Golden apples made of white chocolate, and of course, apples!
These trompe l’oeil apples were inspired by Cédric Grolet, who is known as one of the best pastry chefs in the world. While waiting for my copy of his book Fruits to arrive, I was elated to find that Bruno Albouze, another one of my favorite chefs, posted a recipe for his take on these “apples”. A link to the recipe is provided at the bottom of this post.
The recipe and instructions are quite comprehensive. However, these desserts are delicate, and require a lot of attention to detail. I highly recommend using white chocolate couverture, as opposed to regular white chocolate. The couverture is easier to handle, and will taste better as well due to its higher cocoa butter content. For me, the most difficult part was glazing the desserts. In my first batch, I did not stick the bamboo skewers securely enough, and a couple of the desserts ended up falling off the sticks and into the mirror glaze. It is important to keep both glazes at the right temperature, as specified in the recipe. I found it helpful to stir the mirror glaze every now and then to ensure better consistency when dipping the “apples”. The dark chocolate stems also took some practice, and a lot of patience! Too warm and it becomes a mess, while if too cold, the chocolate becomes too brittle and starts breaking. It was all about finding the right temperature.
If you end up making these, feel free to let me know how it goes! This was a very rewarding, though sometimes frustrating, weekend project. All in all, well worth the effort, as these desserts are not only beautiful, but also, more importantly, delicious.
Recipe
Bruno Albouze’s apple shaped desserts
Silikomart apple mold
Freshware semi-sphere mold