Culinary Team Canada
Ingredients
Orange cream
1/2 cup 35% cream
2 Tbsp orange compote
White chocolate pistachio mousse
2 cups 35% cream
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup & 2 Tbsp sugar
4 oz (115 g) white chocolate, melted
3 tsp gelatin sheets, dissolved in 2 Tbsp water
4 oz (115 g) ground pistachios
1/2 cup toasted pistachios, chopped
Shortbread cookie dough
1 cup soft unsalted butter
1/4 cup & 2 Tbsp icing sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Water, as needed
Melted chocolate, to assemble
Method
Orange cream
1. In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Fold in the orange compound. Fill ten conical paper cone cups (water cooler dispenser type) 1/4 full with orange cream and freeze them all.
White chocolate pistachio mousse
1. In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside.
2. Using a separate bowl, warm the egg, egg yolks and the sugar in a bain marie, whipping constantly to ensure the eggs don’t stick to the bottom.
3. Fold in the melted chocolate, the dissolved gelatin, the ground pistachios, chopped pistachios and finally the whipped cream.
4. Pipe the pistachio mousse into the inside of ten conical paper cone cups, 3/4 full.
5. Remove the paper cup from the orange cream molds you have frozen.
6. Push one frozen orange cream mold into the centre of each pistachio mousse cup. Pipe more pistachio mousse over the orange cream. Smooth the top of the cup and freeze all.
Shortbread cookie dough
1. Preheat oven to 300˚F. Grease cookie sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and icing sugar. Add the vanilla and flour and mix until a dough forms.
3. Remove half of the dough from the bowl and set aside for making white shortbread cookies.
4. In a small bowl, mix cocoa with a small amount of water to form a paste. Add the cocoa paste to the remaining dough in the bowl to form a chocolate shortbread dough.
5. Shape the chocolate shortbread cookie dough into small 1/2-inch thick cylinders (they should be the circumference of a loonie).
6. Shape the white shortbread cookie dough into 3/8-inch circles to fit the bottom of a paper cone cup.
7. Bake the white and chocolate cookies on the cookie sheet for about 8 minutes. Do not over bake. Set aside to cool.
To assemble
1. Use a little melted chocolate to fuse the shortbread circle cookie to the chocolate cylinder. This will form the base and trunk of your Christmas tree. Remove the frozen chocolate pistachio mousse cone from the paper cone mold and place it on the shortbread cookie trunk.
To serve
1. Serve your beautiful tree along with some raspberry coulis (see recipe page 28).
Yield 10 servings