Since I love the whole concept of soup for dessert, I was looking forward to trying out this concoction. The creamy, dark chocolate soup (not to be confused with the much-coveted cartons of sweet chocolate-y bliss that we remember from grade school)  topped with a foam made from Devonshire (Devon) cream, and whimsical cocoa puffs enrobed in milk chocolate did not disappoint. So let’s get down to it, shall we?

I have to admit it, the “puffs” pictured above are impostors – Whole Foods 365 brand that I purchased while at my wits end grocery shopping on Valentine’s Day weekend. I’m not sure that it made a difference, but, being the daughter of an emphatically anti-sugar cereal mother, I’ve still never had the pleasure of tasting real cocoa puffs. The real bummer, however, was that I’d planned on buying Valhrona 40% milk chocolate for coating the puffs, as the recipe suggested, but found myself screwed over once again by the romantically inclined shoppers of Whole Foods. They were fresh out and I settled on the Callabaut 33% instead, which is more sweet and strongly vanilla flavored, and has a markedly lighter color.

The biggest star in this dessert is the flavor of juniper berries, which I crushed and infused with some of the warmed milk for half an hour. The flavor imparted from the juniper berries, when combined with Valrhona 72% bittersweet chocolate, is complex and divine, and I’m so excited to now have this flavor combination in my arsenal as we begin working with chocolate at the FCI.

I used an immersion blender to create an emulsion of melted chocolate and juniper-infused milk, and just like that, the soup was ready to chill.

Devon cream, aka Devonshire cream, according to Wikipedia, is: “a type of clotted cream made by heating unpasteurised cow’s milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms clots.” I didn’t anticipate having trouble finding a jar of the stuff, considering the number of Brits in Manhattan, but after three unsuccessful attempts in specialty stores I opted for plan B: making the cheat version. Luckily, I learned to make a lovely styling of Devonshire cream back at the Brooklyn restaurant where I used to intern, using Mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, and just a bit of sugar and lemon juice. I subbed it in for the real deal, and created my foam using the immersion blender once again.

Components: Devon foam, bittersweet, juniper-infused cold chocolate soup, chocolate-covered cocoa puffs, and extra-tall shot glass (which we had on hand courtesy of Brian’s fraternity ball, circa 2000, but I’ve also seen them at CB2).

This dessert goes down as perhaps my favorite incarnation of chocolate to date. There’s nothing too sweet here, the milk chocolate of the cocoa puffs is well-balanced with lots of intense bitter flavor from the soup. The juniper berries, as I already mentioned are made for this kind of chocolate, they harmonize so well that I can’t believe more pastry chefs and chocolatiers are not pushing the combination. The Devon foam, though not completely authentic, still lent a nice contrast of subtle sweet flavor and smooth texture, I found myself trying very hard to ration the cocoa puffs as to get a little foam, puff, and soup on my spoon with every bite. I can’t wait to make this for dinner party guests.

Next up: Flameed Bananas ~ Rum and Coke Ice Cream ~ Peanut Phyllo Crisps

Interested in playing along? Click to get your copy of Dessert FourPlay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef