Carrot, Orange & Mango Spheres with Rose Crystals



Ingredients
Carrot Orange Mango Juice
- 300 ml (10 oz) carrot juice (about 1 1/2 pounds of carrots)
- 150 ml (5 oz) orange juice (about three oranges)
- 50 ml (1.7 oz) mango juice (about half mango)
- sugar to taste

Carrot Orange Mango Juice Spheres
- 250g (8.8 oz) carrot orange mango juice
- 5g calcium lactate gluconate (2%)
- Extra juice to store the spheres if you are not planning to consume them within a few hours.
Garnish
- Rose Flower Crystals

Spherification Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) distilled water
- 5 g sodium alginate (0.5%)
Tools
- Silicone hemisphere mold
- Blender

Preparation
Carrot orange mango Juice
1- Mix the juices.
2- Add sugar to taste.
3- Place hemispheric silicone mold on a cutting board, flat pan or plate so you can keep it flat while you place it in the freezer. Fill the hemispheric mold with the carrot orange mango juice and let it freeze overnight.



Spherification Alginate Bath
Dispersing and Hydrating Sodium Alginate
1- Mix the sodium alginate with the distilled water using a blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that it may take longer than expected.
Removing Air Bubbles
2- Strain the mix and store it in the fridge covered in plastic wrap overnight to eliminate the air bubbles.

Creating Spheres with Frozen Reverse Spherification
1- You are now ready to start the spherification process! Warm the alginate bath in the microwave (around 65 °C / 150 °F).
2- Pop a few frozen carrot-mango hemispheres into the warm alginate bath. It is important that they don’t touch or they will stick to each other. A flat bottomed container will make it easier when “cooking” multiple spheres.
3- Leave the spheres "cooking" for about 2 minutes in the alginate bath. Try with one sphere first until you find the right timing which depends on how fast the frozen hemisphere thaws. If the membrane is too weak, leave it a little longer in the bath. If it is too thick, reduce the time. After you practice with a few spheres, you’ll be able to tell if they are ready by just lifting the spheres just above the surface of the bath using a slotted spoon.
4- Carefully remove the carrot-mango spheres using a slotted spoon.
5- Rinse them very gently in a bowl with warm water.
6- Transfer them to a container with water or carrot-mango juice while you make more spheres.
7- Store the spheres in the fridge until serving time.



Storing the Spheres and Preserving the Flavor
One of the biggest benefits of Reverse Spherification is that you can store the spheres to be consumed later. If you leave the spheres in contact with air, the gel will start to dry and eventually break. You need to store them in a liquid bath. However, since the gel membrane around the sphere is permeable to small molecules, osmosis will occur if submerged in water and dilute the flavored liquid inside the sphere. To preserve the flavor, store them in a bath of the same flavored liquid in the fridge, strawberry juice in this case.
Assemble and Serve
1- Place the carrot-mango spheres on appetizer spoons.
2- Garnish with Rose Flower Crystals.


Plum Caviar with Basic Spherification
Learn how to make plum juice caviar with the Basic Spherification technique. The little spheres will burst in the mouth releasing a delicious plum juice. Combine them with fresh basil, candied apricot, fresh peach, cooked salmon or sharp cheddar.

The plum caviar is made using the Basic Spherification technique. This is the preferred spherification method for producing “caviar” (small spheres) since the viscosity of the bath is thin allowing the small droplets to cohere into a spherical shape in the bath and the spheres don’t stick together as in reverse spherification.


You can make the caviar with a syringe or using the caviar maker. The Caviar Maker has 96 pipettes connected to a syringe releasing 96 drops into the calcium bath in the same amount of time you would be releasing just one drop using a syringe or squeeze bottle.  Now you can release 96 drops every 1 second and have 960 caviar spheres in 10 seconds and remove them all at the same time after 1 minute and 10 seconds ready to delight several diners.

Watch the video below for step by step instructions on how to make juice caviar with the Basic Spherification technique.

Ingredients for Caviar
- 500 g (18 oz) plum juice
- 2.5 g sodium alginate (0.5%)
- Optional: Red food coloring
Calcium Chloride Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) water
- 5 g calcium chloride (0.5%)

Preparation
Preparing the Plum Juice
Dispersing and Hydrating Sodium Alginate
1- Mix the sodium alginate with the juice using a blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that this may take longer than expected.
2- As an optional step you can add some red food coloring to obtain a nicer result. Since the caviar spheres are small, sometimes they look too pale and a little food coloring can significantly improve the presentation.
Removing Air Bubbles
3- Strain the mix and store it in the fridge covered in plastic wrap for a few hours to eliminate the air bubbles.

Preparing the Calcium Bath for Basic Spherification
1- Prepare the calcium bath in a bowl by dissolving the calcium chloride in the water.
Creating the Spheres in the Calcium bath

You are now ready to start creating the caviar! You can use a syringe or a caviar maker.

