Heston's black forest gateau without spray gun

[Douglas]

I want to try and make that delicious looking black forest gateau Heston Blumenthal made, but I'm not in the possession of a spray gun for the final chocolate layer (Video here). Would you have any suggestion how to bypass this step? I would think covering it in chocolate will add a layer that is too thick...

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Darienne]

Hello Douglas and welcome to eGullet. Just watched the entire video and am in awe of that cake and of you for setting out to make it.

Alas, I have no advice for you, but would like to see your finished product.

[Kerry Beal]

I want to try and make that delicious looking black forest gateau Heston Blumenthal made, but I'm not in the possession of a spray gun for the final chocolate layer (Video here). Would you have any suggestion how to bypass this step? I would think covering it in chocolate will add a layer that is too thick...

Thanks for any suggestions!

Yeah - way too thick. I'd just drizzle with some tempered dark chocolate - won't look the same but will taste fine.

[Tri2Cook]

It's frozen when sprayed so you could just pour over a mirror glaze or thin ganache instead. Won't be too hard to get a thin layer that way. It won't have that velvet look but with a mirror glaze it would still look pretty fancy.

[runwestierun]

Waah, I cannot view the video in the US.

[lstrelau]

I can't remember where I saw it illustrated/described but it is apparently possible to use a manual (i.e. mouth blown) blow pipe to spray chocolate for that velvet look. Maybe you can find a reference with an online search. (I don't think it was here one eGullet but could have been)

[Kerry Beal]

I can't remember where I saw it illustrated/described but it is apparently possible to use a manual (i.e. mouth blown) blow pipe to spray chocolate for that velvet look. Maybe you can find a reference with an online search. (I don't think it was here one eGullet but could have been)

I have a mouth sprayer - but getting a layer like that would cause me to pass out! Course you could attach it to a blower of some sort.

[natasha1270]

No access to the video here either but I found this write-up of another attempt at it:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/man-versus-gateau-cooking-the-heston-blumenthal-way-424268.html

After trying to imagine how you are going to accomplish the vacuum aerated layer, I wonder if you couldn't just pick up a plastic spray bottle or atomiser and keep it immersed in hot water between spraying so it remains fluid for the final layer?

[Tri2Cook]

The velveting is a nice look but without a sprayer I still think I'd go with a mirror glaze or Kerry's idea to drizzle it with chocolate. With a little effort and different chocolates you could probably get somethng going on that resembles tree bark or something. You could also warm some of the apricot jam used in the dessert, lightly brush it all over the surfaces and grate some chocolate over it with a fine grater or rasp so you end up with a fuzzy look of sorts.

Are you working from a book? If so, which one? Nothing to do with the finish. I'm just curious because I did it from the In Search of Perfection book a few years ago and when I got the Big Fat Duck book I noticed that some components are a bit different when it's not being adapted for the home cook. Another difference in the Big Fat Duck book is that it's accompanied by a kirsch ice cream that's not mentioned in the Perfection book.

Edit: just had another thought. If you have some acetate or something, you could cut it to size, spread chocolate thinly over it and cover the sides and top of the frozen brick of Black Forest in it. Cap off the ends with chocolate-spread pieces of acetate cut to size and toss it in the fridge. When you're ready to serve it, just carefully remove the plastic and you'll have a shiny chocolate brick.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Tri2Cook (log)

[chiantiglace]

pretend you are painting a brick. if you dont have a paint sprayer, what would you use as another option.......

guess what. Whatever it is you come up with can also be used in this application.

In case you haven't come up with any ideas, the answer is you can use just about anything to apply a chocolate finish, a brush, a sponge, a piece of cloth, hell you can rub it on with a gloved hand. They all give a different finish. The product is frozen, so its just like use warm paint on a cold brick.

[oli]

I can't remember where I saw it illustrated/described but it is apparently possible to use a manual (i.e. mouth blown) blow pipe to spray chocolate for that velvet look. Maybe you can find a reference with an online search. (I don't think it was here one eGullet but could have been)

I would really like to know about that, since I don't plan on buying a spray gun.

[Douglas]

Cool, lots of good ideas. I'll try some of them out and report back!

[IndyRob]

I can't view the video but a search turned up this...

(If you don’t plan to coat the cake with the paint gun, take 100g of this chocolate, cut it into shavings and scatter over the cake just before serving.)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/article616039.ece

A potato peeler works well for shavings.

Just BTW, if you care to endure a curse-filled experiment for the sake of science, I think I may have a way to bodge up an external-mix air brush from - a can of air (the things we geeks use to blow dust out of keyboards, etc.), and a few other bits, like a small jar, and a few wisely chosen miscellaneous bits. I've done this successfully with slightly different arrangement for paint, but not chocolate.

[FoodMan]

Not sure how far along the project you are, but if you have not seen this, check out Auldo's blog. He cooked everything in the Fat Duck book! Here is a link to the BFG post.

[Kerry Beal]

I can't view the video but a search turned up this...

(If you don’t plan to coat the cake with the paint gun, take 100g of this chocolate, cut it into shavings and scatter over the cake just before serving.)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/article616039.ece

A potato peeler works well for shavings.

Just BTW, if you care to endure a curse-filled experiment for the sake of science, I think I may have a way to bodge up an external-mix air brush from - a can of air (the things we geeks use to blow dust out of keyboards, etc.), and a few other bits, like a small jar, and a few wisely chosen miscellaneous bits. I've done this successfully with slightly different arrangement for paint, but not chocolate.

That canned air to blow dust out of keyboards contains bitterent - makes your chocolate taste like ass - don't use!!

[IndyRob]

That canned air to blow dust out of keyboards contains bitterent - makes your chocolate taste like ass - don't use!!

After some searching and testing, it appears that some may contain bitterants. The can I have at the moment apparently doesn't. Apparently, bitterants are used in cases where huffing teens need to be dissuaded from their huffing ways by offensive bitter smells and flavors - which also tend offend legitimate users.

The cautions on my can are all about extreme heat and cold, and spraying it directly into your person.

With a little knowledge, I progressed from a sniff test more to progressive tests until I was blasting my fingertips with air and then tasting. The taste was more finger-like than (imagined) ass-like. Likewise with wrist and forearm tests.

Edited April 28, 2011 by IndyRob (log)