They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. This Father's Day, we get Singapore's most dude-friendly restaurants and bars to share their recipes for indulgent meat feasts, manly drinks and other creative mash-ups that you can recreate at home as a very special treat for Dad.
Known for serving up inventive themed dinners at his modernist restaurant Chef's Table on Tras Street, Gaggenau partner chef Stephan Zoisl has an impressive resume that includes stints at a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Heston Blumenthal’s three-starred The Fat Duck in the UK and Grant Achatz' Alinea in Chicago.
For the fourth recipe in our 5-part recipe series, sweeten up your Father's Day meal with chef Zoisl's Golden Times in the Black Forest, a deconstructed take on the classic black forest cake,
What makes this perfect for Father's Day
"I wanted to reinvent the classic black forest cake as it’s a personal favourite of mine. Black forest cake is a world-famous dessert that consists of dark chocolate, cherries and cream – my version simply uses the same ingredients, but changes its textures. It's the perfect summer dessert to create this Father’s Day, as it’s indulgent yet light. And since cherries are also in season around Father's Day, it's an ideal dessert to sweeten this particularly happy occasion," says chef Zoisl.
Golden Times in the Black Forest by Stephan Zoisl
Serves 4
Ingredients
Chocolate Microwave Sponge
- 6 Eggs
- 120g Sugar
- 75g Plain flour
- 30g Cocoa powder
- 45g Dark Chocolate (72%)
- 60g Milk
Chocolate Ice Cream
- 1 litre Milk
- 120g Cream
- 60g Butter
- 230g Sugar
- 50g Glucose
- 450g Dark chocolate
- 30g Cocoa powder
- 100g Egg yolks
- 5g Stabilizer
Cherry Meringue
- 250g Egg whites
- 250g Cherry puree
- 20g Egg white powder
- 80g Sugar
- 2g Pektin NH
- 6g Gelespessa/xentham gum
Plating
- 4 microwave sponges (prepared earlier)
- Chocolate ice cream (prepared earlier)
- Cherry meringue (prepared earlier)
- Fresh cherry slices
- Crème Chantilly
- 22k gold leaves
- Cherry crème/compote
- Freeze-dried cherries
- Light milk chocolate mousse ready in siphon
Method:
Chocolate Microwave Sponge
- Combine eggs and sugar.
- Add in the plain flour and cocoa powder and mix well.
- Melt the dark chocolate and add to the milk. Pour into the egg mixture.
- Strain through a fine mesh or chinois.
- Pour the strained mixture into a siphon.
- Release mixture from siphon into a plastic cup and microwave for 30 seconds.
Chocolate Ice Cream
- Boil the milk, cream, butter, glucose and cocoa powder.
- Mix the egg yolk, sugar and stabilizer and add it to the mixture.
- Cook the mixture until 82°C.
- Pour the mixture to dark chocolate and stir till smooth.
- Refrigerate and chill for 12 hours.
- Transfer to a pacojet container and freeze, and churn when needed. Alternatively use an ice-cream machine and freeze.
Cherry Meringue
- Mix the egg white, cherry puree, egg white powder, sugar and pektin NH, whisk until the egg mixture is thick and stiff.
- Add the Gelespessa, and continue to whip for another 6 minutes.
- Transfer onto a tray with parchment paper and place into the oven.
- Bake in the oven at 80°C until the meringue is dry.
Plating
- Place a couple of drops of cherry crème or compote in the centre of a small serving bowl, and add the microwave sponge.
- Add dollops of crème Chantilly and chocolate mousse.
- Finish with fresh cherries, a canelé of chocolate ice cream, freeze-dried cherries and the crisp meringue.
- Top with a leaf of gold.
