Bryan Voltaggio's chocolate ganache

[ihatenougat]

On Top Chef this week, Bryan Voltaggio made a dessert based on a chocolate ganache with spearmint ice cream. I looked up the recipe here because I wanted to try to make it. As you can see, he used 100g of sorbitol, which is over 10% of the total weight in this recipe. Why would one use so much sorbitol? Since sorbitol can be used as a laxative, wouldn't this cause some unpleasant digestive issues?

I'm also curious about the combination of gelatin and agar. I've never seen agar in a ganache recipe. Is that to make it set faster? Or for texture?

[MattyC]

The agar and gelatin is used to make it a 'flexible' ganache. so yeah, texture and to make it plyable. There is actually a recipe for the same thing in the alinea book somewhere used in one of there dishes, this is virtually the same thing.

Edited October 24, 2009 by MattyC (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Yep, Alex Stupak's Pliable Chocolate Ganache from the Alinea book. Paired with mint instead of the lime and avocado of the original but the ganache is basically the same critter. The amount of sorbitol sounds high on paper but the amount per portion is less than 10 grams. I've done the recipe from the Alinea book and some of my own variations on it and never suffered any problems from the sorbitol even during testing phases trying to make the concept work with other mediums. Not that it's particularly relevant here but bending the ganache into those cool twisty shapes Chef Stupak does is not always as easy as one might like it to be. If you decide to do them for a dinner or something and have never worked with it, make extras or be willing to settle for wavy shapes that are flat on the plate like Bryan V's as a backup plan.

[ihatenougat]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't yet read the Alinea book. Does it say what the function of the sorbitol is for this application? And if you didn't have sorbitol, could you replace it with something else that's cheaper or more widely available?

[Tri2Cook]

As MattyC said, it's for textural/flexibility purposes. I don't know of a widely available replacement. That doesn't mean there isn't one, I just don't know what it would be. Sorbitol may not be easy to find in a local store but it's easily obtained and not expensive through online sources. I paid something like $20 for a 5 lb. bag at l'epicerie. That's enough for 272 portions which works out to something like 7 cents per serving. They also have it in 1 lb. bags for ~$5.00 if you just want to give the recipe a try. Chef Rubber and Le Sanctuaire have it as well but their price is higher than l'epicerie.

[Tri2Cook]

Speaking of this dish, I've been thinking on the whole mint/chocolate thing. There's no denying it's a combo that works but I'm trying to come up with another flavor for the party that really helps the overall result. Not shock value or "let's just shove this on the plate to be different". Almost invariably, when you see the mint/chocolate combo it's just mint and chocolate. It seems like there has to be something that fits into the profile that will enhance the experience rather than forking it up. Foodpairing.be shows malt as a common link between the two and a quick google shows that mint malted milk balls exist but I'm wondering if it actually works in practice. Maybe there's a reason the two are usually left alone together? I'm going to have to find out.

P.S. I compared Alex and Bryan's recipes. They are identical except Bryan's calls for 1/3 the amount of cream that is used in the Alinea book. Seems like that would end up a bit gummy in comparison to the original but the judges liked it and that's what mattered.

Edited October 24, 2009 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Some fruit can be good with both mint and chocolate. Red raspberry comes to mind immediately, but I know there are others. (grapefruit and mint is a classic...)

[jfresch]

Is the glucose in the recipe liquid glucose or powdered glucose?

[Baselerd]

Not that it's particularly relevant here but bending the ganache into those cool twisty shapes Chef Stupak does is not always as easy as one might like it to be. If you decide to do them for a dinner or something and have never worked with it, make extras or be willing to settle for wavy shapes that are flat on the plate like Bryan V's as a backup plan.

I made the recipe from Alinea once and had the same problem. I figure that a lot of this has to do with how thick/thin you cast the sheet initially (assuming you got the texture right with the ganache).

[Tri2Cook]

Is the glucose in the recipe liquid glucose or powdered glucose?

Liquid.

I made the recipe from Alinea once and had the same problem. I figure that a lot of this has to do with how thick/thin you cast the sheet initially (assuming you got the texture right with the ganache).

I've never seen it listed in the Alinea book corrections but I think maybe the recipe was incorrect regarding the amount of cream. I thought it might turn out a bit gummy at the levels Bryan used but after testing it myself, I think maybe that is the correct amount or somewhere very close to it. It's much easier to work with at that ratio.