With syringe
1- Fill a syringe with the plum-alginate mixture and expel it drop by drop into the calcium bath. The syringe needs to be high enough (about 3 inches from the bath surface) for the drops to sink and to prevent the formation of a tail. Don’t go too high or the drops may break into smaller drops creating “baby” drops.

With Caviar Maker



Making spherification caviar is fun but it can be a draining process to make enough for a few cocktails or dishes one drop at a time using just a syringe or squeeze bottle. With the Caviar Maker you can now multiply the production by 96 times with no extra effort!

1-Add the plum-alginate mixture to the caviar maker tray. A minimum of 75 ml must be in the tray in order to avoid breaking vacuum when it is aspirated.
2- Replace the top section of the caviar maker over the tray containing the caviar mix. The tips of the 96 wells will now be immersed in the caviar mixture.
3- Back off the syringe plunger to 5cc. Creates air space to provide extra push at the end of the dispensing cycle.
4- Attach the tubing to the syringe.
5- Aspirate the syringe plunger to the 20 ml mark on the barrel of the syringe in a slow and steady motion.
6- Carefully lift the caviar maker from the tray and place it about 3 inches over the calcium bath. Slowly depress the syringe plunger from 20ml to 0 ml.

Collecting the Juice Caviar
1- After a minute, remove the caviar spheres from the calcium bath, rinse them in a clean water bath and serve immediately. The jellification process continues even after removing the caviar from the calcium bath and will eventually convert into a solid gel sphere with no liquid inside.

Serving Suggestions


-Serve in a faux caviar tin.
-Use it to top a green tea panna cotta.
-Add it to cocktails.
-Plum juice pairs well with fresh basil, candied apricot, fresh peach, cooked salmon, sharp cheddar.

Apple Caviar with Banana Foam
Ingredients for Apple Caviar
- 225 g (8 oz) Golden apple juice (~ 1/2 kg / 1 ¼ lb apples)



- 1.8 g sodium alginate (buy sodium alginate)
- ¾ lb Granny Smith apples (for apple juice reduction)
- ½ tsp cinnamon

Calcium Chloride Bath
- 500 g (18 oz) water
- 2.5 g calcium chloride (buy calcium chloride)

Banana Foam Ingredients
- 50 g (~2 oz) ripe banana
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1.3 g powder gelatin

Preparation
Apple Juice Caviar
1- Wash and core apples and extract the juice using a centrifugal juicer. It is useful to understand why browning occurs to reduce it and obtain a nicer looking caviar. Browning of fruits such as apples occurs when phenolic compounds and enzymes come in contact with oxygen from the air as we cut the fruit. Ascorbic acid is usually used to coat the fruit and slow the activity of these enzymes to prevent browning. However, in this case, the acidity will inhibit the jellification process used for making caviar. A preferred method in this case is to start with cold apples and follow with brief heating of the extracted juice, which kills the enzymes and slows the browning process. So extract the juice and quickly perform step 2 and 3.



2- Mix the sodium alginate with the apple juice using an immersion blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that this may take longer than expected.
3- Immediately heat the mixture to 96 °C (205°F). Strain the mix and store it in the fridge until serving time in a sealed container.
4- Prepare the calcium bath in a bowl by dissolving the calcium chloride in the water.
5- You are now ready to start creating the caviar! Add the apple-alginate mixture to the caviar maker tray. A minimum of 75 ml must be in the tray in order to avoid breaking vacuum when it is aspirated.
6- Replace the top section of the caviar maker over the tray containing the caviar mix. The tips of the 96 wells will now be immersed in the caviar mixture.
7- Back off the syringe plunger to 5cc. Creates air space to provide extra push at the end of the dispensing cycle.
8- Attach the tubing to the syringe.
9- Aspirate the syringe plunger to the 20 ml mark on the barrel of the syringe in a slow and steady motion.
10- Carefully lift the caviar maker from the tray and place it about 3 inches over the calcium bath. Slowly depress the syringe plunger from 20ml to 0 ml.
11- After a minute, remove the caviar spheres from the calcium bath, rinse them in a clean water bath and serve immediately. The jellification process continues even after removing the caviar from the calcium bath and will eventually convert into a solid gel sphere with no liquid inside.

Apple Juice Reduction
1- Wash and core apples and extract the juice using a centrifugal juicer.
2- Strain juice and place over medium heat until reduced to caramel consistency.

Banana Foam
1- Process the banana, sugar and milk with an immersion blender.
2- Sprinkle with gelatin and allow to soak for a minute or two.
3- Heat over very low heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is fully dissolved (approximately 5 minutes).
4- Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream.
5- Using the ISI funnel and sieve, pour the mixture into an ISI Whip or Culinary Whipper with desired nozzle, screw 1 cream charger (2 if using 1L ISI Whip) and shake 5 times.
6- Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least  4 hours.

