Coffee Chocolate Dessert with Lemon Twist
An intricate plated dessert combining coffee ice cream, lemon curd, walnut brownie, candied chocolate, pistachio mousse, and chocolate cream. Requires precision and advance planning across multiple components prepared over two days. Not recommended for beginners but achievable for experienced pastry cooks willing to master each element.
Ingredients
- 0.0 cups heavy cream, whole
- 0.0 cups whole milk, whole
- ⅝ cups sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- ½ tsp vanilla powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ oz Starbucks Caffe Verona coffeeany medium-dark roast coffeeequalneutral
medium-roast coffee bean flavor will vary
- 3 lemon
- 5 ½ tbsp butter
- 2 egg
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 ½ tbsp butter
- 4 oz dark chocolate 82-85%
- 1 ½ cups spelt flour
- ¼ tsp vanilla powder
- ⅝ cups wheat flour
- 1 tsp, baking powder
- 1 ¾ oz walnuts
- 3 ½ oz dark chocolate 72%
- 0.0 cups water
- ½ cups sugar
- 2 oz pistachios
- ⅓ cups sugar
- 0.0 cups water
- 1 ¾ oz pistachio pastealmond butterequalflavortree_nuts-freeadds dairy
different nut profile
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 egg whites
- ⅛ cups flour
- 0.0 cups heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla powder
- fresh lemon balm, for garnish
Instructions
- 1
Two days ahead: grind coffee beans coarsely. Heat cream, milk, salt, 50g sugar, vanilla, and ground coffee to just below boiling point.
- 2
Whisk egg yolks with remaining sugar until pale and fluffy.
- 3
Slowly pour hot cream mixture into egg mixture while whisking constantly until fully combined.
- 4
Return to pot and heat to 85 degrees, stirring constantly.
- 5
Cool completely, transfer to container, refrigerate overnight without straining.
- 6
Next day: strain ice cream base through fine sieve to remove coffee grounds.
- 7
Churn in ice cream machine until creamy, or freeze in container, stirring every hour. Mold when half-frozen if desired.
- 8
For lemon curd: juice all three lemons. Combine with eggs, sugar, and diced butter in pot.
- 9
Heat over low heat, whisking constantly, until sugar and butter melt and mixture thickens to 82 degrees.
- 10
Cool until thick, approximately 2 hours.
- 11
For walnut brownie: melt chocolate and butter, let cool. Preheat oven to 175 degrees.
- 12
Whisk flour, eggs, and vanilla until light and airy.
- 13
Gently fold chocolate mixture into egg mixture with spatula.
- 14
Sift flour and baking powder, fold gently into chocolate mixture.
- 15
Chop walnuts, fold into batter.
- 16
Line 20x7.75" pan with parchment. Pour batter and bake 15-20 minutes until slightly fudgy inside.
- 17
For candied chocolate: finely chop dark chocolate into small pieces. Heat water and sugar to 139 degrees.
- 18
Pour hot sugar syrup over chocolate. Using stand mixer at medium speed then full speed, or hand mixer, beat until chocolate forms small pellets.
- 19
For pistachio paste: blanch 60g pistachios. Boil in large amount of water 1 hour 15 minutes until soft (or 30 minutes in pressure cooker).
- 20
Remove inner skin from cooled nuts if desired for greener color.
- 21
Heat sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Blend pistachios with sugar syrup until smooth and homogeneous.
- 22
For pistachio mousse: whisk 50g pistachio paste with remaining ingredients until smooth.
- 23
Transfer to siphon bottle, charge with 2 cartridges, shake well.
- 24
Dispense into small plastic cups, filling 3/4 full. Make small holes in bottom with fork if desired.
- 25
Microwave at full power 1 minute. Cool completely, cut from cups.
- 26
Dry 20 minutes, store in airtight container.
- 27
For chocolate cream: heat cream, chocolate, and vanilla nearly to boiling.
- 28
Once chocolate melts, remove from heat and whisk until homogeneous.
- 29
Cool to room temperature.
- 30
To plate: place two half-tablespoons lemon curd offset on plate, drag spoon through to create tail.
- 31
Arrange candied chocolate pieces between narrow sections of curd.
- 32
Cut brownie into 3x2 ⅓" rectangle. Fill piping bag with chocolate cream, pipe onto brownie.
- 33
Center brownie on plate.
- 34
Place two quenelles of coffee ice cream on plate.
- 35
Break small pieces of pistachio mousse, scatter on plate.
- 36
Finish with fresh lemon balm.
Tips
Prepare coffee ice cream, lemon curd, and candied chocolate up to one week ahead.
Temperature control is critical; use thermometer for lemon curd (must not exceed 82 degrees) and candied chocolate syrup (139 degrees).
Pistachio mousse requires siphon bottle with N2O cartridges, though pistachio tuile made in conventional oven works as alternative.
Cool lemon curd 2 hours minimum after cooking.
Chocolate cream can be chilled, but remove from refrigerator 2 hours before plating.
Pistachio mousse dries quickly; store in airtight container immediately after microwave cooking and cooling.
Good to Know
Individual components store separately: ice cream in airtight container up to 1 week; lemon curd in refrigerator up to 1 week; brownie in airtight container 3-4 days; candied chocolate in airtight container room temperature several weeks; pistachio mousse in airtight container 1-2 days.
Coffee ice cream, lemon curd, candied chocolate, and pistachio paste can be prepared up to one week in advance. Walnut brownie and chocolate cream can be made the day before or day of plating. Pistachio mousse prepared 1-2 days ahead.
Serve as plated individual dessert. Serves 6. Chocolate cream should be at room temperature. Remove ice cream from freezer 5 minutes before plating.
Common Mistakes
Heating lemon curd above 82 degrees will cause separation.
Not whisking cream mixture slowly into eggs will cause scrambled eggs.
Overmixing mousse batter after folding in dry ingredients will deflate structure.
Pistachio mousse will dry out if not stored in airtight container immediately.
Chocolate cream cooled in refrigerator must be removed 2 hours before plating to reach room temperature.
Substitutions
Nut-Free Alternatives
General Alternatives
medium-roast coffee bean flavor will vary
requires conventional baking instead