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this was a recent experiment/fascination with chocolate crème brulee. i just wanted to play around with a familiar idea.
all three variations were based on a milk chocolate creameux. the first used a quenelle of custard, in the second the cream was piped and the third it was molded into a sphere.
the first two were pretty much the same just different platting. the third added smoked ice cream
caramel jelly was used in all three as well as caramelized sugar. the first two used caramel flakes made by grinding up caramel into a powder, then dusting a silpat with the powder and melting it in the oven. the result is a very delicate flake that can be shaped however you like. the third used caramelized sugar to encapsulate the cream. this was kinda funny. typically i would use isomalt for this technique but because i wanted a greater caramel flavor i used caramelized sugar. if you have ever tried to blow or stretch pure caramelized sugar you may have noticed that the caramel is not very elastic and sets/cracks very easily. so this took me down the path of caramelizing sugar deglazing with water and glucose and cooking to the appropriate temperature for pulled sugar. this worked great and allowed me to encapsulate the sphere very well. the catch was that because the sugar was pulled so thin it was still clear. the thin sugar also did not carry the flavor i would have liked. the final issue was that the pure sugar melted pretty quickly from the moisture in the cream. the lesson learned, just stick with isomalt and maybe crust the cream with the powder caramel first. you could do a blend of caramel and isomalt but if the flavor is not coming through with the pure sugar it will not come through with the blend either.
the first two variations also used chocolate crumble and caramelized hazelnuts. the third replaced these with smoked ice cream.
it was a fun experiment and maybe something i will play with more but all versions fell a little short of what i was looking for. the guests that tasted them enjoyed them very much so i guess it was a success. it will be fun to see if this idea goes any further.
