turn into

components are gathered together to form a dish.  they play well together, they form relationships with each other, flavors meld, creating a singular vision...
then i go and muck it all up and move everything around.
i just can't leave things alone

it began with grapefruit curd, burnt meringue, gingerbread, clove sherbet, grapefruit sauce, fizzy white chocolate powder, milk meringue, mint

then turned into

 grapefruit bavarois (made from the curd), clove sherbet, grapefruit meringue, and pretty much all the rest of the previous dish.
i find it difficult to think that a dish is done.  there is always a different road to take.

drool collection

i have always liked white chocolate-raspberry ice cream.  with little chunks of chocolate mixed in.

so here is my plated version.

raspberry sorbet, white chocolate parfait (aerated), ground white chocolate, rosewater gelee, chocolate mint (thanks brittany), those cool little Valrhona chocolate pearls, chocolate "twigs". 

the dish is finished with a loose raspberry fluid gel (the modern coulis). 

...this is the key to aeration.

a means to an end

damn it took a while. 
i have changed the components of this dish for two weeks now.  now i am a little happy with it.  it started with the whipped milk chocolate ganache recipe i got from the Valrhona sessions. it has a great texture, close to a chocolate chantilly, but with a little more body.  i had to use it.  though i think the final result isn't quite what the people at Valrhona had in mind. 
whipped, spread between acetate, frozen, broken into shards, and then kept frozen.  on the pick-up they are arranged on the plate.  because they are thin, within about two minutes they are no longer frozen but creamy. 

to give it a fuller chocolate flavor, chocolate mint (thanks brittany) is blended with cocoa to make a fluid gel. raspberry meringue is dried and broken.  rooibos tea is set into a gelee.  fresh raspberries and chocolate mint, raspberry sorbet.