World Chocolate Day: Celebrity Chef Sarah Todd Shares Her Favourite Chocolate Recipes
It’s World Chocolate Day and it’s officially time to celebrate and indulge in the delicious and rich treat because, why not?
Whether it’s helping you get over the blues or being the go-to gift to let someone know you’re thinking about them, chocolate is the one-stop answer for all. While you can just gorge on the nearest chocolate bar you can find to commemorate the special day, you can also try your hand at creating something a little bit more complex to truly showcase the wonderfulness of chocolate in all its forms.
Thankfully, celebrity chef, cookbook author, and former MasterChef contestant Sarah Todd is here to help us do just that. Todd became a household name around the country when she presented her aaloo gobhi to the judges‘ panel during her run in the MasterChef Australia kitchen back in 2014. Since then, the chef has slowly and steadily taken over the culinary world with her restaurants, cookbooks, TV shows, and more. So without further ado, here are Todd’s favourite dessert recipes that champion chocolate so that you can enjoy chocolate in the best way possible…
Chef Sarah Todd’s Dessert Recipes For World Chocolate Day
Black Forest Trifle
Black Forest Trifle
Ingredients
1kg Sweet Black Cherries
100g Sugar
1 Vanilla Pod
1 Cup Water
1 Cinnamon Stick, broken in 2
Half Cup Kirsch
4 Whole Cloves
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
50g White Chocolate (melted)
200ml Whipping Cream (whipped)
2 tsp Kirsch
250g Chocolate Sponge, pre-made
75g Chocolate
300g Chocolate Custard
150g Cherry Compote
Method
1. Using a sharp knife or a cherry pitter, pit the cherries, Discard stalks, and pits. Sprinkle sugar over the prepared cherries; gently stir and cover and leave overnight in a cool place. Next day, strain the cherries and set aside, keeping the juices.
2. Add juices into a saucepan, add spices, and bring to a boil. Spoon cherries into the sterilised preserving jar. Take the saucepan off the heat and leave for a few minutes before straining the juices through a fine-meshed sieve. Discard the spices.
3. Add 1 cup water and a half cup of Kirsch to the juices, stir well and pour over the cherries. Ensure cherries are totally covered by adding more Kirsch if required. Store in a cool, dark place.
4. Arrange the trifle, and sponge on the bottom, and pour over some of the cherry liquid. Layer the rest of the ingredients. Make all components the day before and a few hours before the guests arrive. And finally, assemble the trifle.
Chocolate Panna Cotta
Vegan Chocolate and Coffee Panna Cotta
Ingredients
200ml Milk
200ml Fresh Cream
200g Dark Chocolate
3 tbsp Sugar
1 Cup Of Espresso
2 Sheets Of Gelatin
To serve: blackberries, chocolate shards, crushed hazelnuts
Method
1. Steep gelatin.
2. In a pot, add milk, cream and sugar and bring to a simmer. Next, pour over chocolate and add coffee and gelatin.
3. Strain and pour into panna cotta moulds. Allow it to set in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.
4. Remove from the mould by dipping the mould into warm water for 15 seconds and serve with blackberries, chocolate shards and hazelnuts.
Shattered Rose
Shattered Rose
Ingredients
Lychee Panna Cotta Insert
200g Lychee Purée
67g Whipping Cream
5g Gelatin
Raspberries
Soaked Basil Seeds
Raspberry Mousse
352g Callebaut Chocolate
38g Eggs
30g Egg Yolk
74g Caster Sugar
10g Gelatin
180g Raspberry Purée
215g Whipping Cream, whipped to soft peaks
Raspberry And Lychee Ice Cream
135g Raspberry Purée
135g Lychee Purée
135g Whole Milk
135g Whipping Cream
25g Ice Cream Stabiliser
13g Glycerin or Corn Syrup
108g Egg Yolk
27g Caster Sugar
1g Rosewater
Maple Vermecelli
50g Butter
50g Maple Syrup
100g Kataifi or Vermicelli
20g Maple Sugar or Brown Sugar
Velvet Spray
60% White Chocolate
40% Cocoa Butter
Red Food Colouring
Method
To make the Lychee Panna Cotta
1. Place lychee purée in a pan with whipping cream, bring to the boil then remove from heat.
2. Steep gelatin in cold water, strain, and stir through hot lychee mixture until dissolved. Cool to blood temperature then pipe 15g into each silicone mini mould. Divide raspberries and soaked basil seeds evenly between each and place in the freezer to set.
3. When ready, de-mould and lay onto a tray lined with silicone paper. Refrigerate until required
To make the Raspberry Mousse
1. Melt chocolate in microwave, stirring every minute until melted.
2. Place whole eggs and yolks into a food mixer with a whisk attachment and whisk on a slow speed.
3. In a clean saucepan, cook the sugar to 121°C. When the sugar reaches 105˚C, increase the speed of the mixer to medium-high. Once it reaches 121˚C, slowly pour hot sugar over the whisking eggs and continue to whisk until they reach 40°C and are light and fluffy.
4. Soften the gelatin in cold water and warm the raspberry purée in a small saucepan until hot, but not boiling. Strain the water from the gelatin and dissolve in the hot purée.
5. Allow the purée to cool slightly then add to the egg mixture to make a pâte à bombe. Lastly, fold in the semi-whipped cream and place directly into a large piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle.
6. To assemble, place the dome silicone moulds onto a tray and spray lightly with vegetable cooking spray. Fill the mould 2/3 full with raspberry mousse and tap tray 3-4 times on work surface to remove air bubbles.
To make the Ice Cream
1. Put the raspberry purée in a pan and reduce on a low heat until you are left with 40g. Remove from heat, allow to cool.
2. Put lychee purée, milk, cream, stabiliser and glycerine in a pan and bring to boil. Whisk egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.
3. Pour a small amount of boiling lychee liquid over yolks while whisking to temper yolks. Add contents of the bowl back to the pan to incorporate with the remaining lychee liquid.
4. Cook over moderate heat to form a crème anglaise, stirring continuously until the mixture reaches 83˚C.
5. Pass crème anglaise through a fine chinois and chill rapidly in a blast chiller. Churn in an ice cream maker. When almost set, ripple through the raspberry purée and place in the freezer to set.
6. While the ice cream is churning, make the vermicelli. Preheat the oven to 160˚C, line a tray with a slip mat, and melt butter and maple syrup. Make 10g bundles of kataifi and drizzle and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until golden for 10 minutes.
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