Having a full-time job seriously cramps your blogging style sometimes. A little while ago, I was invited to a fabulous event making sumptuous desserts using Cadbury's Crispello alongside celebrity chef Lily Vanilli. I couldn't make it, which I was slightly gutted about, but those fabulous people at the Cadbury's Press Office sent me over the recipes and several bags of Crispello so that we could have fun recreating them at The Madhouse.
We decided to have a go at recreating this showstopper of a dessert that would be ideal as an edible centrepiece for a festive dinnertable : the Christmas Tower. (Now I'd have called it a Crispello-mas Tower - I should have got a job in advertising !)
Here's the original version.
Christmas Tower
Ingredients:
Approx 60 Cadbury Crispello pieces (approximately 6 sharing bags)
150g milk or dark chocolate
Optional : Decorate with wafer or edible flowers
Dip the base of a Cadbury Crispello in melted chocolate and start to stick the pieces in place in a pyramid shape. Drizzle your Cadbury Crispello pieces in melted milk or white chocolate. (Lily’s Tip... Cut some of the Crispello pieces in half for a more creative feel!) Add the finishing touches with some wafer pieces, edible flowers and crushed Cadbury Crispello pieces.
Well, we decided that 6 whole sharing bags was an awful lot so we went for a smaller version. Juliette happy went through a couple of bags unwrapping them all and stacking them up.
To avoid using hot chocolate which could be slightly dangerous for little fingers, we used chocolare ice cream sauce and sprinkles instead.
It may not be as impressive as the original but we happily polished it off as dessert ! This would be a great "make it then eat it" activity for a kids' party too.
There are another two recipes for us still to try out :
Cadbury Crispello Ice Cream
Ingredients :
300ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod, split down the middle
8 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
250ml double cream
12 Cadbury Crispello Double Choc or Vanilla Velvet pieces
To make the ice-cream:
1. Pour the milk into a pan, add the vanilla pod and bring slowly up to a high temperature – do not let it boil. Leave to cool and infuse with the vanilla for approximately 1 hour. Once cool, remove the vanilla pod from the pan and scrape out the seeds into the milk.
2. In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until thick and fluffy – this takes 4 minutes. Pour in the vanilla milk and stir until you get a thin custard.
3. Pour the mixture into a heavy-bottomed pan, place over a medium heat and stir continuously with a wooden spoon as you slowly heat through. When the custard has thickened and the foam bubbles on the
surface have disappeared, remove it from the heat, whisk it for a couple of minutes with a large balloon whisk then pour into your cold, dry metal bowl.
4. Leave it to cool for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming.
If churning by hand: Once the mixture is cool then put it into the fridge for 1–2 hours. Remove and stir in the cream and gently crush and stir in the Cadbury Crispello pieces. Put into the freezer for half an hour, then
churn before placing in the freezer to set completely.
If churning in an ice cream maker: Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the cream, gently crush and stir in the
Cadbury Crispello pieces, churn for 30–35 minutes, then place in the freezer to set completely.
To serve : Scoop out the set ice cream, add additional Cadbury Crispello Double Choc or Vanilla Velvet pieces on top for decoration!
Cadbury Crispello Mille Feuille
Ingredients :
250g the best quality all butter puff pastry you can buy (or make your own!)
30g cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting)
12 x pieces of Cadbury Crispello Double Choc or Vanilla Velvet
For the chocolate cream:
60g icing sugar (sifted)
60g unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted)
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
500ml cold double cream
To make the pastry:
1. Get your pastry to a temperature that is just ‘rollable’ but no softer.
2. Lightly flour a surface and roll out the pastry to form a rectangle around 3mm thickness.
3. Sift half of your cocoa powder evenly over the surface.
4. Fold the right half of the pastry into the centre, then the left to meet in the centre. Dust with the rest of the cocoa powder and fold the top and bottom to meet in the centre once again.
5. Now roll the pastry out again into a rectangle around 3mm thickness.
6. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper.
7. Prick all over with a fork, place another sheet of baking paper on top and weigh this down with a baking tray on top.
8. Bake this for 10-15mins or until just starting to brown.
9. Remove the top tray and return to bake until crisp and browning all over.
10. Remove and leave to cool.
To make the chocolate cream:
1. Combine the icing sugar and cocoa.
2. Pour your cream into a metal bowl and whip thoroughly and evenly with a hand mixer, beginning on a medium speed.
3. When the cream starts to thicken and you see the first sign of soft peaks, add the combined sugar and cocoa one tbsp. at a time, then add the vanilla.
4. Now reduce the speed to medium -low and continue just until you have a foamy consistency.
To assemble
1. Cut your cooled pastry into rectangles (approx 4.5cm x 7cm).
2. Now pipe or gently spread a thin layer of the cream onto a rectangle of pastry.
3. Top with a layer of Cadbury Crispello (you might like to crush these first), pipe/spread another layer of cream, then
top with another rectangle of pastry.
4. Transfer to a plate and sift a dusting of cocoa over the Cadbury Crispello Mille Feuille
5. Decorate with fruit, edible flowers or whatever takes your fancy!
Disclosure : We received some bags of Crispello in order to try out the recipes.
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