Assemble and Serve
1- Pump some banana foam on an appetizer spoon.
2- Place a spoon of apple caviar on the foam.
3- Season caviar with some apple reduction.
4- Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Carbonated Mojito Spheres
Ingredients
- 12 mint leaves
- 170 g (6 oz) white rum
- 170 g (6 oz) lime juice
- 128 g (4 ½ oz) water [ingredients list continues below image]



- 6 tbsp white sugar
- lime zest
- small mint leaves to decorate
- 4.7 g Calcium Lactate Gluconate
- 0.8 g Xanthan

Alginate Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) of filtered or low calcium water
- 5 g sodium alginate

Preparation
Alginate Bath
1- Start by preparing the alginate bath. Mix the sodium alginate in the water using an immersion blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that this may take longer than expected.
2- Let it rest for 24 hours in the fridge so that the air that has entered the mixture disappears and the sodium alginate is completely rehydrated.

Mojito Mix
1- Place mint leaves and lime juice in cocktail shaker. Crush the mint and lime juice with a muddler to release the mint oils.
2- Add the sugar, rum and water and shake vigorously until all sugar has dissolved. If you don’t like it sweet, start with less sugar and add more to taste.
3- Pass the mojito mix through a fine sieve.
4- Then mix 180 g (6.4 oz) of mojito with the Calcium Lactate Gluconate until it dissolves completely. Reserve in the fridge the remaining mojito to carbonate the spheres.
5- Finally add the Xanthan and let it hydrate for 1 minute. Then mix it using an immersion blender and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours to eliminate the air bubbles.

Making Mojito Spheres
1- You are now ready to start the spherification process! Remove the alginate bath and mojito mix with Calcium Lactate from the fridge.
2- Scoop the mojito mixture with a half sphere 5 ml measure spoon and carefully pour it into the alginate bath. It is important that the mojito spheres don’t touch since they would stick together.
3- Leave the spheres "cooking" for about 2 minutes in the alginate bath.
4- Carefully remove the mojito spheres using a slotted spoon.
5- Then rinse them very gently with water and strain them carefully. Place them in a bowl with water or mojito while you make more spheres.
7- To carbonate the spheres, pour the reserved mojito (without Calcium Lactate) in an ISI Whip container and carefully place the mojito spheres inside it.
8- Charge the ISI Whip with a CO2 cartridge (not N2O or they won’t be fizzy!).
9- Store them in the fridge for about 2 hours.
10- Discharge the canister by holding it upright and squeezing the trigger to release the pressure. DO NOT open the canister before discharging it completely.
11- Unscrew the top and remove the spheres.
12- Serve immediately on appetizer spoons, sprinkle some lime zest and decorate with small mint leaves.
 
Liquid Parmesan Gnocchi and Mushroom Infusion



About 5 servings.

Ingredients
Parmesan Spheres Ingredients
- 0.75l (25.36oz) mineral water
- 3.75g (0.13oz) Sodium Alginate
- 250ml (8.33oz) Mineral Water
- 250g (8.82oz) Parmesan Cheese
- 30g (1.06oz) Mascarpone cheese
- 2.5g (0.09oz) Calcium Lactate Gluconate

Fragrant Mushroom Consommé Ingredients
- 0.75l (25.36oz) roast chicken broth
- 200g (7.06oz) frozen porcini mushrooms
- 50g (1.76oz) minced chives
- 25g (0.88oz) chopped shallots
- 50g (1.76oz) Butter
- 25g (0.88oz) fresh cream
- salt and white pepper to taste
- 1 stalk lemongrass for every 200 ml of mushroom consommé
 
Cooked Mushrooms
- 75g (2.65oz) fresh mushrooms (Champignons, Amanita)
- Butter
- Salt and white pepper

Fresh Mushrooms
- Mushrooms of the highest quality to be consumed raw (Champignons, Amanita)
- Olive oil
- Salt

Garnishes
- 15 walnut halves, cut into large chunks
- Several rosemary and arugula flowers
- Fresh truffle, sliced thinly (Tuber Aestivium, Melanosporum or Magnatum Stang)
- Olive oil

Preparation
Parmesan Cheese Spheres Preparation
If this is your first time doing Reverse Spherification, you may want to read this first: Reverse Spherification Lesson
1 - First, make the sodium alginate bath, mixing half of the water with the sodium alginate and mixing with a blender until the alginate is fully integrated, add the remaining water and store covered in the fridge for a minimum of 12 hours to remove the air bubbles.
2 - Grate the Parmesan cheese very finely and add to boiling water.
3 - Let it infuse covered for 30 minutes and pass through a fine sieve.
4 - Add the remaining ingredients and let the mixture cool in the fridge.
5 - To make the spheres, use a teaspoon to drop small amounts (about 2.5ml) of the cheese mixture into the alginate bath.
6 - Transfer spheres to a bath of mineral water to remove traces of alginate.
7 - Remove the spheres with a perforated spoon and store them in mild olive oil.
8 - Prior to serving, heat spheres in oil at 65°C (149°F) for 5 to 10 minutes.
 
