Lucas rides the tube
MAKES 12
Preparation: begin two days ahead.
You will need
12 small pieces gold leaf, to decorate
VANILLA CHANTILLY
2 g (1/16 oz) gold-strength gelatine leaves
12 g (7/16 oz) cold water
295 g (103/8 oz) pure cream (35% fat)
50 g (1¾ oz) sugar
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Cut the gelatine leaves into small squares, put them in a bowl with the cold water and set aside to soak. Put the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat to 85°C (185°F). Add the gelatine and soaking liquid and stir until dissolved. Pour into a container and cover with plastic wrap, ensuring the plastic is touching the surface. Put it in the refrigerator to cool and set overnight.
The next day, put the chantilly into an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk until firm peaks form. Line twelve 9 cm (3½ inch) long x 2 cm (¾ inch) diameter poly pipe tubes with acetate. Put the vanilla chantilly in a piping (icing) bag (no nozzle is required) and pipe the cream into the tubes until they are full, tapping them gently to get rid of any air bubbles. (If you are having trouble filling them, stand the tubes up in a bowl of sugar.) Put the tubes into the freezer for 3–5 hours to harden, preferably overnight.
PEAR TATIN LAYER
375 g (13 oz) sugar
150 g (5½ oz) unsalted butter
100 g (3½ oz) water
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1 lemon, zest finely grated
5 bosc pears, peeled, sliced on a mandolin
Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Line a baking tray with baking paper and place a 20 cm (8 inch) square cake frame on the tray.
Sprinkle sufficient sugar into a medium saucepan to cover the base. Heat over medium heat to make a dry caramel, adding the remaining sugar in layers until dissolved. Continue cooking until it turns a dark amber colour. Add the butter to deglaze (being careful as the caramel may spit) then add the water, vanilla seeds and lemon zest.
Layer the pears inside the cake frame in neat, even layers, adding small amounts of caramel evenly between the layers. Cook in the oven for 40–60 minutes until the pears appear translucent and have absorbed all the caramel. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
MACADAMIA DACQUOISE
265 g (93/8 oz) eggwhite
75 g (2¾ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
200 g (7 oz) almond meal
45 g (1½ oz) ground macadamia nuts
240 g (8¾ oz) pure icing (confectioners’) sugar, plus extra for dusting
85 g (3 oz) macadamia paste
Preheat the oven to 175°C (345°F). Put the eggwhite and caster sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk on medium speed until firm peaks form and the meringue is glossy and smooth. Combine the almond meal, ground macadamia nuts and icing sugar, then gently fold through the meringue with a rubber spatula, gently, to keep as much air in the meringue as possible. Lastly, add the macadamia paste.
Line two baking trays with baking paper and, using a 20 cm (8 inch) square cake frame, divide the mixture between the trays and spread the meringue evenly within the square frame, using it as a guide to get a perfect square. Remove the frame and repeat with second baking tray and remaining meringue. Dust both meringue squares lightly with icing sugar. Bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden on top and bottom. Allow to cool on the trays for around 12–15 minutes.
MACADAMIA CRUNCH
58 g (21/8 oz) milk couverture chocolate (38%), chopped or buttons
112 g (37/8 oz) Almond Praline, crushed
112 g (37/8 oz) Macadamia Paste
22 g (7/8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 g (1/16 oz) finely grated lemon zest
22 g (7/8 oz) toasted macadamia nut pieces
112 g (37/8 oz) pailleté feuilletine
2 g (1/16 oz) sea salt
Melt the milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water or in a microwave. Add the almond praline and macadamia paste and stir until combined. Add the butter, lemon zest and toasted macadamia, then fold through the pailleté feuilletine and sea salt.
Spread the mixture over 1 sheet of the macadamia dacquoise, once again using the square cake frame as a guide, ensuring the thickness of the crunch is as even as you can get it. Put the assembly in the refrigerator for 1 hour to set.
MACADAMIA PRALINE MOUSSE
6 g (3/16 oz) gold-strength gelatine leaves
36 g (1¼ oz) cold water
95 g (3¼ oz) water, extra
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
30 g (1 oz) sugar
210 g (7½ oz) white couverture chocolate, chopped or buttons
30 g (1 oz) unsalted butter
70 g (2½ oz) macadamia paste
450 g (1 lb) thickened (whipping) cream, whipped
50 g (1¾ oz) macadamia nuts, toasted and chopped
Cut the gelatine leaves into small squares, put them in a bowl with the cold water and set aside to soak. Put the extra water, vanilla seeds and sugar in a small saucepan and heat to 70°C (160°F). Add the gelatine with any soaking liquid and stir to dissolve. Pour the mixture over the white chocolate in a bowl and mix to form a ganache.
Use a hand blender to blend in the butter and macadamia paste until smooth. Set aside to cool to 25°C (77°F). Using a rubber spatula, fold through the whipped cream followed by the toasted macadamia nuts.
WHITE CHOCOLATE SPRAY
350 g (12 oz) cocoa butter
500 g (1 lb 2 oz) white chocolate, chopped or buttons
Make this during the assembly process as indicated below and use immediately. Melt the cocoa butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and pour over the white chocolate in a bowl, then stir until the mixture is melted and smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into the canister of a Wagner airless spray gun and seal with the lid.
TO ASSEMBLE
Working with the cooled pear tatin layer on the baking tray, spread 450 g (1 lb) of the macadamia praline mousse evenly over the pear tatin. Place the plain macadamia dacquoise on top. Put the assembly in the freezer for 10–15 minutes to partially set. Spread another 450 g of the macadamia praline mousse on top and carefully place the dacquoise with the macadamia crunch facing down on top of that. Return the cake to the freezer for 2–3 hours to harden and set completely.
Meanwhile, make the white chocolate spray (above). Find a place in your kitchen where you can stick some plastic garbage bags to the wall, to protect your kitchen from the chocolate spray. Remove the vanilla chantilly tubes from the freezer and remove them from the poly pipes, remove the acetate from the outside and place the tubes on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Place the tray on an upside down bowl or object that raises it from the bench in the area you have lined with garbage bags. Spray the tubes with the chocolate spray, keeping the gun 20 cm (8 inches) away and moving in a side-to-side motion until covered, then repeat to completely coat the tubes. Put the tubes back into the freezer for 5 minutes while you cut the cake.
Remove the cake from the freezer. Turn the cake onto a work surface and use a blowtorch or a warm cloth to remove the square frame from the outside of the cake. Prepare a jug filled with hot water and the biggest chef’s knife you have: keep your knife in the jug and wipe clean before cutting, then trim 0.5 cm (¼ inch) from all sides of the cake to tidy up. Then cut 9 x 3 cm (3½ x 1¼ inch) slabs from the cake: this will yield 12 slabs. Remove the tubes from the freezer and gently place one on top of each of the slabs of cake, using a palette knife, and finish with a piece of gold leaf on one end.