Chocolate Cognac Cake, Hazelnut Crumble, Cognac Veil, Ginger Cream Fluid Gel, Chocolate Tuile, and Chocolate-Ginger Crémeux

METHOD:

For the Chocolate Praline Ice Cream:
In a small bowl, combine salt and stabilizer. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate, trimoline, and cocoa powder to make a paste. Bring the whole and skim milks to a boil with Praline Hazelnut Arabeschi and whisk in the salt mixture. Whisk the hot milk mixture into the chocolate mixture. Set the base over an ice bath. Once cool, pour into a blender, purée, and strain. Spin in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

For the Chocolate Cognac Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking sode. Add the salt. Make a well in the flour mixture and mix in the eggs, oil, buttermilk, Cognac, and vanilla extract. Combine with a whisk and pipe into sprayed molds. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

For the Hazelnut Crumble:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, sugar, hazelnut flour, salt, vanilla extract, and cold butter. Paddle just until dough comes together. Crumble onto a silicone-lined sheet tray. Bake, mixing occasionally, until golden brown. Remove from oven and cook. Once cold, grind in a food processor. Transfer into a bowl and mix in the sugar and tapioca maltodextrin by hand.

For the Cognac Veil:
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and agar agar. Fill a saucpot with the water, and off the heat, whisk the sugar mixture into a pot. Bring the water to a boil and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Pour in the Cognac and bring back to boil. Turn off heat and whisk in the kappa carrageenan. Strain into 2 sprayed and wiped lexan lids.

For the Ginger Cream Fluid Gel:
In a saucepot, bring the milk to a boil. Remove from heat, steep the ginger in the milk for 10 minutes, and strain. Whisk together the sugar, agar agar, and locust bean gum, and then whisk them into the milk mixture. Bring back to boil while stirring. Cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend. Drizzle the egg yolks into vortex. Set over an ice bath to chill. Once cool, blend again and pass through a chinois.

For the Chocolate Tuile:
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small pot, heat glucose and simple syrup to 90°C. Transfer to a blender, and while running, add cocoa powder into the vortex. Use a ladle to push down and blend until combined. Pipe onto a sprayed and wiped silicone baking mat and bake for 2½ minutes. Shape immediately.

For the Chocolate-Ginger Crémeux:
In a saucepot, bring the milk and cream to a boil. Remove from heat and steep the ginger in the milk mixture for 10 minutes. Strain out the ginger and scale out 460 grams of the ginger-infused cream. Bring the scaled cream back to boil. Transfer to a blender and add the iota carrageenan, kappa carrageenan, locust bean gum, egg yolks, and sugar, one by one, in order, into the vortex.  Blend on speed 4 for 2 minutes, then on speed 8 for 5 minutes. Stream in the melted chocolate and blend until combined. Set over an ice bath. Once cool, pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Pass though a chinois.  

For the Whipped Caramel:
Make a caramel with the sugar and water. Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the caramel and combine. Cool slightly before adding the gelatin and stirring to dissolve. Whip to stiff peaks.

To Assemble and Serve:
Plate the Chocolate-Ginger Crémeux, Chocolate Tuile, and Chocolate Cognac Cake. Pipe the Whipped Caramel and Ginger Cream Fluid Gel onto the plate. Plate the Hazelnut Crumble and carefully lower the Cognac Veil onto the plate. Scoop the Chocolate Praline Ice Cream onto the plate.