For the caramelised apples:
• 200g diced Golden Delicious apples
• 15g caster sugar
• 3g pectin NH
• 4g caster sugar (second measure)
• 15g good dark rum
• Zest of 1/4 orange
• 35g fresh orange juice
For the rum-soaked raisins:
• 150g raisins
• 100g good dark rum
For the vanilla crémeux:
• 150g semi-skimmed milk
• Zest of 1/4 orange
• 1/2 vanilla pod
• 25g egg yolks
• 30g caster sugar
• 6g cornstarch
• 6g rice starch
• 7g gelatine
• 80g butter
For the cinnamon sablé biscuit:
• 500g extra fine 00 flour
• 550g softened butter
• 180g icing sugar
• 100g potato starch
• 2g cinnamon
• 3g Maldon salt
For the mirror glaze:
• 75g full cream milk
• 75g 35%-fat fresh cream
• 115g 30° Baume syrup (made with 135g sugar and 100g water)
• 200g white chocolate
• 32g gelatine
Method
1 After having prepared the apples and raisins, pour some into the apple mould. Thicken lightly in the blast chiller or freezer, then insert the vanilla crémeux into the apple sphere. Freeze.
2 Remove from the freezer and prepare it for glazing. Heat the glaze to around 30°C.
3 Place the dessert on a wire rack and pour the glaze over it. Refrigerate. The cubes of apple should be around 3mm on each side and regularly cut. Make a caramel with the 15g of sugar; add the apples and minced orange zest and sauté until the apple becomes translucent. Add the orange juice and pectin mixed with the 4g of sugar.
4 Cook for a few minutes, then add the rum. Cook for another few seconds, then spread around the inside of an apple-shaped mould. Leave to rest in the fridge, covered with cling lm. Put the raisins in a saucepan.
5 Cover with water and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and dry thoroughly. Take a glass container with a lid, place the raisins inside and cover with rum. The next day, extract a few raisins and push them into the now-cooled apples. Refrigerate.
6 Leave the orange zest and vanilla to infuse in the milk. Pour the starches into a bowl with the sugar and dilute in the milk. Bring to the boil in the microwave on full power. The cream will thicken up. Quickly add the egg yolks, mixing with a whisk, and continue to cook in the microwave until it reaches 82°C.
7 Remove the orange peel and vanilla pod. Mix in the hot gelatine, previously hydrated. Mix and cool to 45°C. Pour into a food processor and mix, adding the cold butter in small pieces.
8 Pour into the apple-shaped moulds. Freeze the mould with the apples and crémeux in overnight. Put all the ingredients into a stand mixer and mix, then put into a piping bag and pipe little discs out onto a sheet of baking paper. Bake at 160°C for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Red food colouring.
9 Hydrate the gelatine with the water, and then heat it brie y in the microwave. Bring the milk, cream and syrup to the boil, then add the chocolate and heat to 103°C. Lower the temperature to 80°C and add the dissolved gelatine.
10 Blend for a few minutes without making bubbles, then add the colouring. Cover with cling film touching the surface and refrigerate overnight. To plate up, place a sablé disc on the plate, then top with the apple cake and cinnamon ice cream.
Recipe courtesy of Giovanni Luca Di Pirro, Executive Chef of Castello del Nero. To try this dish in person, visit the hotel’s Michelin-starred La Torre restaurant.