Fragrant Mushroom Consommé Preparation
1 - Separate the stems and caps of the frozen mushrooms.
2 - Using a peeler, peel the stems of the mushrooms.
3 - Put two liters of water to boil with a 5% salt solution (100g salt).
4 - Scald the stems of the mushrooms for 5 seconds and then add the caps.
5 - Cool in ice water.
6 - Dice mushrooms into cubes of 1 to 2cm (about 1/2 inch).
7 - Poach onions in 10g (0.35oz) of butter.
8 - In another pan, brown diced, well-drained mushrooms until they turn a nice color.
9 - Add onions and poach with broth.
10 - Cook for 5 minutes and add the cream and butter.
11 - Mix in a food processor until creamy.
12 - To cool, freeze in vacuum bags forming slabs of 1 cm (about ½ inch) thick.
13 - The night before using the consommé, defrost the frozen mushroom mix in the fridge. Cover a perforated pan with several layers of cheesecloth, place the frozen mushroom slabs on it and collect the consomme in the bottom pan as it slowly thaws in the fridge. Cover the perforated pan to protect the consommé from other odors in the fridge or get dirty.
14 - Boil the collected consommé, season with salt and add the chopped lemongrass.
15 - Allow to infuse for 5 to 10 minutes and strain.
16 - Before serving, bring back to a boil quickly.

Cooked Mushroom Preparation
1 - Clean the mushrooms using minimum water.
2 - Cut into 1.5 cm pieces (0.6 in).
3 - Sautee the mushrooms with the butter until tender.
4- Season with salt and serve immediately.

Fresh Mushroom Preparation
1- Clean the mushrooms and peel them if necessary.
2- Slice into very thin slices with the help of a mandolin or deli slicer.
3- Season with salt and olive oil.

Assembly
1 - In a soup bowl or hot cocotte, place 5 to 6 Parmesan spheres.
2 - Add a couple of walnut chunks.
3 - Add two tablespoons of sauteed mushrooms.
4 - Add a few slices of raw mushrooms, elegantly placed.
5 - Finish by adding a few tablespoons of fragrant mushroom broth.
6 - Garnish with flowers, a drizzle of oil, and several freshly sliced truffle flakes.
7 - Serve immediately. You can also plate everything except for the consomme and add it at the table.

Smokey Forest: lavender smoke, porcini soil, arugula sphere



Modernist techniques used in this dish are cold smoking with Smoking Gun, gelification of apricot, spherification of arugula, dehydration of porcini soil and transformation of hazelnut oil to powder with tapioca maltodextrin.

Yields 6 servings using approximately 3/4 mushroom cap per serving.

Ingredients for Each Component
Before you begin preparing Smokey Forest, make sure that you have everything that you’ll need. Molecular gastronomy tools that you’ll need include ingredients for spherification, tapioca maltodextrin to convert oil into powder, Ultra-Sperse 3 and Ultra-Tex 3 for the gels and a PolyScience Smoking Gun.

Ingredients for Marinated Portabella Mushroom
- 5 caps portabella mushroom, gutted
- 1/8 cup balsamic reduction
- 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 sprig fresh thym
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 cup blended oil

Arugula Sphere
- 113g (1/4 lb) Fresh arugula
- kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 1/2 tsp sodium alginate
- Calcium bath (0.5% of Calcium Chloride in water)

Hazelnut Powder
- 1/4 cup hazelnut oil
- kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup tapioca maltodextrin

Goat Cheese Ball
- 1 lb Humboldt fog chevre goat cheese
- 2 cups Japanese panko bread crumbs
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Pinot Noir Gel
- 1 1/2 cup pinot noir
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp. ultra-sperse 3

Sweet and Sour Apricot Gel
-1 cup apricot
-1 cup simple syrup
-½ cup tangerine Juice
-Ultra-Tex 3 to obtain desired consistency

Roasted Garlic Gnocchi
- 1 large Yukon Gold potato
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 shallot, roasted and passed through a tamis
- 1/4 bunch finely chopped parsley
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 113g (4oz) all-purpose flour
- kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Dried Porcini & Almond Soil
- 1 cup dried porcinis
- 1/2 cup almonds, toasted
- 42.5g (1.5 oz) dark pumpernickel bread
- 2g kosher salt

Other Ingredients
- White truffle-infused balsamico
- Dried lavender flowers

Preparation
Arugula Spheres
1 - Blanch and shock the arugula for up to 15 seconds.
2 - Transfer the arugula to the blender.
3 - Add the stock and salt and pepper to taste.
4 - Puree until smooth.
5 - Add the alginate.
6 - Continue to puree until well blended and smooth.
7 - Using a tablespoon, drip spheres into the calcium bath.

