Cherry Blossom Mousse

Black Sesame Sablé, Pickled Cherries, White Chocolate-Brown Butter Crumble, Labneh Sorbet, Black Sesame Tuile

Pastry Chef Monica Glass of Constellation Catering | Philadelphia
Yield: 85 servings

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Adapted by StarChefs | April 2019

INGREDIENTS:

Cherry Blossom Mousse:
300 grams TCHO white chocolate 
635 grams heavy cream 
135 grams milk 
5 grams loose cherry blossom tea
5 grams vanilla paste 
30 grams sugar
100 grams pasteurized egg yolks
7 grams sheet gelatin 
100 grams cherry purée
75 grams labneh 
3 grams salt 

Black Sesame Sablé:
125 grams black sesame seeds
125 grams tapioca starch 
95 grams demerara sugar 
75 grams powdered sugar 
4 grams salt
225 grams butter, cold and cubed
80 grams brown butter, melted 

Chocolate Spray:
250 grams 70 percent TCHO dark chocolate 
250 grams cocoa butter 

Pickled Cherries: 
Cherries, pits removed and quartered 
250 grams rice wine vinegar 
250 grams water
400 grams sugar
½ vanilla beans
10 grams mustard seeds
3 strips lemon peel 
1 cinnamon stick 
1 gram salt 
1 bay leaf

White Chocolate-Brown Butter Crumble:
150 grams white chocolate
120 grams dried milk powder
80 grams all-purpose flour 
24 grams cornstarch 
50 grams sugar
3 grams salt
112 grams butter

Labneh Sorbet: 
450 grams sugar
12 grams stabilizer
150 grams glucose powder
900 grams labneh
60 grams lemon juice
Salt 

Black Sesame Tuile:  
200 grams glucose syrup
200 grams fondant
200 grams isomalt 
2 grams salt 
50 grams black sesame paste
Nonstick spray 

To Assemble and Serve:
Maldon sea salt

METHOD:

For the Cherry Blossom Mousse: 
Place white chocolate into a bowl and reserve. In a saucepan on medium-high heat, combine 135 grams cream, milk, tea, vanilla, and sugar. Bring to a boil and, while whisking constantly, stream yolks into the cream mixture. Cook to nappe. Add gelatin to dissolve. Strain through a chinois over the white chocolate. Whisk to combine. Whisk in cherry purée and labneh. Softly whip remaining cream and fold into mousse. Season with salt. Transfer to a pastry bag and pipe into  fleximolds. 

For the Black Sesame Sablé: 
Heat oven to 300°F. In a food processor, combine sesame and tapioca and process to a fine powder. Add Demerara, powdered sugar, salt, and cold butter; process until crumbly dough forms. Transfer dough to a parchment-lined sheet tray and bake until crispy. Remove from oven, cool to room temperature, break apart, and grind in a food processor. Transfer crumbs to a Vitamix blender. Slowly add melted browned butter to form a liquid. Onto an acetate-lined sheet tray, pour liquid sablé into a flat, even layer; freeze.When frozen, using a ring cutter sized to fit on top of Cherry Blossom Mousse, cut circles. Place sablé onto the Cherry Blossom Mousse and freeze.

For the Chocolate Spray: 
Unmold frozen Cherry Blossom Mousse. In a double boiler, combine and melt chocolate and cocoa butter. Transfer mixture to a spray gun, and spray to cover mousse. Return mousse to freezer. 

For the Pickled Cherries: 
Place cherries in a nonreactive container. In a saucepan on medium heat, combine remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and infuse to desired depth of flavor.   While warm, pour over cherries. 

For the White Chocolate-Brown Butter Crumble: 
Heat oven to 275°F. Into a half hotel pan, place white chocolate and cook until caramelized, stirring every 5 minutes. Set aside, keeping warm. Remove from oven and increase heat to 325°F. In a bowl, whisk to combine 40 grams dried milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. In a sauce pot on medium heat, melt butter and whisk in 40 grams dried milk powder; cook until caramelized. Pour milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Onto a parchment-lined sheet tray, spread batter and toast 10 minutes to eliminate the raw flour flavor. Remove batter from oven and, in a bowl, combine 40 grams dried milk powder and warm caramelized white chocolate. Transfer to a sheet tray to cool to room temperature. When cool, crumble. 

For the Labneh Sorbet: 
In a bowl, combine 150 grams sugar with stabilizer. Set aside. Into a pot on high flame, pour 1.2 kilograms water and heat to 120°F. Whisk in sugar-stabilizer mixture into the water, followed by 300 grams sugar and glucose powder. Return to a boil, holding for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Cool and let syrup mature at least 4 hours. In a Vitamix Blender, blend to combine syrup, labneh, lemon juice, and salt. Process in batch freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions. 

For the Black Sesame Tuile:  
Heat oven to 325°F. In a medium saucepan on medium-high heat, combine glucose syrup, fondant, isomalt, and salt; cook to 320°F without imparting any color. Immediately whisk in black sesame paste and then pour onto a sheet tray lined with a silicone mat. Cool completely. Break into pieces. Process first in a food processor, and then in a spice grinder to a fine powder. Prepare a sheet tray with a silicone mat sprayed with nonstick spray. Using a small sieve, evenly sift tuile mixture over mat in an even layer. Top with another silicone mat sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake 2 minutes. Remove from oven and flip onto table so it is upside down). Allow to cool slightly and then carefully peel off the top silpat. Pull or break apart pieces, as desired. If needed, reheat very slightly until just pliable. 

To Assemble and Serve: 
Place Cherry Blossom Mousse on a plate. Top with a some White Chocolate-Brown Butter Crumble and Pickled Cherries. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Spoon a small quenelle of Labneh Sorbet on top of the mousse. Nestle a piece of black sesame tuile on top of the sorbet.

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