Molten chocolate, cheiridopsis rostrata
May 24, 2011 in Uncategorized
My ice-cream machine is getting a well-deserved break as I have been experimenting with winter dessert ideas lately. Not that you can’t have ice-cream in winter – on the contrary. It’s just that the stormy West Coast weather does inspire slightly darker, richer, more comforting thoughts – preferably warm and baked.
Apart from heritage favourites such as malvapoeding, Japie-se-gunsteling and souskluitjies, one of my all-time favourite winter indulgences is a molten-centred chocolate pudding – the kind that oozes warm, sticky chocolate like lava from a sweet volcano.
But oftentimes these puddings can be overwhelmingly sweet, not offering much more than a burny throat sensation and slight nausea. So I decided to settle for dark chocolate with fleur de sel, paired with sesame and black pepper meringue, a dash of moskonfyt and finished with rocket flowers and nutty rocket sugar.
As plating inspiration, the beautiful cheiridopsis rostrata – a rare klipvygie which grows on limestone patches in the Saldanha Strandveld. The fossil-like plant seems to grow without almost any soil, and after the rainy season it blossoms into a beautiful green succulent with bright yellow flowers.
It sounds like a stretch, but I promise you planting and replanting and replanting this vygie (in part thanks to Fred, our bassett) is exactly the same as building a meringue ‘rock garden’ – loosely stacking limestone rocks, crumbling some sandy soil over it, carefully positioning the vygie on top.
Another recent winter dessert ‘experiment’, again with meringue – rooibos tea panna cotta with warm preserved peach, basil and gooseberries. I love rooibos and honey bush as flavouring – invigorating and comforting.
Sunrise in Paternoster.
michaelolivier said on May 24, 2011
Your food looks so so beautiful – clever man! Luv luv Michael
janicetripepi said on May 25, 2011
Ahhh – one of these days when the Tripepi boys go fishing or hunting or golfing and I have my home to myself for a weekend I am going to make some delicate pretty food like you do …. I just love the way you used nature for your inspiration here .. Oh the joy of creating one perfect mouthful of food !!!! xxxx This is wonderful xxx
sardinesontoast said on May 25, 2011
Thanks Michael.
sardinesontoast said on May 25, 2011
I’m looking forward to the photos!
BITSOFCAREY said on May 25, 2011
Kobus, you are brilliant! An artist to say the least xx those desserts are top class!
MickyM said on May 25, 2011
Oh wow – absolutely stunning……
Kitchengirl said on May 25, 2011
omFG!! Tis is so beautiful.. perhaps i shall get to taste that molten choc next weekend when i come and visit you!!
EatWithPassion said on May 25, 2011
Kobus, you write like a poet, your photographs are like works of art and if I could eat your food I would die happy!
brandnew said on May 25, 2011
Can’t agree more
sardinesontoast said on May 27, 2011
Thanks Carey
sardinesontoast said on May 27, 2011
Thank you.
sardinesontoast said on May 27, 2011
Can’t wait for you to come visit!
sardinesontoast said on May 27, 2011
So generous, thanks.
ninatimm said on May 31, 2011
If anyone is going to put Paternoster in the culinary map, it will be you, if it hasn’t happened already!! Brilliant
Juno62 said on May 31, 2011
Excellent post and great pics. Thanks for sharing.
sardinesontoast said on June 1, 2011
Thank you
sardinesontoast said on June 1, 2011
davidbb said on June 6, 2011
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm inspired, I love the vygie conceptualisation
davidbb said on June 6, 2011
I love omFG. too many people use the mimsy OMW- am going to copy you if you dont mind