Chocolate beets it with granola and coffee

For our Spring edition of table stories (tafelverhalen as we call them in Dutch), we served a desert that undoubtedly surprised our guests. More precisely because of our choice of ingredients; chocolate and beetroot? And oh yes, it blends perfectly in this desert! Give it a shot…

Preparation

This recipe requires some preparation in advance. Make sure you go through it completely first so you can plan it to your convenience. Of course you can leave some elements out and adapt others to your taste, be creative, be an intuitive cook.

*the granola

The working method for granola remains the same, only the ingredients and quantities might vary one recipe to another. You can find our original intuitive granola recipe by clicking here, but we’ll give you a short explanatory to make sure you don’t miss it.
Start by chopping the nuts in smaller pieces, and blend them together with all the other dry ingredients.
All that rests you to do before baking is adding the oils and the concentrated apple juice, it’s that easy!
Have a taste to see if it suits you as it is and add more of your favourite ingredients if otherwise.
Spread it evenly on a baking sheet and put it on a tray in a pre-heated oven of about 180°C.
Check it from time to time and give it a good stir to ensure it from baking evenly, it should be ready in about 20 minutes max.
Let the batch cool down and enjoy it for many breakfasts to come cause you won’t use all of it for this desert…

*the beetroot ganache

Can’t probably get easier then this; break the chocolate in small pieces and put it in a mixing bowl.
Bring the cream to boil in a small pan and then pour it immediately on the chocolate.
Blend it using a whisk until the chocolate is melted.
Add the red beetroot powder and the salt, then continue whisking to obtain a homogenous ganache.
Done!

*the dried beetroot

Cook the beetroot for about 40 minutes in water and leave it to cool.
To dry beetroot, it’s important to slice it very thinly on a mandolin slicer, the Japanese Benriner slicers are the best if you ask me... Don’t forget to peal the beetroot first.
Dry the beetroot slices in a food dehydrator at 60°C until they get slightly crispy. Be patient, it might take about 30 to 36 hours.

*the coffee ice cream

The fun part is you can make a cup of coffee with the coffee before even using it. This will give you a cup of pleasure in the first place, but also make the taste of the ice cream a bit softer. Heat up the milk and cream with the coffee grounds (and cacao) to let it infuse. If the grounds are grinded finely you don’t need to sieve it, but that’s up to your preference.
At the same time, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until you obtain a creamy and smooth ruban as we call it in the culinary jargon.
Slowly poor the warm milk and cream over the ruban and gently mix it using a whisk.
Now heat the mixture in a cooking pot on a medium-high fire while continuously stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. When you can mark a line with your finger on the back of the spoon that remains steady it means the yolks have thickened the base and it is ready to make ice cream.
Leave it to cool down before churning it in an ice cream maker until it gets a fuller, soft serve consistency.
Transfer the fresh ice cream in a container and freeze it for a couple of hours.
Fresh ice cream will keep for about 2 weeks in the freezer before starting to form ice crystals. You could cover it with wax paper to preserve it even better.