Bombe Petit Duc

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1.5 litre metal bombe mould or 18 cm stainless-steel bowl
• •Ice-cream machine
• •Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
• •Digital sugar thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Small heavy saucepan
• •Flexible spatula

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the strawberry ice

   Combine the strawberry-ice sugar, water, glucose syrup, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat gently, stirring only until the sugar dissolves, then bring to a brief boil and remove from the heat. Cool for five minutes. Blend this syrup with the strawberries and lemon juice until completely smooth, then pass it through a fine sieve. Chill the mixture until thoroughly cold, at least one hour. A warm base churns slowly and forms coarse crystals; if you're pressed for time, set the bowl over ice and stir until it feels colder than your hand.

2. 2

   Churn until pliable

   Place the empty metal bombe mould in the freezer while the strawberry base chills. Churn the base in an ice-cream machine until it holds like soft sorbet but remains spreadable, usually twenty to thirty minutes. If it comes from the machine too loose to cling to a spatula, freeze it for ten minutes and stir once. Ça se rattrape. Do not freeze it solid before lining the mould.

3. 3

   Clothe the mould

   Reserve about 1 cup of the strawberry ice for closing the bombe. Spoon the remainder into the chilled mould, then rotate the mould as you press the ice into an even layer about 1 cm thick across the bottom and sides. The source calls this clothing the mould and points to Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916); borrow only its thin, even coating motion, never its ingredients. Freeze the lined mould for at least forty-five minutes. If the ice slips or leaves a bare patch, freeze it for ten minutes, patch it with more strawberry ice, and continue.

4. 4

   Ready the preserve

   Stir the Bar-le-Duc red-currant preserve just enough to make it spoonable. If it is very firm, warm the jar briefly in a bowl of lukewarm water, then cool the preserve again before assembly. It must remain thick enough to hold a ribbon. Do not whisk it into smoothness and do not dilute it into a sauce; those currant veins are the sharp little pulse of the dish.

5. 5

   Whip the pâte à bombe

   Put the yolks in the mixer bowl and begin beating them at medium speed. Combine the pâte à bombe sugar and water in a clean saucepan, dissolve the sugar over gentle heat, then boil without stirring to 118°C. Pour the syrup into the moving yolks in a thin stream down the side of the bowl, keeping it away from the whisk, and beat until the mixture triples in volume, turns pale, and falls in a thick ribbon, about seven minutes. If the syrup crystallizes in its pan, add a tablespoon of water and return it to gentle heat. Ça se rattrape. If the whipped yolks remain warm, whisk the bowl over ice before proceeding; warm pâte à bombe melts the cream.

6. 6

   Fold the hazelnut filling

   Whisk the hazelnut praline paste and salt into the cool pâte à bombe until no streaks remain. In a separate cold bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks that bend at their tips. Fold one-third of the cream into the hazelnut mixture to loosen it, then fold in the rest with broad strokes until the filling is even and softly mounded. If it loosens and begins to flow because the base was still warm, set the bowl over ice and fold gently until it regains body. Never beat it hard at this point or you will throw away the air you just built.

7. 7

   Ripple and fill

   Spoon one-third of the hazelnut filling into the frozen strawberry shell and trail over a few narrow ribbons of red-currant preserve. Repeat twice, ending with filling. Draw a thin knife through the centre in two broad turns, no more. Ripple it, do not stir; the preserve should run in garnet veins, not vanish into pink-beige cream. Leave about 1 cm beneath the rim and freeze for thirty minutes, until the surface is firm enough to touch lightly.

8. 8

   Seal and freeze

   Let the reserved strawberry ice soften just until spreadable, then cover the firm filling from edge to edge, joining this cap cleanly to the frozen lining. Level the surface, cover the mould tightly, and freeze for at least six hours, preferably overnight. This closed strawberry shell is not decoration. It protects the softer pâte à bombe and gives every slice its proper border.

9. 9

   Unmould and slice

   Chill the serving platter. Dip the outside of the mould into lukewarm water for five to eight seconds, dry it, then invert it firmly onto the platter. If the bombe does not release, wrap the mould briefly in a warm damp towel and try again; do not keep dipping until the strawberry shell melts. Return the unmoulded bombe to the freezer for fifteen minutes if its surface has softened. Let it stand for five minutes before cutting with a knife warmed in hot water and wiped dry between slices. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Bar-le-Duc preserve is not ordinary smooth red-currant jelly. Look for whole currants suspended in clear preserve; their tartness and texture make the veins visible. A good whole-fruit red-currant preserve will carry the flavor if Bar-le-Duc cannot be found, but the provenance changes, and it is honest to say so.
• •A purpose-made bombe mould is handsome, not essential. An 18 cm stainless-steel bowl holding about 1.5 litres freezes quickly and releases cleanly. Metal conducts cold far better than thick glass.
• •Use ripe strawberries or unsweetened frozen fruit picked ripe. A pale winter berry has perfume enough for decoration and not enough for an ice where strawberry must carry the entire shell.
• •The preserve must be cool and the pâte à bombe must be cooler still before assembly. Warmth blurs the layers. Ripple with two strokes and stop, even if the pattern looks incomplete; the knife will reveal more than the bowl does.
• •For guests who are pregnant, elderly, very young, or immunocompromised, use pasteurized yolks. The hot syrup cooks the yolks substantially, but pasteurized eggs remove uncertainty.
• •Serve with demi-sec Champagne or strong coffee. The first meets the currant's acidity, while the second takes hold of the hazelnut. Nothing else belongs on the plate.

Advance Preparation

• •The strawberry base can be made up to two days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Churn it only when you are ready to clothe the mould.
• •The mould can be lined with strawberry ice a day before the filling is made. Cover it once the shell is firm so it does not take on freezer odors.
• •The completed bombe may be frozen for up to three days. Wrap the mould tightly after the final shell has hardened, then unmould shortly before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)