Ann Reardon

Chocolate Pistachio Dome Dessert

chocolate mousse dessert
For most of us catering for a dinner party of twenty guests is quite enough stress. But the chefs on a cruise ship makeing thousands of every menu item in just a normal day. I’m going inside the ships galley on the Crown Princess cruise ship to take a sneak peek at how they make their chocolate pistachio domes.

With thanks to chefs Eduardo Mago, Pradeep Kuruvilla, Rico Canciller and Princess cruises.

To make your own chocolate pistachio domes you will need:
(original recipe credit: Chocolatier Norman Love for Princess Cruises, tested and adapted below for the home cook by Ann Reardon)

Chocolate decorations

For the triangle swirl you need acetate and tempered dark chocolate. If you are not sure how to temper chocolate see this post.
For the green rectangles you will need:
Acetate
cocoa butter coloured with green oil based food colouring
a fork with the two centre prongs bent upwards out of the way
Tempered white chocolate

Almond and pistachio nougatine

makes 9
2.5 oz (70.87 grams) butter
2 tablespoons glucose syrup or light corn syrup
3.25oz (92.14 grams) powdered sugar or icing sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pectin (if you can’t get this you can make it without the pectin but it’s not quite the same texture and is a bit buttery)
1.75oz (49.61 grams) flaked almonds
1.75oz (49.61 grams) chopped pistachios

Heat the butter and glucose syrup until the butter is melted then stir in the icing sugar, cinnamon and pectin. Once well combined add the almonds and pistachios. Place small scoopfuls into a silicone muffin tin and bake at 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10-15 minutes or until spread out and golden brown. Allow to cool then pop out of the muffin tray and store in an airtight container until needed.

Pistachio Paste (for the pistachio ganache)

70g (2.47 ounces) sugar
60g (2.12 ounces) blanched almonds
20g (0.71 ounces) pistachio
45g (1.59 ounces) sunflower seed oil
tiny pinch of salt
green colouring (it may be easier to add this to the ganache so you can correctly judge how much colour you want).
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until really smooth. Makes 5 tablespoons which is more than you need but you’ll struggle to get smaller quantities to blend into a smooth paste.

Pistachio Cream

Makes 200mL (6.76 fluid ounces) or enough for 18 centres
1 tsp powdered gelatine mixed with 3 teaspoons of cold cream
1 Tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon cream
2 tsp sugar
1 egg yolk
1.5 tablespoon of pistachio paste (see above)
50g (1.76 ounces) white chocolate
2 tsp butter
Mix the powdered gelatine with the 3 tsp of cold cream and set aside.
Put the milk, cream and sugar into pan and heat over the heat until it gets hot. Tip a small amount into the egg yolks and whisk it through. Then pour that mixture into he pan with the rest of the cream and heat until it reaches 84C (183.2 degrees Fahrenheit) or 184F (84.44 degrees Celsius). Add the pistachio paste and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat, stir in the gelatine and mix until dissolved. Add the white chocolate and butter and continue to stir until smooth.

Pour into mini hemisphere molds and place in the freezer overnight.

Almond Cake for the bases

makes enough for six circles
2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg
2 tablespoon ground almonds
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit).
Mix together the icing sugar and butter until smooth, add in the egg and almonds and mix again. Finally add the flour and baking powder and stir until just combined. Pour into a lined 7″ x 10″ tray, spread out and bake for approx 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Invert syrup for the chocolate mousse

225g (7.94 ounces) sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar or tartaric acid
175mL (5.92 fluid ounces) water
heat all the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved. Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush and boil unstirred until it reaches 114C (237.2 degrees Fahrenheit). Allow to cool. Store excess in a jar.

Chocolate Mousse

makes enough for 6-7 hemispheres depending on the size of your old.
2 Tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons cream
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon invert syrup – see above
65g (2.29 ounces) of 70% Dark Chocolate
Additional 6oz (170.1 grams) cream, whipped

Place the milk and cream into the saucepan over high heat until it comes to the boil.
In a seperate bowl whisk them together the sugar and the egg yolks.

