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Lemon, Lime and Bitters
Recipe by George Calombaris
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Lemon Cloud
Lime Cloud
White Chocolate Domes
Lemon, Lime and Bitters Curd
Assembly
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Steps
- To make the Lemon Cloud, place the gelatine leaves into a small bowl with ice water to rehydrate and set aside.
- Place the lemon juice, sugar, 50 mls water and enough food colouring to make it a lime green colour, in a saucepan and place over low heat. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 80C.
- Squeeze the rehydrated gelatine to remove excess moisture and add to the lemon mixture. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to stand 1 minute, mix well. Pass the lemon mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. Transfer the mixture to the ISI canister and set aside in a bowl of ice water until the jelly is just starting to set.
- To make the Lime Cloud, place the gelatine leaves into a small bowl with ice water to rehydrate and set aside.
- Place the lime juice, sugar, 50 mls water and enough food colouring to make it a lemon yellow colour, in a saucepan and place over low heat. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally, until the mixture reaches 80C.
- Squeeze the rehydrated gelatine to remove excess moisture and add to the lime mixture. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to stand 1 minute, mix well. Pass the lime mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. Transfer the mixture to the ISI canister and set aside in the ice bath until the jelly is just starting to set.
- Meanwhile, while the jellies are setting, make the white chocolate domes. Place the chocolate and the cocoa butter in a kitchen bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt, stirring with a rubber spatula to ensure the chocolate and the cocoa butter heat evenly. Make sure the chocolate and the cocoa butter do not reach above 40C. Once melted, remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool .
- Once cool enough to use, brush the chocolate into 2 x 7cm diameter moulds and 2 x 4cm diameter moulds, brushing from the centre to the to the rim. Place the moulds into the freezer. Repeat this process about 3 or 4 times until a nice even coverage is formed. Set the finished moulds aside in the freezer until assembly. Set aside the white chocolate mixture in the bowl for further use.
- Once the jellies are just set in ISI cream gun, screw on the tops and charge the ISI cream guns with 2 cream bulbs each. Shake vigorously, until the puree comes out as a fine mousse.
- Fill the 4cm chocolate domes with the Lemon Cloud and the 7cm chocolate domes with the Lime Cloud. Using a palette knife spread the mousse flush with the mould removing any excess mousse. Place the filled domes in the freezer to partially set.
- Then, using a teaspoon, scoop out the centre of one of the 4cm domes and one of the 7cm domes, ensuring the white chocolate dome is not exposed. Place the domes back into the freezer.
- Meanwhile, make the Lemon, Lime and Bitters Curd. Place the gelatine in a small bowl of ice water to rehydrate. Squeeze out excess moisture and set aside.
- Place the sugar, eggs, lime juice and lemon juice into the Thermomix bowl. Set the Thermomix to 90C, speed 7 and set the timer to 8 minutes. Cook until 90C is reached or until the curd is the desired consistency. Scape down the lid and sides of the Thermomix
- With the Thermomix running on speed 3, add the reserved gelatine, bitters and the butter, one piece at a time until encorporated.
- Remove the curd from the Thermomix and pass through a fine sieve into a small bowl. Add the lemon and lime zest and mix well. Place into the blast chiller.
- Once fully chilled, pour the curd into a disposable piping bag. Cut the tip off the narrow end of the piping bag. Remove the domes from the freezer, pipe the curd into the scooped out centres of the mousse in both the large and small domes, spreading the curd evenly and removing any excess curd. Place the moulds back into the freezer for a further 10 minutes.
- Return the bowl containing the reserved melted white chocolate and cocoa butter to the top of a saucepan of simmering water to remelt, again not exceeding 40 C.
- Preheat an oven to 140C
- Place silicone donut mat upside down on a tray and set aside
- Remove the moulds from the freezer, and turn out moulds by gently pressing.
- Place a small metal tray into an oven and leave it there for several minutes to heat. Remove the tray from the oven, lightly rest the open sides of both matching domes on the tray for just 1 second, remove them from the tray and immediately place them together forming a sphere.
- With a pastry brush spread some of the melted white chocolate over the join, and roughly over the entire sphere. Once finished place the sphere onto the prepared silicone mat on the tray and place in the blast chiller.
- Repeat this process with the other sphere.
- Shake the cans of the velvet sprays for several minutes, spray the spray into a sink to ensure they are spraying at full colour, set aside.
- Remove the spheres from the blast chiller. Evenly spray the large sphere with the lemon yellow spray and the small sphere with the lime green spray, and leave on the bench to defrost.
- Set aside 2 stalks including leaves.
- Prepare and arrange the supplied wooden box with the citrus leaves, stalks and flowers, and the cumquat fruit.
- Arrange the lemon and the lime in the box. Handle the lemon and lime as little as possible as the spray will melt where you touch it.
- Carefully dip the end of the 2 reserved stalks into the remainder of the white chocolate cocoa butter mix and place them onto the lemon and the lime, finally making the two spheres look like novelty fruits.
- Serve with a spray of the Bitter Essence Vaporiser.
Notes
Speciality moulds used and the Velvet Spray coloured chocolate spray were sourced from Creative Ingredients in Melbourne. www.creativeingredients.com.au
