Chocolate Stout Cake

Roasted Quince Purée, Quince-Vanilla Gelato, Jerez Vinegar Gastrique, Jerez Vinegar Tuile, Almond Namelaka

Pastry Chef Tara Lewis of Tusk | Portland, OR

“For this dessert, I wanted to highlight the nutty raisin flavor of the Jerez Vinegar PDO. To accentuate the profile, I paired charred, warming spice blends and malty, dark beer. Spanish Marcona almonds help lighten the heavy flavors, and the addition of quince adds a pop of lovely, late fall fruitiness.” - Pastry Chef Tara Lewis

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Adapted by StarChefs | december 2023

INGREDIENTS

Chocolate Stout Cake:
160 grams melted butter
237 grams stout beer (I prefer Urban Roots Chocolate Moustache)
400 grams sugar
65 grams cocoa powder
230 grams crème fraîche
2 eggs
13 grams vanilla extract
250 grams all-purpose flour
12 grams baking soda

Almond Namelaka:
250 grams Marcona almonds
300 grams whole milk
15 grams glucose syrup
5 sheets silver gelatin
510 grams forty-percent milk chocolate
600 grams heavy cream

Roasted Quince Purée:
8 grams cloves
4 cinnamon sticks, charred
6 grams allspice
2 vanilla beans
1 orange peel
1 kilogram quince, peeled and cored
4 kilograms sugar

Quince-Vanilla Gelato:
120 grams vanilla extract
120 grams cornstarch
2.48 kilograms milk
2.4 kilograms heavy cream
1.2 kilograms sugar
600 grams glucose syrup
10 grams vanilla paste

Jerez Vinegar Tuile:
250 grams Jerez Vinegar PDO
175 grams sugar
48 grams cornstarch
Silica gel

Jerez Vinegar Gastrique:
500 grams Jerez Vinegar PDO
700 grams sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

To Assemble and Serve:
Marcona almonds, roasted and chopped
Maldon salt

METHOD

For the Chocolate Stout Cake:
Heat oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together butter and stout. Once combined, whisk in sugar and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together crème fraîche, eggs, and vanilla. Fold stout mixture into the egg mixture, then add remaining ingredients. Line a 9-inch springform pan with greased parchment paper. Pour batter into the pan and bake 45 minutes. Let cool.

For the Almond Namelaka:
Heat oven to 300°F. Place almonds on a sheet tray and toast in oven until lightly golden and fragrant. Once toasted, transfer to a food processor and pulse until nuts release their natural oil and a paste-like consistency is achieved. Set aside. In a bowl, bloom gelatin in ice water. Set aside. Place chocolate in a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring milk and glucose to a quick boil. Whisk in bloomed gelatin, then pour mixture over chocolate. Use an immersion blender, blend mixture until smooth. Add cream and reserved almond paste, then blend until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

For the Roasted Quince Purée:
Heat oven to 325°F. In a sachet, combine all spices, vanilla, and orange peel. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, toss quince in sugar, then transfer to a 6-inch hotel pan. Add spice sachet and submerge in 4 kilograms water. Cover pan with aluminum foil and roast 3 hours. Once quince has turned a vibrant pink color, remove from syrup and transfer to a blender. Purée until smooth. Strain through a chinois, transfer to a piping bag, and refrigerate.

For the Quince-Vanilla Gelato:
In a bowl, whisk together 80 grams milk, vanilla extract, and cornstarch. Set aside. In a medium rondeau over medium heat, bring 2.4 kilograms milk, cream, sugar, glucose, and vanilla paste to a boil. Temper cornstarch mixture with the boiling milk, then add to the rondeau. Continue to cook until the mixture reaches 175°F. Strain through a chinois and let cool completely over an ice bath. Once cooled, transfer base to an ice cream machine. Process according to manufacturer's instructions, then ribbon 765 grams Roasted Quince Purée into the freshly spun gelato. Freeze overnight.

For the Jerez Vinegar Tuile:
Heat a dehydrator to 140°F. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, and 250 grams water to a boil, whisking constantly. Transfer to a quart container, then carefully spread a thin, even layer of the mixture onto canola-oil sprayed acetate squares. Dehydrate overnight. The next day, remove from dehydrator and let cool. Flip tuiles, so the acetate is facing up, and starting from the corner, gently peel off the acetate. Break tuiles into 4-inch shards. Store in an airtight container with silica gel.

For the Jerez Vinegar Gastrique:
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring all ingredients and 500 grams water to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until a syrup-like consistency is achieved. Remove and discard vanilla pod. Let cool.

To Assemble and Serve:
Cut Chocolate Stout Cake into 12 equal slices. Set aside. Place 1 20-gram dollop Roasted Quince Purée onto the center of a serving plate. Using a small offset spatula, spread Roasted Quince Pureé across the plate. Top with 1 slice Chocolate Stout Cake, followed by a quenelle Almond Namelaka, with the quenelle facing 1 o’clock. Press the back of a spoon into the quenelle to make a well. Pipe Jerez Vinegar Gastrique into the well. Top quenelle with 1 shard Jerez Vinegar Tuile. Finish with a small pile of chopped almonds at 4 o’clock, then flatten. Place 1 scoop Quince-Vanilla Gelato. Finish with a sprinkle of sea salt.

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