Today we’re going to make the last course. The dessert or like we Dutchies like to say, toetje! It’s going to be a chocolate Christmas ball filled with a banana cream and then we’re going to finish it of with a delicious hot caramel sauce.
The sticky date cake
Ingredients
- 170 g cleaned dates
- 300 g water
- 60 g butter
- 3 g salt
- 150 g flour
- 200 g sugar
- 10 g baking powder
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Transfer the dates into a saucepan together with the water, the butter and the salt. Now bring it to a boil and once it’s boiling turn of the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Then puree it with a hand blender. After that mix the flour with the sugar, the baking powder, the eggs and the date puree. Then mix it till smooth.
- Now pour it into a baking tin and bake it at 170 °C for 40 minutes.
- Then cover it with a plate and let it rest in your fridge for at least 6 hours.
- After that take the cake out of the tin and cut it into big cubes.
The vanilla snow
Ingredients
- 100 g white chocolate 28%
- 200 g sugar
- 40 g water
- 1 vanilla pod
- white fat-soluble coloring powder
Instructions
- Pour the white chocolate into a bowl and melt it.
- Meanwhile mix the sugar with the water. Then cut the vanilla pod in half and scrap out the seeds. Keep the empty pod for later.
- Now add the seeds to the saucepan and heat it up till it’s 135 °C.
- Then take your melted chocolate and add a touch of the white fat-soluble coloring powder. Mix this.
- Now while stirring slowly add the hot sugar syrup and keep on mixing it until a fine crumble starts to form.
- Then transfer it into a blender and spin it into a fine powder. Keep it dry and covered for later.
The banana cream
Ingredients
- 200 g cream 35% fat
- 60 g sugar
- 100 g cleaned banana
- 100 g egg yolk
- 25 g corn starch
- 1 empty vanilla pod
- 100 g white chocolate 28%
Instructions
- First pour the cream into a saucepan together with the sugar and the cleaned banana. Blend it till smooth.
- Then add the egg yolk, the corn starch and the empty vanilla pod we just used for the vanilla snow. Now while stirring cook it to the desired thickness.
- Then add the white chocolate and mix this.
- Now put it through a sieve, cover it with plastic foil and let it set in your fridge.
- After that give it a good mix with a whisk. Then put it in a piping bag and keep it in your fridge for later.
The caramel sauce
Ingredients
- 150 g sugar
- 60 g water
- 200 g cream 35% fat
- 3 g salt
Instructions
- Pour the sugar into a saucepan together with the water and caramelize this on a medium heat.
- Meanwhile mix the cream with the salt and bring this to a boil.
- Once the caramel is nice and golden slowly add the hot cream mixture to the caramel. Then pour it into a bowl, cover it with plastic foil and keep it in your fridge for later.
The chocolate Christmas ball
Instructions
- Take some melted chocolate that’s 45 °C and add some chocolate nips to cool the chocolate down till it’s 31 °C. This process is called tempering.
- Once the chocolate is done pour it into a mold. Tap the mold a couple of times to remove any air bubbles. Now turn it around and tap the side a couple of times to remove any excess chocolate.
- Clean the edges with a pallet knife and let it set upside down for at least 1 hour.
- Once there set take them out of the mold and transfer half of them on a tray.
- Fill it with the date cake and the banana cream. Now take some tempered chocolate and use it to attach a ribbon. Then heat up a metal tray with a blow torch or some hot water and melt the sides of the other chocolate bowls. Stick it to the filled ones.
- Make sure that the sides are closed and then let them set in your fridge for 30 minutes.
The chocolate glaze
Ingredients
- 200 g cacao butter
- 200 g white chocolate 28%
- fat-soluble coloring powder
Instructions
- Pour the cacao butter into a saucepan and melt in on a low heat. Once melted add the white chocolate and some fat-soluble coloring powder. Mix this.
- Then pour it into a measuring cub and mix it once more but this time with a hand blender.
- Now take the chocolate ball and submerge it completely in the glaze. Let it drip for a couple of seconds and then keep it in your fridge for later.
How to finish the dish
Instructions
- First pipe a circle of the banana cream on a plate and cover it with the vanilla snow.
- Now put the Christmas ball on top and finish it off with caramel sauce that I’ve heat for 45 seconds in a microwave. It may look messy, but it was so delicious!
