Sam Hardinge – Sangoma
INGREDIENTS:
For the rhubarb: | For the caramel: | Extra bits: |
4 sticks rhubarb | 200g castor sugar | The best chocolate gelato you can get yours hands on! |
Stick cinnamon | 10g butter | 200g roasted hazelnuts with skin on |
Tbsp. brown sugar | Tsp salt | Packet mix chocolate mousse (this helps to dry out the crisps better!) |
30g butter |
METHOD:
1. Place sugar in a small saucepan and wet with cold water so as it resembles wet sand. Place on the stove and bring to a gentle simmer, add salt. Now with this caramel I prefer to take it pretty far so it’s a little bitter but it’s purely up to personal preference. The lighter the caramel the sweeter the caramel will be.
2. Once you have reached the desired level of colour remove from the heat and add the butter, swirling the pan to incorporate the butter and then set aside to cool.
3. Make the mousse as per packet instructions – if you can’t find choc mint, chocolate with added mint essence or extract will do.
4. Once the mousse is made, spread onto baking paper on a tray or plate. Place the mouse into a dehydrator or into an oven at around fifty degrees celsius overnight – so best to do a day in advance. The great thing about this being dehydrated is it will keep crisp in tupperware, in a cool dry place.
5. Wash and cut the rhubarb into even lengths and lay onto a baking tray, brush the rhubarb with butter that you have melted and sprinkle well with brown sugar. Break apart cinnamon with your hands and place over the rhubarb, bake at 160 degrees until tender. Over cooking the rhubarb will cause it to lose its colour.
6. Once cooled, blend into a puree, you can choose to strain it if you wish but I prefer the texture.
7. Take the roast hazelnuts and blitz them in a food processor until very fine, a mortar and pestle will work just fine also, set aside.
ASSEMBLY: – the fun part!
1. Take your caramel and see if you can take a table spoon and ball it into your hand, if not, you may need to refrigerate it for a longer period of time.
2. After you have a ball of the salted caramel (slightly smaller than a golf ball) place them on baking paper on a tray in the freezer for at least ten minutes to ensure they get quite firm.
3. Now working very quickly you will take the salted caramel ball and scoop gelato onto your hands and work the gelato around the caramel so as to form a thick layer around it , much like the skin on an orange only a lot better tasting (and with clean hands of course). Then straight back into the freezer so the gelato doesn’t melt.
4. After the gelato has set its roughly the same step again but this time just roll the ball in the blitzed up hazelnuts and then back into the freezer.
TO SERVE:
1. Place two table spoons of the rhubarb into a small bowl and then the gelato ball shortly followed by two wedges of the broken mouse crisp stuck into the top of the ball much like a butter fly.
2. Serve and let your guest be astonished at your remarkable dessert!
– Sam Hardinge, Head Chef at Sangoma Restaurant