Because the arugula spheres need to sit for a few minutes in the calcium bath in order to spherify but will turn to gel as time goes by, get them into the bath about 5 minutes prior to plating. There are two spherification methods typically used in molecular gastronomy: basic and reverse. For this recipe, use the basic spherification method.

Hazelnut Powder
1 - Use a food processor to blend the oil and salt and pepper to taste.
2 - Add the starch a little at a time until a powdery consistency is reached.
3 - Set aside.

Goat Cheese Ball
1 - Roll the goat cheese into uniform 14g (1/2 oz) balls.
2 - Place the flour, egg and bread crumbs into 3 separate bowls.
3 - Roll the cheese thoroughly in the flour.
4 - Dip the cheese into to egg.
5 - Roll the cheese in the bread crumbs.
6 - Deep fry the cheese at 350 °F for about 1 minute or until golden brown.

Pinot Noir Gel
1- Blend all ingredients with immersion blender.
2- If necessary, add a touch more of ultra-sperse 3 to allow gel to stand on its own. If too thick, add a touch more of pinot noir.
3- Transfer to squeeze bottle.

Sweet and Sour Apricot Gel
1- Set Sous Vide bath to 85 á´¼C (185 á´¼F).
2- Place ingredients in sous vide bag and suck air out. Place bag in sous vide and leave for 3 hours.
3- Once done, shock apricot bag in ice bath. When cooled, blend all of the contents in the bag until smooth.
4- Add Ultra-Tex 3 until desired consistency is reached. Transfer to squeeze bottle.

Roasted Garlic Gnochi
1 - Peel the potato and boil until soft, about 10 minutes.
2 - Let it rest for 30 minutes until cool enough to work with.
3 - Pass it through a tamis into a large mixing bowl.
4 - Mix in garlic, shallot, parsley, egg, olive oil, salt and pepper.
5 - Incorporate the flour and let the dough rest for an hour.
6 - Roll dough out onto a flour board into a 1/2 inch-thick cylinder.
7 - Cut into 1/2-inch pieces with a pizza roller or sharp knife.
8 – Blanch in oiled, salted boiling water for 60 to 90 seconds or until it floats.
9 – Remove from water and set aside.

Dried Porcini and Almond Soil
1 – Pulse all ingredients together in food processor until a crumble forms.

Assembly


1- Cut the mushroom caps on an extreme bias sashimi style and shingle on the center of a wood bark plate.
2- Lightly drizzle the mushroom with the truffle-infused balsamico.
3- Sprinkle a small amount of porcini soil and hazelnut powder on top of each mushroom.
4- Place a small pile of porcini soil and hazelnut powder on opposite sides of the mushroom.
5- Arrange 1/6 of the blanched asparagus into a nest and place gently on top of the mushroom.
6- Make three 1/2-teaspoon dots of sweet and sour apricot gel around outer edge of plate.
7- Make three 1/2-teaspoon dots of pinot noir gel scattered on the plate.
8- Add one arugula sphere on top of one dot of apricot gel so that the gel acts as a stabilizer for the sphere.
9- Place a stemless martini glass over the mushroom shingle.
10- Place dry lavender flowers in the PolyScience Smoking Gun.
11- Trap lavender smoke under the upside-down martini glass, thereby infusing the mushroom composition with the lavender essence/vapor/aroma.
12- Serve immediately.

Yuzu Cilantro Spheres


Ingredients
- 60 g (2.1 oz) yuzu juice
- 30 g (1.1 oz) orange juice
- orange peel
- 2 g cilantro
- 30 g (1.1 oz) simple syrup
- 2 g orange zest
- small cilantro leaves for garnish
- unflavored popping sugar (buy popping sugar)
- 2.4 g calcium lactate gluconate (buy calcium lactate gluconate)

Alginate Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) of filtered or low calcium water
- 5 g sodium alginate (buy sodium alginate)
- 50 g (1.8 oz) sugar

Preparation
Alginate Bath
1- Start by preparing the alginate bath. Mix the sodium alginate and sugar in the water using an immersion blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that this may take longer than expected.
2- Let it rest for 24 hours in the fridge so that the air that has entered the mixture disappears and the sodium alginate is completely rehydrated.

