Striving to achieve a contrast in temperatures, textures and cultures: iced cream of violets, hot almond polvorón, splinters of spice bread and green tea
Andoni Luis Aduriz
For 6 people
For the polvorón
180 g of plain flour
60 g extra virgin olive oil
60 g of finely ground almonds
50 g of icing sugar
For the chocolate curls
80 g of plain coating chocolate
20 g of white chocolate
cocoa butter
For the violet ice-cream
1 l of milk
175 g of sugar
50 g of dextrose
45 g of purple corn cob
7 g of stabilizer
5 g of violet essence
For the spice powder
37.5 g of milk
100 g of butter
125 g di molasses
87.5 g of plain wheat flour
3.7 g of chemical yeast
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
50 g of sugar
Spices:
1 g of cloves
5 g of star anise
4 g of pink pepper
5 g of juniper
2 g di mace
3 g of curry
powdered green tea
For the frosted dog violets
12 dog violet flowers
75 g of pasteurised egg whites
4 g of gelatine sheets
50 g of lactose
For the polvorón
Preheat the oven to 170 ºC. Sieve the flour onto baking paper or onto a suitable surface for baking in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to obtain an even colour. Pour the toasted flour, icing sugar and finely ground almonds into a bowl. Add the extra virgin olive oil, drizzling it slowly and mixing carefully. Using table but flexible plastic, make some cylinders measuring 4 cm wide by 5 cm long. Using a spoon or another suitably sized utensil, fill the plastic cylinders with the mixture, pressing gently. Leave the cylinders to cool in the fridge for 1 hour, to allow them to set. Gently remove the wrapping and bake the polvorón at 160 ºC for 18 minutes. Keep in a closed container, away from sources of humidity.
For the chocolate curls
Break the two types of chocolate on a chopping board, place them in a bowl and melt them using the Bain Marie method. Spread the melted chocolate on a marble surface and allow to set slowly. Before the chocolate becomes completely solid, using a broad spatula to make small, rolled curls.
For the violet ice-cream
Heat the milk, dropping the purple corn cob into it just before it starts to boil. Leave in infusion for 20-25 minutes. Filter the milk and cool to 4°C. Add the sugar with the dextrose and the stabiliser. Heat this mixture to 85°C, stirring constantly, then chill with water and ice using the Bain Marie method. When the mixture is cold, add the violet essence and beat thoroughly. Leave to mature for at least 24 hours. Mix until smooth and store at –10°C until it is time to serve.
For the spice powder
Heat the milk until it is almost boiling, fold in the spices and leave in infusion in a cool place for 6 hours. Filter the milk and set it to one side. Place the egg whites and sugar in the planetary mixer and prepare a meringue. Pour the stiff mixture into a wide-topped bowl. Use the planetary mixer to beat the egg yolks and the molasses, then add the softened butter. Add the milk and the flour sieved with the yeast, mixing thoroughly. Tip this mixture over the meringue mixture, taking care to flatten it as little as possible. Pour the mixture into non-stick ovenproof pudding moulds and bake at 160°C, until cooked through (about 20 minutes). Take the biscuit out of the oven, crumble it with your fingers and dry it using a special drying appliance or leaving it in a suitable place. When cool, add the powdered green tea in the quantity required depending on how you wish to present the dish. Try to obtain a brown and green granulose powder, reminiscent of soil and moss.
For the frosted dog violets
Eliminate the stems and the thalamus. Wash the corollaries under slow-running water and dry them carefully on kitchen paper. Soften the gelatine sheets in plenty of cold water. Heat the egg whites to about 50°C using the Bain Marie method. Dissolve the gelatine sheets in the liquid. Keep the mixture at a constant temperature to avoid clotting when cold. Sprinkle the lactose onto a large tray. Using tongs, quickly dip the flowers very carefully into the egg white and gelatine mixture. Remove them from the liquid and drop them onto the tray with the lactose, lightly coating their entire surface. Leave these flowers in a hydrating machine at about 35°C for at least 12 hours, until they are completely dry. Keep them in a tightly sealed container with an anti-humidity agent (e.g.: sachets of silica gel).
Brush the surface of the chocolate curls with a little melted cocoa butter. Use a spoon to sprinkle a pinch of spice and green tea powder over them, making sure it sticks to the chocolate as the cocoa butter cools. Heat the polvorón under the overhead grill or in the oven.
Place a cube of violet ice-cream on a chilled plate. Use a spatula to squash it on one side to form a streak. Place half of a polvorón next to the ice-cream. Rest the chocolate and spice curl in the middle. Dust the curl with another pinch of spice powder. Decorate by sprinkling frosted dog violets over the composition.