White Chocolate Avocado Cremeaux

White Chocolate Avocado Cremeaux
served with spiced chocolate sauce, raw Hawaiian chocolate mousse, 
corn financier, lime oil, basil syrup, cocoa nibs

For the avocado puree...

Start with four perfectly ripe, medium size hass avocados and four limes.  Split the avocado, remove the pit, then remove the fruit from the avocado into a bowl.  Squeeze the juice from three limes over the avocado and toss to coat.  The lime juice is necessary to preserve the green color of the avocado and also contribute to the flavor of the finished dessert.  

Using a bowl scraper push the avocado fruit through a fine tamis into a bowl (pictured left) to create a smooth puree (pictured right).  This method helps to remove any brown fibers from the fruit.  

Stir the puree to combine thoroughly all the fruit and lime juice, taste for flavor, you should first taste avocado and the lime will follow.  If there is no hint of lime, squeeze half or all of the 4th lime into the puree, combine and taste again.  



Cover the puree directly with plastic wrap to prevent oxidation, reserve in the refrigerator until ready to use.  

 
For the cremeaux...
Carefully and accurately scale all ingredients:
200 grams whole milk
40 grams granulated sugar
80 grams egg yolks
200 grams white chocolate (Cocao Barry)
10 grams sheet gelatin
500 grams avocado puree
Kosher salt, to taste

Bloom the sheets of gelatin in ice water until softened.  Have the white chocolate ready in a medium mixing bowl and a fine chinois.  

In a small pot bring the milk to a simmer.  While waiting for the milk to simmer combine the sugar and egg yolks in a small bowl and whisk to create a light foam.  Temper the egg mixture into the milk by first pouring about half of the simmering milk into the bowl, whisk to combine.  Return the contents of the bowl to the pot and cook, stirring constantly until custard is thickened; while trying not to curdle the eggs.  


Immediately pour the cooked custard through a fine chinois over the white chocolate and stir to melt the chocolate.  Once all the chocolate is melted squeeze all of the water out of the gelatin sheets and add to the white chocolate mixture, mixing to combine.  

finished cremeaux...

Allow the mixture to cool to about room temperature.  Scale 500 grams of the reserved avocado puree.  Add the puree in thirds to the custard mixture and whisk to combine.  Add a large pinch of salt and taste for flavor.  You should first taste avocado and white chocolate, the flavor should finish with lime and should not be bland.  You will know when there is enough lime and salt so keep adding if it's not there yet.  All the flavors come through at different times in each bite but they are all present.

Place the cremeaux into a piping bag and pipe into 40 financier molds, level and smooth.  Cover the finished cremeaux directly with plastic wrap and freeze until set.  The cremeaux can now be removed and two pieces sandwiched together to form a hexagon.  

The white chocolate avocado cremeaux is served with a dark chocolate sauce spiced with Thai bird chiles and cinnamon; a corn financier; raw Hawaiian chocolate mousse (Madre Chocolate, 70%); lime oil; basil syrup; and cocoa nibs.  

This dessert was inspired by the ripe avocado.  Looking for a summertime chocolate dessert I decided to finally try using avocado in a dessert, something I've been contemplating for a while.  The lime flavor was second to present itself, making sense since I needed a way to preserve the color of the avocado and it is a classic flavor combination.  In thinking about which application to choose to present the avocado I thought about a white chocolate mousse recipe that I've used in the past.  I first decided to add white chocolate to the recipe in order to keep the avocado recipe relevant in a chocolate dessert.  Once I experimented the recipe the flavor combination made perfect sense.  

In trying to come up with other components to go with the dessert I thought about classic flavor combinations with avocado...corn, and spice.  I liked the idea of using a financier mold for the cremeaux and loved the idea of pairing a financier as a cake-like component in the otherwise all mousse-like textured dessert.  So I took my favorite financier recipe and substituted cornmeal for the hazelnut flour, leaving the brown butter and honey which also made sense in the dessert.  

The spiced chocolate sauce is simply my favorite basic dark chocolate sauce recipe infused with Thai bird chile and cinnamon. 

The chocolate mousse adds richness and bulk to the dessert.  When I tasted the raw Hawaiian chocolate from Madre Chocolate here on Oahu I knew it was an automatic match for this dessert.  The flavor of the chocolate is so distinct and unique and the nutritional value and health benefits of raw chocolate were something I really wanted to add to this already nutrient rich dessert.  

Finally, olive oil is a component I've wanted to try in a dessert for a while and I also wanted to get basil into the flavor profile somehow.  I used Boyajan lime oil to infuse the olive oil with lime flavor and made a basil simple syrup to create a dessert "vinagairette" look on the plate.  

Overall I have been very happy with this dessert, it has been on my dessert menu at Chef Mavro Resaurant for the summer season and is about to retire as fall is approaching.  It was also featured in a starchefs.com photo gallery of food from the restaurant.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about this recipe and the inspiration behind the dessert, let me know if you try it out and how you like it!