Ginger Cake, Dark Chocolate and Pumpkin by Michael Wignall

Serves

8

Prep Time

2 hours

Cooking Time

60 mins

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Purée

• ½ crown prince pumpkin
• birch syrup, to taste
• sugar, to taste
• salt, to taste
• xantham gum

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For the Chocolate Gel Namalaka

• 340g 63% chocolate
• 200g milk
• 10g glucose
• 7g gelatin, soaked in cold water
• 400g crème excellence

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For the Pumpkin Oil Jam

• 3 egg yolks
• 185g Pumpkin oil
• 2g Salt
• 50g glucose
• 50g trimoline

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For the Ginger Cake

• 225g self-raising flour, sieved
• 2 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• 115g butter unsalted
• 115g soft brown sugar
• 230g golden syrup
• 1 egg
• 250g milk
• 85g stem ginger, grated

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For the Set Custard

• 500g crème excellence (UHT whipping)
• 100g egg yolks
• 35g sugar
• 2.25g pectin x58
• ½ vanilla pod

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Method

For the Pumpkin Purée

• Remove all of the seeds from the pumpkin.
• Cut into small pieces and place on a roasting tray, lined with parchment paper, to prevent sticking.
• Place in the oven at 180c for 2 hours, or until soft.
• Next scoop out flesh (while still hot) and place into a blender.
• Add a dash of birch syrup to get the mix blending.
• Add a knife tip of xanthan gum while blending.
• Add sugar and salt to taste
• Once fully blended, pass through a sieve and leave to cool.

For the Chocolate Gel Namalaka

• Melt the chocolate over a Baine Marie
• Heat the milk and glucose together and bring to the boil.
• Add the bloomed gelatin to the hot milk and leave until melted.
• Strain the mixture into the melted chocolate and mix until fully combined.
• Pour crème excellence into the chocolate mixture little, by little, whilst stirring constantly. Pour the mixture into a container and leave in the fridge for 24 hours.

For the Pumpkin Oil Jam

• Add the glucose and trimoline to a pan and bring to a rapid boil
• Place the yolks into a bowl and pour in the glucose and trimoline mixture, whisking continually
• Once slightly whipped, transfer to a thermomix, with a whipper attachment, set the speed to 3 and gradually pour in the oil.
• This can be done manually but just takes a bit more time. It’s similar to a mayonnaise recipe, emulsifying the oil to the egg and sugar mixture.
• Finally, add your salt and pass through a fine sieve.

For the Ginger Cake

• Combine the flour, ginger, bicarb, and butter until breadcrumb consistency.
• Melt the golden syrup, brown sugar and milk together.
• Pour milk mixture into the flour mixture, little by little.
• Add egg and stem ginger and mix for 3 minutes.
• Pour into a lined cake tin.
• Cook at 170c fan 3 for 30 minutes
• Leave to cool completely before plating.

For the Set Custard

• Place the crème excellence and vanilla into a pan and start to heat.
• Mix the sugar and pectin x58 together and then add to the cream when it is warm.
• Bring the mixture to the boil and pour over the yolks, to temper them.
• Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove lumps. Cling film and leave to chill.

Plating the Dessert

• Slice a piece of the ginger cake, approx. 15cm in length, 2.5cm wide and 2 cm high and place down the centre of the plate.
• Pipe 4-5 varying size amounts of the chocolate namlaka on top of the cake and alternative amounts of the set custard. Then add 5 varying sizes of the pumpkin puree.
• Lastly, follow the process with the pumpkin jam. You are looking for an even spread of colours across the cake.
• Chef’s Tip: Michael serves his with stem ginger ice cream but you could also use chocolate or vanilla