Bombe Cardinal

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1.5 litre metal bombe mould or deep stainless-steel bowl
• •Fine-mesh sieve and flexible spatula
• •Small pale-coloured saucepan
• •Sugar thermometer
• •Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
• •Food processor
• •Ice-cream machine or shallow metal freezing tray
• •Silicone baking mat or baking paper
• •Long slicing knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the mould

   Set a 1.5 litre metal bombe mould or deep stainless-steel bowl on a level freezer shelf for at least 30 minutes. Chill a shallow metal tray as well if you are making the fruit ice without a machine. Metal conducts cold quickly and releases cleanly later; glass is slow, heavy, and inclined to sulk when asked to unmould.

2. 2

   Make the Pralin

   Toast the almonds and hazelnuts at 160°C until golden and fragrant, 10 to 12 minutes. Rub away any loose hazelnut skins. Put the sugar and water in a small pale pan, bring them to a boil without stirring, and cook until the caramel turns a clear chestnut amber. Add the warm nuts, turn them through the caramel, and immediately spread everything on a silicone mat or baking paper. If the syrup crystallizes while it is still pale, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) water and dissolve it again over gentle heat. Ça se rattrape. Burnt caramel does not, so restart if it smells bitter. Cool completely, break it up, and process until very fine and beginning to form an oily paste.

   A pale pan lets you judge the caramel honestly. Once the colour reaches amber, move without hesitation because the pan keeps cooking it off the heat.
3. 3

   Sieve the fruit

   Combine the red currants, raspberries, and water in a saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, just until the currants burst and the raspberries collapse. Press the fruit firmly through a fine-mesh sieve, wash the sieve clean, then pass the purée through it a second time. Do not negotiate with this step. Stir the sugar into the warm purée until completely dissolved, add the lemon juice, and chill the mixture until thoroughly cold.

4. 4

   Freeze the fruit ice

   Churn the cold fruit mixture in an ice-cream machine until thick, fine-grained, and spreadable, about 20 minutes. Without a machine, pour it into the chilled shallow tray and freeze for 45 minutes, scrape the frozen edges into the centre, and whisk hard; repeat twice at 30-minute intervals, then pulse briefly in a food processor. The aim is a smooth ice soft enough to spread but firm enough to stay on a vertical wall. Reserve about ¾ cup (180 ml / 170 g) for sealing the Bombe Cardinal and keep it frozen but workable.

5. 5

   Clothe the mould

   Spread a thin first layer of fruit ice over the bottom and sides of the frozen mould, then freeze it for 15 minutes. Add a second layer until the shell is an even 1 cm thick, keeping the central cavity open. This is clothing the mould, the technique carried over from Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916): that preparation rolls jelly over broken ice, while this dessert uses spreadable fruit ice against a freezer-cold mould. Hold the mould toward a window to find pale, thin patches and cover them. If the ice slides toward the bottom, scrape it back, freeze both mould and ice for 10 minutes, and begin the coat again. Ça se rattrape. Freeze the completed shell for at least 45 minutes.

   An even shell is more than appearance. Thin spots melt first during unmoulding, while thick ones become hard wedges that fight the creamy centre.
6. 6

   Whip the pâte à bombe

   Put the yolks in the bowl of a mixer and begin whisking at medium speed. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring them to a boil without stirring, and cook to 118°C. With the mixer running, pour the syrup in a thin stream down the inside of the bowl, avoiding the whisk itself, which would throw hard sugar threads through the yolks. Increase the speed and whip until the mixture is thick, pale, holds a ribbon, and the bowl no longer feels warm, about 7 minutes. If it remains loose, keep whisking as it cools; warmth, not failure, is usually the culprit.

7. 7

   Praline the filling

   Split the vanilla bean and scrape its seeds into the cold cream. Add the salt and whip to soft peaks that bend gently rather than standing stiff. Fold the fine Pralin into the cool pâte à bombe, then fold in the whipped cream in three additions, preserving as much volume as possible. This is the glossary's Pralined treatment: the vanilla Bombe-preparation is treated throughout with Pralin, not merely sprinkled with nuts. If the yolk base is still warm and begins melting the cream, set the bowl over ice and fold slowly until it regains body.

8. 8

   Fill and seal

   Spoon the pralined vanilla mixture into the frozen fruit shell, pressing it gently into the curve so no large air pockets remain. Leave 1 cm clear at the top and freeze for 30 to 45 minutes, until the filling is firm enough to support the cap. Spread the reserved fruit ice over it to seal the base and join it neatly to the shell around the edge. Cover directly with baking paper, wrap the mould, and freeze on a level shelf for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

9. 9

   Unmould and serve

   Chill the serving platter. Remove the wrapping, press a warm damp towel around the outside of the mould for 5 to 8 seconds, then invert it onto the platter. If the bombe does not release, repeat for another 3 seconds rather than pulling or twisting. Should the surface soften too far, return the whole platter to the freezer for 15 minutes. Cut with a long knife dipped in hot water and wiped completely dry between slices. The cardinal-red shell should cut cleanly around the pale pralined centre. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Fresh red currants are brief visitors in many markets. Good frozen currants are the classical pantry's honest answer, and they are often picked riper than the tired fresh berries traveling out of season. Do not replace them with cranberries; the colour may agree, but the flavour and pectin do not.
• •Use a thermometer for the pâte à bombe syrup. At 118°C it has enough concentration to cook and support the yolk foam without setting into brittle threads. Precision here is quieter than bravado and considerably more useful.
• •Grind the Pralin beyond crumbs. It should begin clumping into a fragrant paste between your fingers; coarse nut fragments freeze hard and spoil the creamy cut almost as surely as a stray raspberry seed.
• •Serve the bombe after 5 minutes at cool room temperature, just long enough for the fruit shell to yield cleanly under the knife. A demi-sec sparkling wine has enough fruit and softness to meet both the tart shell and pralined cream.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the Pralin up to one week ahead and keep it airtight at cool room temperature. If it firms into a block, pulse it briefly before folding it into the pâte à bombe.
• •The fruit purée can be cooked, sieved twice, sweetened, and chilled one day before churning.
• •The complete Bombe Cardinal can be frozen, tightly wrapped, for up to three days. Unmould it up to four hours before serving and return it to the freezer on its chilled platter, loosely covered once the surface is firm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)