Yuzu Mix
1- Mix Yuzu and orange juice with the Calcium Lactate Gluconate until it dissolves completely.
2- Add orange peel and cilantro and let it rest in a covered container in the fridge for 1 hour.
3- Pass the mix through a fine sieve.
4- Add simple syrup to taste and mix.
5- Place hemispheric silicone mold on a cutting board, flat pan or plate so you can keep it flat while you place it in the freezer. Fill the hemispheric mold with the yuzu mix and let if freeze overnight.

Making Yuzu Spheres
1- You are now ready to start the spherification process! Warm the alginate bath in the microwave (around 65 °C / 150 °F).
2- Pop a few frozen Yuzu hemispheres into the warm alginate bath. It is important that they don’t touch or they will stick to each other.
3- Leave the spheres "cooking" for about 2 minutes in the alginate bath. Try with one sphere first until you find the right timing which depends on how fast the frozen hemisphere thaws. If the membrane is too weak, leave it a little longer in the bath. If it is too thick, reduce the time. After you practice with a few spheres, you’ll be able to tell if they are ready by just lifting the spheres just above the surface of the bath using a slotted spoon.
4- Carefully remove the Yuzu spheres using a slotted spoon.
5- Rinse them very gently in a bowl with warm water.
6- Transfer them to a container with water or Yuzu juice while you make more spheres.
7- Store the Yuzu spheres in the fridge until serving time.
Optional: Carbonating the Spheres
8- To carbonate the spheres, place them carefully in an ISI Whip (buy ISI Whip) container and cover them with Yuzu juice.
9- Charge the ISI Whip with a CO2 cartridge (not N2O or they won’t be fizzy!).
10- Place them in the fridge for about 2 hours.
11- Discharge the canister by holding it upright and squeezing the trigger to release the pressure. DO NOT open the canister before discharging it completely.
12- Unscrew the top and remove the spheres. Serve immediately.

Assemble and Serve
1- Remove Yuzu spheres from the fridge and place them on appetizer spoons.
2- If spheres were stored in water, add a few drops of Yuzu mix to each sphere.
3- Decorate with small cilantro leaves, orange zest and pop rock.

Potato Foam Gnocchi with Roasted Potato Skin Consomme



Potatoes
- 480 g (17 oz) potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes) peeled with a knife leaving skin 2 mm thick
- 3 cups water to boil potatoes

Potato Consommé Ingredients
- thick potato skins (previous preparation)
- 1 cup water
- salt

Potato Foam
- 450 g (16 oz) boiled potatoes (previous preparation)
- 300 g (10.6 oz) potato boiling water (previous preparation)
- 1/2 tbsp white truffle oil or olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 5 g sodium alginate

Calcium Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) water
- 5 g calcium chloride

Side Ingredients
- Butter
- Heavy cream
- Sea salt flakes

Preparation
Start by peeling the potatoes with a knife leaving skin with about 2 mm of potato. Put the thick potato skins on a pan in the oven with a little bit of oil so they don’t stick to the pan. Roast the potato skins until they have a dark color and some of the edges are almost burnt. Cut the potatoes in small 3 cm (~1 inch) squares and boil in 3 cups of water. Reserve the potato boiling water, the boiled potatoes and the roasted potato skins separately.



Using an immersion blender, mix 300 g of potato boiling water with 5 g of sodium alginate. It takes a few minutes to mix it really well. Add 450 g of boiled potatoes and mix with the immersion blender until it is really smooth. Add the white truffle oil, salt, pepper and mix one more time. Pass the potato mix through a fine sieve and pour into a ½ L ISI Whip with the straight nozzle. Charge the ISI Whip with one cream charger and shake 3 times. Reserve.

To make the consommé, put the roasted potato skins in a pot, cover with one cup of water (potato skins shouldn’t have too much room to float around) and bring to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat, cover with film and let it rest for 1 hour. Pass the resulting liquid through a superbag or sieve covered in cheesecloth. Reserve.

Prepare the calcium bath by mixing the water with the calcium chloride.

Get the sides ready so your gnocchi don’t get cold before serving. Cut the butter in 5 mm (1/5 inch) slices and then cut in squares of 2 cm sides (3/4 inch). Reserve in the fridge. Whip heavy cream and reserve in the fridge.

You are now ready to create the potato foam gnocchi and serve. Keep reserved roasted potato skin consommé in a pot at about 60 ËšC (140 ËšF) so it is ready to heat the gnocchi right before serving. Get the ISI Whip with the potato foam and the calcium bath ready.

Turn the ISI Whip upside down, immerse the straight nozzle in the calcium bath and carefully start injecting potato foam in the bath while you slowly move around the bath creating a serpentine shape.

Then quickly proceed to cut the serpentine with a pair of scissors in pieces of 2 cm (3/4 inch) in length. Wait for 2 1/2 minutes moving the gnocchi occasionally so all sides get equally exposed to the calcium bath and remove gnocchi from the bath using a slotted spoon. Rinse them in warm water and place in the pot with the warm consommé. Wait for 3 to 5 min to get the gnocchi warm and you are ready to plate.

