitement, bringing fun and indulgence to the table.

“Oh bring us some figgy pudding”

Taken from the second verse of the Christmas Carol, We Wish you a Merry Christmas – “Oh bring us some Figgy Pudding, oh bring us some Figgy Pudding”, we endeavored to create a dessert that would represent what we thought to be Figgy Pudding. Without a doubt a hot pudding would be necessary, especially as the event was set in a Winter Wonderland and it had to be decadent...because that is what Christmas is all about. One such dessert would be sticky toffee pudding, which we altered by substituting half the amount of dates with dried figs. Instead of toffee sauce to soak the pudding we created a slightly lighter sweet butter cream sauce to compliment the flavour of the figs but without adding too much sweetness. A rich crème anglaise was served alongside the dessert to cut through the sweetness and to also allow guest to add to the already indulgent dessert, as if around the dinner table on Christmas day.

Presentation A pudding with crème anglaise is about as bog standard as it gets when it comes to presentation. This was our first challenge. The kitchen team brainstormed tirelessly with different crockery and Christmas props but it was only until we flipped a small glass fish bowl onto a simple dessert bowl that we struck gold! An edible snow globe – that was it! We knew this would be Christmas on a plate. But glass would not do – how could we make this edible, how could we have the guests cracking open their snow globes at the dinner table? Sugar of course! Isomalt to be precise! As excitement overwhelmed the chefs we pondered further as to what would go inside the snow globe and finish off this marvel. Snowmen and gingerbread house topped the endless list and finalized the presentation. It was perfect! It was fun, it was indulgent and it was Christmas!

We created mini snowmen out of fondant icing

... with little scarves hand woven from red and green twine. Mini gingerbread houses were quite a challenge, cutting and baking mini templates of gingerbread and then ‘gluing’ it altogether with royal icing, finishing off with snow capped roofs of silver dragee. A good dusting of icing sugar over the snow globes would finalise the look and allow us to create the feeling that snow globe had just been shaken and that snow was falling inside over the snowman/gingerbread house.

Challenges and Obstacles CHALLENGES THAT WE had to overcome prior to the event firstly included the production of the isomalt globes and then the actual storing and transportation of them. As it was paramount to get the isomalt globes as clear as possible, there was a lot of trial and error in terms of blowing the globes to be as clear as glass.

The temperature of the sugar was integral, as too hot and it would be too soft to shape, too cold and it would become clumpy and cloudy. Moulding whilst blowing the sugar was also tricky as we needed to ensure that perfect domes were formed to properly create our vision – blow too fast and the sugar becomes misshapen, blow too slow and it hardens before achieving the size we required. Once the globes were made we kept them packed in polystyrene containers for protection. Silicone sheets lined the boxes and inbetween the globes so that should any condensation occur they would not stick. We then made use of silica gel placed inside the polystyrene containers to absorb any moisture. Our main tasks during production at the event included the heating of the individual puddings, heating the crème anglaise and then the actual assembling of the snow globe. However simple, our main hurdle was making sure that we did not heat the puddings to the extent that would steam up the isomalt globe once it was placed on the hot pudding, we also had to ensure that the puddings did not dry out on heating and we therefore made use of hot trays as apposed to the convection oven at the venue. This way we could control the heat and allow the butter cream sauce over the pudding to heat steadily throughout the pudding thus keeping the dessert moist throughout and not too hot. We also made use of gloves during assembly so as not to imprint any fingerprints or markings on the snow globes as it was integral that these remained as crystal clear as we could get them to ensure that the overall effect was achieved. We alternated the snowmen and gingerbread houses in the globes to create a festive talking point at the table. The room burst with excitement as the dessert was served and cracks were heard all around the room. Half broken globes were filled with crème anglaise and guests indulged into their luscious desserts. AMAZING!

T H E R E C IP E S

Gingerbread House 500g unsalted butter

400g dark muscovado sugar 200ml golden syrup

1.2kg white flour

4 tsp bicarbonate of soda 8 tsp ground ginger

Method Heat oven to 180C. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger into a large bowl, then stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff dough. Create a template for the size of gingerbread house you require. Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to the thickness of about 3mm. Cut out one of the sections, then slide the gingerbread, still on its baking paper, onto a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels. Bake for 12 minutes or until firm and just a little darker at the edges. Leave to cool completely.

Royal Icing 2 egg whites 500g icing Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a fine nozzle. Pipe generous snakes of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together. Allow to dry. Once dry fix the roof panels on. You may need to hold these on firmly for a few minutes until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely. To decorate, pipe generous amounts of icing on the roof as if to create fallen snow peaks, then sprinkle with little silver dragee.

Fondant Snow Men 7 cups icing sugar, sifted

1 ½ Tbsp glycerin

¼ cup cold water

1 tsp vanilla essence

½ cup glucose syrup

1 Tbsp gelatin powder

Method: Sift the icing sugar in a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a small saucepan, over low heat mix the gelatin and water. Stir till gelatin has dissolved. Do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the glycerin and glucose syrup. Combine well and then add the vanilla essence. Add the gelatin mixture to the icing sugar. Mix till all the icing sugar is well combined. Knead the icing until it is well combined and smooth. To create the snowmen, roll balls of fondant icing to create the body and head of the snowmen. To join the head to the body, use a toothpick pressed halfway into the neck of the snowman and then the other half of the toothpick down into the body. Colour a small part of the dough with orange food colouring for the carrot noses. Mould over toothpicks to create the carrot shape, leaving some of the toothpick revealed to press into the snowman’s face. Use a food safe black marker for the eyes and buttons.

Figgy Pudding (makes 8-10 servings, depending on the size of the ramekins) For the sponge

For the sauce

175g dates, chopped

1 ½ cup cream

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 ½ cup white sugar

175g dried Turkish figs, chopped 100g salted butter pinch salt

250g butter

3/4 cup hot water

150g demerara sugar 150g molasses sugar

4 large free-range eggs 350g self-raising flour 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method Preheat the oven to 180’C. Pour 500ml of boiling water over the chopped figs, dates and vanilla. Stir and set aside until lukewarm. Meanwhile measure out all the other ingredients for the sponge. Add the ingredients and to the fig date mix. Stir until well combined. Then place the mix in a food processor and blend until smooth but a few specks of fig and date are still visible. Generously butter your ramekins on all sides. Fill each ramekin dish until ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the puddings are just firm to the touch. For the sauce, place all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat while stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and butter is melted. Once you have removed the puddings from the oven, generously soak each pudding with the hot sauce, allowing each spoonful to soak completely into the dessert before dousing with another. Continue until the pudding is deliciously moist and filled with the sauce.

Crème Anglaise (serves 8-10) 1 cup cream

1cup full cream milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 1/2 cup white sugar

4 large egg yolks, at room temperature

Method: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, cream and vanilla bean and heat over moderate heat just before boiling point. Remove from heat. In another bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks just until combined. Whisk in half of the hot cream mix in a thin stream into the egg mixture than add back into the saucepan and return to the heat. Stir continuously until sauce thickens, approximately 5 minutes. Immediately pass through a fine mesh sieve and place the bowl in a cold water bath to stop the cooking. Serve right away or gently reheat when required.