Ann Reardon

Chocolate Ginger Sphericals – Molecular Gastronomy

chocolate gnache spherical recipe

Chocolate sphericals are like an explosion of melted chocolate in your mouth.  After many failed experiments I have finally developed a recipe that not only works but tastes divine.  You have got to try these.

Molecular Gastronomy Kits are available here…

200mL (6.76 fluid ounces) or 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp cream (35% fat)
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger (optional)
20g (0.71 ounces) or 1 Tbsp plus 1.5 tsp caster sugar
3.2g (0.11 ounces) or 1 tsp Calcium Chloride
100g (3.53 ounces) dark chocolate melts (or chopped dark chocolate)

For the alginate bath: 1 litre (0.26 gallons (0.98 litres)) of water and 5g (0.18 ounces) sodium alginate

Combine the cream, ginger, sugar and calcium chloride and microwave for 1min 30sec (or bring to the boil on the stovetop). Strain through a sieve to remove ginger and then pour hot cream mixture over the dark chocolate.  Allow to sit and then stir until smooth – microwave for additional 10 sec bursts if needed.

Place in spherical mould in the freezer, or freeze and then use a melon baller to get round scoops of mixture.

To prepare the alginate bath mix the water and sodium alginate together in a blender.  Pour into a container and leave overnight or until bubbles are dispersed.

Take balls of frozen chocolate mixture and drop into alginate bath.  Gently stir.  Leave in bath for 1-2 minutes.  Remove and place in bowl of warm water.  Plate as desired.  Here they are served with raspberries and coconut macaroons.

 

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

16 Comments View Comments

  1. 3inflation

  2. Rating: 5

    can use cocoa butter for coating and if we no add calcium chloride .

    • Hi Aashish, If the fat content is too high (like in cocoa butter) spherification will not work. It needs to be a water based substance.

  3. Do you know where I can get cream 35% fat in Australia? or can I use regular heavy cream for this recipe?

    • Hi Kevin, Pure cream is suitable in australia.

  4. Rating: 5

    Hi ann can you do a video on a hobbit / lord of the rings cake I have been wanting to request this because I love hobbit and I was going to make a hobbit cake but I don’t know how to decorate it so please can you do a hobbit / lord of the rings please thanks

  5. hey!!!!!!!!! Ann ur recipes r really asmw but can u just let me knw dat how can i make dis recipes without eggs????????

    • Hi vratika, This recipe does not contain any eggs 😀

  6. Hi
    That’s a really cool recipe! But do you think it would work with calcium lactate instead of calcium chloride?

    • Yes! However, it took half as much the amount, Calcium Lactate has twice the concentration of calcium compared to Calcium Chloride

  7. Does this work with chocolate syrup? I think this would be fantastic to place as a topping on a cheesecake, and I was wondering if that is possible.

    • Hi Andrew, if will depend on the composition of the syrup, you need the calcium to react to the alginate so you’d still need to add calcium. If the fat content in the syrup is too high the calcium cant leach out so the reaction doesn’t happen.

  8. I am trying this recipe. As we type my chocolatenis in the freezer. The consistancy of my chocolate mixture was like lumpy custard. Is that normal? If not what could be the cause? I followed the recipe to the letter except I used semi sweet chocolate. Everything was weighed on a digital scale. Help!

    • Hi Mrs Lee, no it should be smooth, A couple of possibilitites that I can think of
      1 .was your chocolate totally melted (ie are the lumps unmelted chocolate) or
      2. overheating the chocolate and burning it can make it lumpy if you put int he microwave for too long

  9. This project totally fascinated me! I would love to try this out but I’m not sure I understand all the unusual items needed. Could you explain what Calcium Chloride is and where to find? Also sodium alginate? Can you explain more about these Kits? Molecular Gastronomy Kits
    I am self taught and continually learning thanks to wonderful people like yourself. I can’t express my appreciation for your willingness to share your talents and answering questions that I didn’t know I had!

    • Hi LeAnne, These are food additives used by many modern chefs. You probably have things like gelatin and baking powder in your kitchen and are familiar with them and what they do, these are just different food additives that you can buy. The cheapest way to buy a small amount of these additives is in a molecular gastronomy kit. Molecular gastronomy is the study of food on a molecular level usually to create new food experiences such as these sphericals.

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