The resulting gnocchi are a little thinner than what Ferran Adria serves at El Bulli. To make them thicker you can place a wider PVC or aluminum tube around the ISI nozzle.

Remove gnocchi from potato skin consommé using slotted spoon and place on the plate leaving room for the butter squares and whipped cream. Put a square or two of butter on the plate and sprinkle sea salt flakes on them. Add a spoon of whipped cream on the side. Carefully pour some roasted potato skin consommé on the gnocchi and serve immediately.
 
Strawberry Spheres with Ground Pepper



A simple spherification recipe to make strawberry spheres that explode in the mouth! Great for kids and very versatile. In this recipe we just serve them with ground pepper but the strawberry spheres can be used as a filling in a sponge cake, as a surprise inside some chocolate air or as garnish for many desserts such as chocolate mousse. Be creative and share with us your ideas in the comment section!

Use the Reverse Spherification technique in this recipe. If you haven't  read our Spherification Course yet we recommend you do that first. Watch video below.

Ingredients for Strawberry Spheres
- 250g (8.8 oz) strawberry puree (~300g / 10.6 oz strawberries)
- 10g (0.35 oz) sugar
- salt pinch
- 5g calcium lactate gluconate (2%)
- Strawberry juice to store the spheres if you are not planning to consume them within a few hours.

Garnish
- Coarse ground black pepper

Spherification Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) distilled water
- 5 g sodium alginate (0.5%)



Preparation
Flavored Liquid
1- Using an immersion blender, puree the strawberries.
2- Pass the strawberry puree through a fine sieve.
3- Add the sugar, salt and calcium lactate gluconate. Blend.
4- Cover in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge overnight to remove the air bubbles.

Spherification Bath
Dispersing and Hydrating Sodium Alginate
1- Mix the sodium alginate with the distilled water using a blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that it may take longer than expected.
Removing Air Bubbles
2- Strain the mix and store it in the fridge covered in plastic wrap overnight to eliminate the air bubbles.

Creating Spheres with Reverse Spherification
1- Get the strawberry puree with calcium content from the fridge, the sodium alginate bath and the 1Tbsp measuring spoon to make large spheres.
2- Prepare another bowl with plain water that you are going to use later for rinsing the spheres to remove the excess of sodium alginate.
3- Grab the measuring spoon; fill it with the strawberry puree and carefully pour it into the sodium alginate bath. Wipe the bottom with a paper towel, place the spoon over the bath slightly touching its surface and flip it to pour the liquid into the sodium alginate bath.
4- Stir the bath gently with the slotted spoon without touching the spheres. If you let them sit in the bottom of the bath, they will flatten and if you let them float, the top won't be covered with the sodium alginate solution and won't gel. Make sure the spheres don’t touch each other or they will stick. Start with one sphere at a time until you get used to the process. A flat bottomed pan may be better than a bowl if you are planning to make multiple spheres at a time.
5- Wait for about 2 minutes. The longer you wait the thicker the gel that will form. In general, for a good eating experience, you want the gel layer surrounding the sphere to be as thin as possible but it also needs to be strong enough to hold the shape and allow for careful handling. If the membrane is too fragile, they may easily break when you remove them from the bath or place them on the serving spoon.
6- Carefully remove the sphere from the sodium alginate bath using a slotted spoon and rinse it in the bowl with clean water.

TIPS: I recommend you always start with one sphere first to adjust the pouring process and the time in the sodium alginate bath. If the sphere membrane is too subtle and the sphere easily breaks when handling it with the slotted spoon carefully or when plating it, extend the time in the calcium bath until you get the desired strength. Keep in mind that the thinner the membrane the better experience people are going to have when eating it.





Storing the Spheres and Preserving the Flavor
One of the biggest benefits of Reverse Spherification is that you can store the spheres to be consumed later. If you leave the spheres in contact with air, the gel will start to dry and eventually break. You need to store them in a liquid bath. However, since the gel membrane around the sphere is permeable to small molecules, osmosis will occur if submerged in water and dilute the flavored liquid inside the sphere. To preserve the flavor, store them in a bath of the same flavored liquid in the fridge, strawberry juice in this case.

Assemble and Serve
1- Place the strawberry spheres on appetizer spoons.
2- Garnish with coarse ground black pepper.

