Strawberries and Cream with White Chocolate Sponge and Ice Cream

November 7th, 2009

StrawberryCreamMasterChef07

When I saw Katrina Kanetani from Pier walk into the MasterChef kitchen on Wednesday night I was so excited as I knew desserts would be on the menu. Katrina was named Chef of the Year in 2007 and is the head Pastry Chef at the three-hatted restaurant Pier, how could I not be excited to see what creations the celebrity contestants had to choose from.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef24

I thought both desserts Katrina revealed were gorgeous. How could you choose? Being a chocoholic I was obviously eager to get the recipe for the chocolate dessert – a chocolate brulee. But, after saying that, the strawberry, cream, sponge and tuile creation looked marvellous (this was the chosen dessert).

StrawberryCreamMasterChef08

Even better? I actually had most of the ingredients at home (couldn’t find sumac, though). So I had decided, printed the recipe off the day after the show and started planning how I would fit it in on the weekend, without making the whole day full of cooking and dirtying the kitchen, like I tend to do.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef16

So I made the ice cream the night before, chilled the custard on ice and placed it in my ice cream maker. It looked gorgeous (and tasted beautiful). I placed it in the freezer overnight and left it out for 10 minutes or more for it to soften.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef18

Everything on the plate worked fantastically together. It looked amazing too. I couldn’t believe I actually got it quite close to the actual dessert. I had a few problems with the tuile, mainly the fact my baking trays decided to buckle under the heat, causing the tuile mixture to be uneven. Overall I was very happy with my result.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef12

Aren’t my dinner guests tonight going to be happy? 😛

StrawberryCreamMasterChef15

Strawberries and Cream with White Chocolate Sponge and Ice Cream

Recipe by Katrina Kanetani as seen on Celebrity MasterChef 2009

Strawberry Ice-cream
180g strawberries, hulled, halved
360ml cream
5 egg yolks, reserve whites
120g caster sugar

White chocolate sponge cake

135g white coverture chocolate, broken up
125g unsalted butter, softened
5 egg yolks
4 egg whites
90g caster sugar
60g plain flour, sifted

Tuile
50g plain flour
60g caster sugar
35g icing sugar
Pinch salt
4 egg whites
65g butter, melted

Chantilly cream
200ml cream
1 tbs icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla bean extract

Strawberries

3 large strawberries, hulled
2 tsp icing sugar
½ tsp sumac (I left this out as I had none)

To serve
Icing sugar
Sumac (I left this out as I had none)
(Some of the strawberry puree – see method for ice cream)

To make the strawberry ice-cream, puree the strawberries in a small food processor and pass through a sieve. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the puree for serving. Place the cream in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat to just below boiling point. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl. Gradually pour the hot cream into the yolk mixture, while whisking continuously until all the cream is added. Transfer the mixture into a clean medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon (mixture will be about 84°C). Strain custard through a fine sieve and place over a bowl of iced water, whisking until cold.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef26

Stir through the remaining strawberry puree.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef27

Transfer ½ cup of the ice-cream base into a cream canister and charge twice, shaking vigorously after each charge (I didn’t do this part as I wasn’t sure where it should be used for serving, plus I didn’t have the equipment. I placed it all in the ice cream maker.). Refrigerate cream canister until ready to serve. Pour remaining ice-cream base into a chilled ice cream maker and churn for about 20 minutes. Remove from ice cream maker and place in the blast chiller for about 10 minutes or until firm. (I placed mine in the freezer overnight)

StrawberryCreamMasterChef29

To make the white chocolate sponge cake, preheat oven to 160°C fan forced. Grease and line a 4cm deep baking tray (mine was 4.5cm x 21cm x 31cm). Place the chocolate in a glass bowl and place over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon until melted. Transfer to a large bowl and cool. Add the butter to the cooled chocolate and beat until smooth. Stir in egg yolks and mix until well combined.

Using an electric hand beater, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the sugar and continue beating until it forms stiff peaks.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef30

Fold the egg white mixture into the white chocolate and mix well. Gently fold in the flour. Spread the cake onto prepared baking tray until 2cm thick.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef01

Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked (until skewer comes outs clean)(mine took 20-25 minutes). Allow to cool in pan then turn cake onto a board and remove baking paper. Turn cake over, top side up. Cut out a 3cm x 15cm x 15cm triangle. Reserve sponge triange and off-cuts for serving.

StrawberryCreamMasterChef03

To make the tuile, grease and line 2 flat baking trays with baking paper. Sift the flour, sugars and salt into a bowl. Mix in the egg whites and butter. Place in the blast chiller for 10 minutes (I placed it in the freezer for 15 minutes). Spread a thin layer of batter onto one of the prepared trays and bake for 8 minutes (tuile should be set but not browned yet) (I did this at 160C fan forced). Using a sharp knife, cut the tuile, lengthways into 5cm wide strips. Turn onto the second prepared tray, separated slightly and return to oven until golden brown. While still hot, twist the tuiles and allow to cool to your desired shape.

