Namibia on a plate

For the Mahangu Cake, prepare a grill with a lid for indirect grilling and preheat to 180 °C. Grease a square baking tin and sprinkle thinly with flour. Heat the milk in a saucepan and stir in the millet flour, 100 g sugar and the orange peel, then add the orange juice. Bring to the boil while stirring gently until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and add the egg yolks one at a time and stir well. Beat the egg whites with the caster sugar until stiff peaks form and add to the cooled millet-milk-egg mixture. Pour into the baking tin and place this in a deep baking tray. Pour boiling water into the baking tray so that the baking tin is about half covered. Bake in the closed grill for about 40 minutes - the cake should feel firm and have a golden brown color. Allow to cool in the baking tin, then remove and refrigerate, then allow to cool completely.

For the crème bavaroise, stir the gelatine powder into the water and leave to swell for 5 minutes. Heat the milk until just before boiling point. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until foamy, then slowly add the milk and continue to beat. Put the egg milk back into a pan and heat in a water bath to 82 °C while stirring. Stir in the gelatine, pour everything into a bowl and quickly reduce the temperature of the cream using an ice water bath. Stir from time to time and add the liqueur. Whip the cream until stiff and carefully fold in. Stir in slowly. Pour the cream into a greased bowl lined with cling film and refrigerate so that it sets.

For the chocolate mousse, break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it over a water bath until about ¾ of it has melted. Remove from the water bath and stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Mix the beaten egg yolk with the soft butter and stir into the chocolate mixture together with the cocoa powder. The mixture will now begin to thicken. Add the warm rooibos tea and stir in. The mixture should now be smooth and silky. Keep stirring until it reaches a temperature of 23-25 ​​°C. Then fill into portions of 150 g each, cover with cling film and refrigerate.

For the almond pralines, first make a syrup (sugar syrup). To do this, put the sugar and water together in a pan and heat to 118 °C. As soon as it starts to boil, stop stirring, otherwise the sugar will crystallize. Put the almonds in a bowl, pour the hot sugar syrup over them and mix. As soon as the syrup cools, the almonds are covered with a white, powdery layer. Then put this in an iron pan and heat again over a medium heat so that the sugar melts again. Stir carefully; the sugar will caramelize and should turn a golden brown color. Now put the caramelized almonds on a non-stick base (e.g. baking paper) and spread them out, let them cool to room temperature and chop roughly.
For the rooibos syrup, put the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool. Then soak the Mahangu Cake with this syrup.

For the jelly sheets, grease a shallow bowl and line it with cling film. Put the prepared tea (93 g) and the sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil slowly, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest. Remove from the heat, add the soaked gelatine and stir well. Then pour into the shallow bowl. Allow to cool, cover with cling film and refrigerate.
For the date jam, put all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer over medium heat for 30-50 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning. As soon as the mixture becomes soft and sticky, puree everything, pour into sterilized jars and seal tightly.
For the glaze, dissolve the gelatine in 100ml of cold water and leave to swell. Pour the remaining 200ml of water into a sauce pan, add the corn syrup or glucose syrup and the icing sugar. Bring to a slow boil over a low heat, remove from the heat and add the soaked gelatine to the boiled syrup. Stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved. Then add the chocolate and cream and stir until completely dissolved. You may want to use a hand blender to get a very smooth, silky consistency. Allow the glaze to cool to at least 30°C before adding any color; for a multi-colored glaze, divide the mixture into separate bowls. Allow colored glaze(s) to cool to 23°C before glazing the cake.

Assemble the dessert:

Using a piping bag, spread a layer of chocolate mousse about 1 cm thick on the bases and walls of the Dariole molds. Cut 3-4 slices of the Mahangu Cake (depending on the thickness of the cake and the number of molds) with a diameter of about 4.5 cm and 6.5 cm, cut the slices horizontally to a thickness of ½ cm and spread with a little rooibos syrup. Spread some date jam on each slice and place a 4.5 cm diameter slice on the mousse in each mold. Spread with rooibos syrup again. Spread a layer of crème bavaroise on each mold and sprinkle with the chopped almonds. Cut 4.5 cm diameter jelly sheets and place them on the almond layer. Place another layer of cream on top and finish with a 6.5 cm diameter cake slice. Place the molds in the freezer and leave to freeze - depending on your freezer, this will take 2-6 hours.
To serve, dip the molds in hot water for a few seconds, loosen the edges with a small sharp knife and turn out onto plates. Cover each dessert with the glaze and allow to set for about 5 minutes. Cut decorative pieces from the remaining jelly sheets and decorate each plate with these, the remaining chopped almonds and jelly and a few mint leaves.

FIRE&FOOD Issue 2-2018