A special Valentine's Day Dessert
Grouse Mountain's Executive Chef Jack Chen showcases a decadent chocolate creation this Valentine's Day.
Posted by Jodi Westbury February 15, 2019
Dessert—may we say a fan favourite? Sometimes even labeled as the very best course, in our perspective at least. These sweet or savoury treats come in many forms from lighter soufflés and mousses, to crepes, flans, custards and tarts, plain ice cream to sundaes and anything in between.
Grouse Mountain’s Observatory Chef, Jack Chen, has created and assembled something quite decadent this Valentine’s Day. We’re excited to share a special Valentine’s menu that features his Chocolate Tonka Bean Dessert in the Observatory Restaurant from Thursday, February 14th to Sunday, February 17th.
Chef Chen has worked hard to construct a rave-worthy dessert consisting of eight individually created components, plated together to form a fantastic finishing course. Beginning with a touch of chocolate cremeux, a scoop of hazelnut ice cream, praline caramel, hazelnut butter, banana jam, vanilla cake and the ever so popular Tonka bean ingredient presented in a custard. This is topped with a hazelnut brittle to add the perfect amount of textured crunch. This dessert has the ideal mix of subtly sweet and salty flavours.
With ingredients such as the extremely sought after Tonka bean, a wrinkly legume native to South America, this dessert is a must-try. Chefs from around the world are classifying this bean as a culinary innovation. The flavour is quite closely linked to its aroma which comes through as a combination of spicy, fruity and nutty. Described as something similar to a vanilla caramel paired with honey, it’s an intense flavour that should be enthusiastically embraced!
Because this Chocolate Tonka Bean Dessert has a breadth of different components and ingredients, we're sharing one of the recipes for you to try in the comfort of your own kitchen. This smooth chocolate cremeux is sure to impress.
Chocolate Cremeax
- 250g good quality chocolate (64% cacao)
- 1 1/3 cups whipping cream
- 1 1/3 cups whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
1. Warm milk and cream together in a saucepan.
2. In a bowl combine egg yolk and sugar.
3. Add a touch of the warm dairy to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until emulsified.
4. Add the egg yolk mixture back to the warm dairy
5. On low heat, slowly warm up the mixture until it thickens.
6. Place chocolate in a bowl.
7. Pour the warm dairy and egg mixture through a sieve onto the chocolate.
8. Let sit for about 30 seconds to melt the chocolate.
9. Whisk until emulsified.
10. Cool in fridge before serving.
The full Valentine’s menu is available here. Bookings are still available in the Observatory from the 15th-17th (need to double check) but are filling up fast, so reserve your seating though Chalet Reception at 604.998.5045 or online through Open Table.
