Autumn in Milan dessert

The Italians take their desserts seriously, and Milan is arguably more serious about them than anywhere else in the country. Chefs come here from all over Italy to take advantage of Milan’s prestige as the country’s northern capital along with its proximity to the rest of Europe, producing tasty creations to go along with post-dinner espresso or sweet dessert wines (Moscato, for instance, is native to the Piedmont region, just southwest of the city). You won’t walk more than a block or two in the city center before you stumble upon a gelateria or pasticceria filled with delicious, sugary indulgences, particularly in the tourist-heavy Centro Storico area near the Piazza del Duomo and the Galleria shopping area. Who said that autumn is all about gloomy days, cold, rain and sad dishes? Each season has its own peculiarities, especially in the kitchen and pastry and even in the first cold months of the year nature gives us sweet fruits, perfect for homemade cakes and biscuits.

A wonderful dessert, to be composed in layers to reveal all its magnificence when cut. Autumn in Milan is the amazing dessert that pastry has made in my kitchen, delighting the entire family. A disc of dacquoise, soaked in saffron syrup, on top of the currant jelly and then the creamy fondant. Continuing with a disc of saffron shortcrust pastry, creamy dark chocolate, sea buckthorn mousse, salted caramel glaze and to decorate cocoa nibs and, if desired, shaped slabs of chocolate. The perfect cake? So many layers that then melt in the mouth in an explosion of taste.

Ingredients

420 g fresh cream

380 g sugar

250 g 70% dark chocolate 

187 g egg white

167 g fresh sea buckthorn puree

167 g red currant puree

160 g flour 

125 g fresh milk

100 g glucose

100 g milk chocolate

90 g almond flour

50 g apricot jam

75 g butter

66 g condensed milk

25 g egg yolks

25 g edible gelatine

25 g sucrose

18 g rice flour

4 g saffron powder

3 g baking powder for cakes

1 egg

1 vanilla bean

1 untreated lemon

cocoa nibs

orange food coloring

salt

Procedure

Knead well, by hand, possibly with the help of a spatula, 75 g of butter cut into small pieces with 75 g of sugar, then add the egg, a pinch of salt, a pinch of vanilla seeds and knead well, until you get a homogeneous mixture. Add 3 g of baking powder, 150 g of flour and 2 g of saffron, sifted together, and knead until a homogeneous and compact dough is formed. Shape it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Then roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 mm and cut out a disc of 18 cm in diameter. Bake at 175°C for about 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and spread with apricot jam. Whip 120 g of egg whites with 60 g of sugar. Separately, mix 55 g of sugar with 7 g of 00 flour, almond flour and rice flour and add them to the whipped egg whites. Roll out the mixture in a baking tray lined with baking paper into an 18 cm diameter disc and bake at 180 °C for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160°C and bake for another 10 minutes. Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie. Soak 2 g of gelatine in cold water, then squeeze it and dissolve it in 20 g of hot water. Add the egg yolks, melted chocolate and 250 g of semi-whipped cream. Mix with a whisk to obtain a creamy. Rehydrate 5 g of gelatine in cold water and dissolve it in a little currant puree heated with 15 g of sugar. Once melted, remove from heat and add the remaining currant puree. Pour everything into an 18 cm diameter mold. Place in the freezer for 1 hour. Soften 10 g of gelatine in cold water. Dissolve it in 50 g of hot water and add it to the sea buckthorn puree, then add the remaining semi-whipped cream. Whip 67 g of egg whites with 35 g of sugar and add them to the sea buckthorn and cream mixture, stirring with a whisk from the bottom to the top. Set aside. Soak 8 g of gelatine in cold water. Caramelize 100 g of dry sugar for a few minutes; When it is golden, add the glucose and condensed milk. Bring 75 g of water to a boil with a pinch of salt; Add it to the caramel, stirring until it becomes homogeneous. When the mixture is at 60 °C, add the squeezed gelatine, a pinch of salt, a little food colouring and the milk chocolate. Bring 75 g of water to a boil with 50 g of sugar and 1 g of saffron. Let cool and set aside. Place the dacquoise disc inside a ring of 18 cm in diameter; Sprinkle it with the saffron syrup, spread the currant jelly on top and then the creamy dark chocolate. Place the saffron shortcrust pastry disc inside the ring, on top of the creamy fondant; Top with sea buckthorn mousse. Chill in the freezer for 1 hour. Finally, cover with the salted caramel glaze and let cool. Decorate with cocoa nibs and, if desired, with shaped chocolate slabs.