Chocolate Christmas ball dessert

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

170 grams	cleaned dates
300 grams	water
60 grams	butter
3 grams	salt
150 grams	flour
200 grams	sugar
10 grams	baking powder
2	eggs

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 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. Then cover it with a plate and let it rest in your fridge for at least 6 hours. Now take the cake out of the tin and cut it into big cubes.

The vanilla snow

100 grams	white chocolate
200 grams	sugar
40 grams	water
1	vanilla pod
	white fat-soluble coloring powder

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 degrees Celsius. 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

200 grams	cream
60 grams	sugar
100 grams	cleaned banana
100 grams	egg yolk
25 grams	corn starch
1	empty vanilla pod
100 grams	white chocolate

First pour the cream into a saucepan together with the sugar and the cleaned banana. Puree this with a hand blender. 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

150 grams	sugar
60 grams	water
200 grams	cream
3 grams	salt

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

Take some melted chocolate that’s 45 degrees Celsius and add some chocolate nips to cool the chocolate down till it’s 31 degrees Celsius. 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

200 grams	cacao butter
200 grams	white chocolate
	fat-soluble coloring powder

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

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!