To make the Chantilly cream, place the cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat with an electric beater until soft peaks form; refrigerate.

To prepare the strawberries, slice strawberries into 3mm thick rounds. Place the strawberry slices, sugar and sumac in a bowl and toss to coat all side of the strawberries.

To serve, dust the sponge cake triangle with icing sugar and place in the centre of the serving plate. Place a quinell of Chantilly cream on top of sponge triangle and sprinkle the cream and some of the plate with a little sumac. Rebuild strawberry next to the sponge so bottom becomes the top. Place a small piece of squashed off cut sponge on the plate to stand the ice-cream on. With a warmed spoon, take a quinell of strawberry ice-cream and place it on top of the squashed sponge (squashed sponge should not be visible – it is just use to hold the ice-cream). Dust the tuile with icing sugar and place in the centre of the plate. (I used a piping bag to make the strawberry puree into smallish dots on the plate)

StrawberryCreamMasterChef21

29 Comments

  1. what a fantastic effort! Thats a one good looking dessert. I didnt see the masterchef show, but I dont think I need too! It sounds mouth watering, and from pier I wouldnt expect anything less!

  2. That looks really professional, and I love the shades of pink! You might be able to get sumac at a Middle Eastern supermarket. The only ones I know of in the North are on Penshurst St in Chatswood.

  3. FFichiban says:

    OH soo prooo!! Looks great especially your tuile! Your guests are truly lucky!

  4. Your dessert looks spectacular and I’m sure tastes amazing. Your guests will be thrilled!

  5. Barbara says:

    Good for you- making such a lovely composed dessert! When I see them in cookbooks, I am apt to take one or two parts and just make those. You did a great job- it looks delicate and delicious.

  6. Trissa says:

    You did it! Amazing – what a feat to recreate it! Great great job!

  7. Wow! That looks amazing! Your guests sure are lucky!!

  8. Auntie Liz says:

    Hi Anita,
    I showed your blog to Katharine…she is SO impressed. She asked if you’ve seen the movie “Julie and Julia”. You are in good company if they’ve made a movie about your exploits already.
    Keep up the good work…hope to get an invite to dinner some time…hint, hint!!!
    Love, Auntie Liz

  9. Bravo Anita! What a superb job you’ve done and it looks stunning! How wonderful that you had the ingredients to hand too! 🙂

  10. Rosa says:

    That is one fabulous dessert! So well presented and extremely tempting! Great flavor combo, mmmhhh!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  11. Allison says:

    Just beautiful!

  12. Rilsta says:

    What an awesome job – it looks fabulous! I think you deserve the crown of Masterchef dessert queen! 🙂

  13. Anita, I was glued to the TV when they made this dessert. Looks fabulous. You’ve done an amazing job with your own creation!

  14. Ellie says:

    Awesome effort! Love the combinations and presentation.

  15. You would have made it through to the finals fo’ shizzle! Beautiful!

  16. Mum says:

    This dessert was just fantastic. It would have to rate right at the top along with the triple chocolate trifle!!!! But then I love all your desserts!! Just keep them coming!

  17. Katherine says:

    This just looks amazing. I am always so intimidated by what the contestants on masterchef have to make. This was a very challenging dessert and you did an absolutely brilliant job.

  18. Chef Jenn says:

    Now, THIS looks fantastic… some of the masterchef recipes are a wee bit out there for my taste but this looks like it’s going to taste great. I’m going to pass your site on to a pastry chef friend of mine too!

  19. Cakelaw says:

    How pretty is that! Beautiful job.

  20. Juliana says:

    Oh! What a nice treat! Absolutely gorgeous presentation…very elegant 😉

  21. Leona says:

    wow you done it! I watched this on masterchef last week and it looked amazing!!! Looks really good almost like the real deal

  22. Trisha says:

    Anita – this is amazing! The process looks sooo complicated but you pulled it through! Fantastic everything – the plating, the colours, the flavours and I’m sure the flavours too!

  23. Y says:

    How cool that you tried the recipe out!

  24. Alli says:

    It looks stunning! I’m glad I’m not the only one inspired by Masterchef, the only thing is I am a series behind you in NZ and still watching the one with Poh, Chris, Julie, Justine etc in it! I am in AU this week and got a sneak peek of the Celebrity Masterchef and look forward to seeing them do that dessert in future.

  25. Anula says:

    I have a little ‘something’ for you on my blog 🙂
    http://anulaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-great-first-entry.html
    Cheers!

  26. Beautiful dessert, and these are my favorite flavors for sweets! The white chocolate sponge sounds divine, and the strawberry ice cream looks delicious.

  27. sophia says:

    No, I do not think your guests will be happy…I think they will be in ECSTASY! Wow! Can I invite myself?!

  28. What a beautiful desert you’ve created. The strawberry ice cream looks dreamy and the white chocolate sponge is perfect. Spectacular work!

  29. Parita says:

    I have no words….simply divine!

Leave a Comment