Add the invert syrup to the hot cream mixture. Take some of this mixture and whisk it into the egg yolks. Then tip in the rest and whisk, tip it all back into a pan and heat to 84C (183.2 degrees Fahrenheit) or 184F (84.44 degrees Celsius). Remove from the heat and tip in the chocolate. Leave for a moment for the chocolate to melt then whisk until combined. Add some of the whipped cream and mix it through. Allow mixture to cool to 44C (111.2 degrees Fahrenheit) then fold in the rest of the cream.

Pour this mousse mixture into hemisphere molds not quite to the top. Allow it to start to set then add the frozen pistachio ganache to the centre of each one, followed by an almond nougatine biscuit and a circle of sponge cake. Place in the freezer overnight.

Chocolate glaze

You can purchase chocolate glaze or make your own using this recipe.

Unmold the desserts and glaze using a chocolate glaze. Add a quenelle of whipped cream, your chocolate decorations and a couple of pistachios dusted with gold muster dust. Pipe chocolate decorations onto each plate and allow to defrost in the fridge before serving.

ann reardon how to cook that

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.

26 Comments View Comments

  1. Rating: 5

    Can you please tell me the sizes of the silicone molds you use so I can order the correct size to make this. Thank you.

  2. Rating: 5

    Beautiful…with lots of effort and skills..😍👌😋🤝💐

  3. Rating: 5

    I think it is just easier to go on a Princess cruise!

  4. Rating: 5

    Excellent

  5. Rating: 4.5

    Just wondering what’s the purpose of adding pectin to the nougatine recipe? I’m familiar to this ingredients when making jams and jellies but I’ve never used in a nougatine.

  6. Rating: 4

    I loved this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!

  7. Rating: 5

    Is it possible to make this recipe without using eggs?

    • Hi Kritika, There are eggs in the mousse, base and pistachio cream. In the base and other baked goods you can use and egg alternatives such as a mixture of 1 1/2 teaspoons of chai seeds and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground garbanzo beans mixed with 2 tablespoons of water per egg in the recipe. For the mousse you’ll need an egg free chocolate mousse like the one on this page https://www.howtocookthat.net/public_html/3-ways-rescue-cake-fail/ . And for the pistachio cream you can swap the egg yolk for and extra tablespoon of cream. ?

  8. Rating: 5

    Hiya, I want to make this resipie for my school bake-off. Does anyone know how long it takes from start to finish

    • Hi Eleanor, the setting times make it take a long time. Both the centres and then the mousse need to go in the freezer overnight to set so you can’t make it in one day, unless you have a blast freezer.

  9. the taste is brilliant,ann

  10. Rating: 5

    To be honest you are doing awesome work
    you are amazing in what you do
    thank you so much

    • Thanks for the feedback Daniel.

  11. Rating: 4

    I made the nougatine tonight and it was delicious, BUT I realized after I put it in to bake that I forgot the syrup. I read back through the directions and it doesn’t mention when to add it. When is the best time to add it? I’m guessing they’d stay together a little better if I had added it. 😉

    • Hi Angie, you put the butter and glucose syrup in a saucepan and heat till the butter is melted.

  12. Rating: 2.5

    Hi Ann! I’m having trouble with the cake circles—mine came out more like an omelette. Is two eggs the correct amount for the recipe?

    • Hi Amanda, yes 2 eggs is correct, I have since made this at home to check it and it should be a dense sponge texture.

      • Indeed I had the same issue as Amanda. Could you perhaps do a video on it? 🙁
        Thanks and kind regards,
        Sebastian

  13. Rating: 5

    Thanks Ann
    I’m on the Majestic Princess now and had this dessert yesterday.
    I would love to try to make it myself as a reminder of my cruise. Thanks for the recipe!

    • That’s so lovely to hear Joan. I hope you had a fantastic cruise!

  14. Rating: 4.5

    Wow, I’d love to try this! Would these quantities work for a 18 cm cake ring if I wanted to make a cake instead instead of small domes?

    • Hi Aniko, the only part that might be tricky is the nougatine – getting it to cook in the middle and not burn on the outside in a larger version may not be possible. But you could make smaller ones and then put them into a bigger one.

  15. Rating: 5

    awesome TY . i am going to try !

  16. Rating: 5

    Ann I love how you always can find awesome things for your viewers where ever you go… even on vacation! Love your channel Ann ❤️

    • Thanks Rachel ??

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