BANANA SPLIT
Serves 6
Ben Roche went a little wild with this one. This crazy-looking noodle looks nothing like a banana split, but when you serve it with plastic pipettes filled with chocolate sauce, cherry sauce, and warm caramel, it tastes just like the real thing. The noodle is created by piping frozen banana mousse into a dewar filled with liquid nitrogen. The mousse freezes into chaotic, Jackson Pollock-esque shapes that form the basis for this artistic dessert. The pipettes in which we serve the sauces (which are typically used in chemistry and medicine for transferring liquids) were first ushered into the culinary world by Ferran Adrià. I love playing with them because they remind me of the little squeezy tubes that frozen popsicles come in. Here, the sauces can be different temperatures, and your guests can have fun squeezing them onto the noodle before enjoying their dessert.
BANANA MOUSSE:
1 sheet silver gelatin (see Sources, here)
225 grams heavy cream
200 grams bananas, chopped
25 grams fresh lemon juice
16 grams water
CARAMEL SAUCE:
50 grams sugar
25 grams water
15 grams unsalted butter
200 grams heavy cream
1 gram salt
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
200 grams heavy cream
15 grams unsalted butter
75 grams bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 grams salt
CHERRY SAUCE:
200 grams cherries, divided
TO FINISH:
90 grams whipped cream
42 grams toasted and ground peanuts
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Eighteen 7-ml plastic pipettes
Masticating juicer
Liquid nitrogen (see Sources, here; optional)
Insulated container or dewar (optional)
BANANA MOUSSE:
Put the gelatin in a bowl and cover with cold water. Let the gelatin soak until softened, about 5 minutes, then drain and reserve. Pour the cream into a medium mixing bowl and use a hand mixer or whisk to whip it to medium peaks. Put the bananas and lemon juice in a blender and puree for 30 seconds. Transfer the banana puree to a separate mixing bowl. Put the water in a small saucepot set over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the bloomed gelatin to the water and stir to melt the gelatin. Stir the water and gelatin mixture into the banana puree. Use a rubber spatula to fold the whipped cream into the banana puree in three additions, being careful not to deflate the cream as you blend it into the bananas. Transfer the Banana Mousse to a piping bag and refrigerate until ready to plate.
CARAMEL SAUCE:
Place the sugar and water in a small saucepot set over medium heat. Stir just enough to hydrate all the sugar and then cook, undisturbed, until it begins to caramelize. Once the sugar reaches 300°F, turn off the heat, and add the butter. Let the butter melt completely before adding the heavy cream and salt. Turn the heat to low, and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until all the caramel dissolves. Remove from the heat and let the caramel cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Fill up six 7-ml pipettes with the Caramel Sauce. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
Put the cream and butter in a medium saucepot set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Put the chocolate in a tall, heatproof bowl. Once the cream reaches a boil, turn off the heat and pour the cream over the chocolate. Let sit for 30 seconds to melt the chocolate, and stir with a rubber spatula to make sure that all the chocolate dissolves. Add the salt and stir to blend. Let the Chocolate Sauce cool to room temperature. Fill up six 7-ml pipettes with the Chocolate Sauce. Store the pipettes in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
CHERRY SAUCE:
Wash and pit the cherries. Juice 100 grams of the cherries in a masticating juicer. Put the cherry juice and remaining cherries in a small saucepot set over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the cherries are tender. Transfer the mixture to a blender and puree on high for 1 minute, until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve and let cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Fill up six 7-ml pipettes with the Cherry Sauce and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
TO FINISH:
Put some water in a small pot or double boiler, bring it to a simmer, and then put the caramel pipettes in the warm water for 1 minute to warm up. Cut off the tip of the Banana Mousse piping bag and then pipe a 35-gram noodle into an insulated container or dewar filled with liquid nitrogen. Alternatively, several hours before serving, you can line a sheet pan with parchment paper and pipe six 35-gram squiggly lines on the paper. Freeze the mousse for several hours, until it is frozen solid.
Put 15 grams of whipped cream and 7 grams of ground peanuts in the bottom of each bowl. Remove the banana noodles from the liquid nitrogen or the freezer and place 1 on top of the whipped cream in each bowl. Serve the pipettes of three sauces on the side and tell your guests to have fun saucing their own banana splits.