Praline Sponge Cake, Cocoa Yogurt, Bubbles, Mango Petals



Ingredients
Praline cashew sponge
- 104 g (3.66 oz) egg whites
- 100 g (3.52 oz) Praline cashew
- 67 g (2.36 oz) egg yolk
- 67 g (2.36 oz) sugar
- 17 g (0.6 oz) flour

Bitter cocoa yogurt
- 100 g (3.52 oz) water
- 40 g (1.41 oz) sugar
- 40 g (1.41 oz) raw cocoa powder (prefer Big Tree)
- 10 g (0.35 oz) cream
- 100 g (3.53 oz) Greek yogurt, well hung

Cream Bubbles
- 250 g (8.8 oz) cream
- 125 g (4.41 oz) milk
- 87.5 g (3.09 oz) water
- 75 g syrup (2.65 oz) (bring to boil 37.5 grams Water/37.5 grams Sugar)
- 5 g sucrose ester
- 1 piece cardamom, seeds only
- 1 piece vanilla, seeds and pod
- 1 piece Torch ginger flower

Mango petals
- 200 g (7 oz) Passion fruit juice
- 200 g (7 oz) Mango puree
- 100 g syrup (3.53 oz) (bring to boil 50 grams water/50 grams sugar)
- 2.8 g sodium alginate

Preparation
Praline Cashew Microwave Sponge
1- Mix all ingredients in a high speed blender.
2- Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
3- Fill an ISI Whip canister (1L) with the mix, and charge with two N2O cartridges.
4- Allow to rest for 6 hours.
5- Cut slits at the bottom of a paper cup using a paring knife. One slit in the center and three or four on the edges should be sufficient. This will ensure that the cake does not steam and get too moist.
6- Spray 20 grams of base into the perforated cup, and microwave at 1000 watts for approximately 30 seconds.  Unmold and reserve warm.

Bitter Cocoa Yogurt
1- Bring water, sugar, cream, and cocoa to a boil. Reduce to a syrup.
2- Allow to cool and mix with yogurt. Reserve cold.

Cream Air
1- Bring all ingredients to a boil.
2- Mix well with a hand blender.
3- Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
4- Reserve warm and foam a la minute with a hand blender right before serving.

Mango Petals
1- Mix all ingredients in a high speed blender.
2- Strain through a fine mesh sieve.
3- Spread onto acetate sheet previously cut into the shape of petals.
4- Dry at 43°C (110°F) for 3 hours.
5- Flip over and dry for 3 more hours.
6- Reserve dry in a container with desiccant packets.

Assemble and Serve
1- Spread some bitter cocoa yogurt on the plate.
2- Add some pieces of warn sponge cake.
3- With the immersion blender introduce air to the cream mix to make bubbles. Scoop some cream bubbles on the plate.
4- Scatter a few mango petals on top.

Honey Caviar, Fourme d’Ambert, Black Tea



Making spherification caviar is fun but it can be a draining process to make enough for a few cocktails or dishes one drop at a time using just a syringe or squeeze bottle. With the Caviar Maker you can now multiply the production by 96 times with no extra effort! You can purchase the Caviar Maker from our store.

Honey Caviar Ingredients
- 110 g (3.9 oz) acacia honey
- 90 g (3.2 oz) water (filtered water or with low calcium content)
- 1.6 g sodium alginate (0.8%)

Honey Syrup
- 2 oz acacia honey
- 1 oz water

Calcium Bath
- 500 g (18 oz) water
- 2.5 g calcium chloride

Other Ingredients
- 200 g Fourme d’Ambert cheese
- Back tea

Preparation
1- Prepare the honey mix for the caviar. Mix the sodium alginate in the water using an immersion blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that this may take longer than expected.
2- Once the sodium alginate is dissolved, mix with the honey using the immersion blender. Let the mix rest in the fridge for 12 hours to eliminate the air bubbles created by the immersion blender.
3- Once the mix has no air bubbles remove it from the fridge until it reaches room temperature to reduce the viscosity of the mix.
4- Prepare the calcium bath in a bowl by dissolving the calcium chloride in the water.
5- Prepare the honey syrup by mixing with a spoon the honey with the water until completely dissolved.
6- You are now ready to start creating the caviar! Fill a syringe with the honey-alginate mixture and expel it drop by drop into the calcium bath. The syringe needs to be high enough (about 6 inches from the bath surface) for the drops to sink and to prevent the formation of a tail. Don’t go too high or the drops may break into smaller drops creating “baby” drops.
7- Leave the caviar "cooking" for about 1 minute in the calcium bath and then carefully remove it using a sieve. Then rinse it very gently with water to remove the calcium.
8- Once you have enough quantity of caviar, add a few spoons of honey syrup.
9- Consume immediately since the jellification process continues even after removing the caviar from the calcium bath and will eventually convert into a solid gel sphere with no magical liquid inside.

Assemble and Serve
1- Place a few spoons of caviar with honey syrup on top of the Fourme d’Ambert cheese.
2- Serve with crackers and a small cup of black tea.
 
Spherical Pear Elderflower Martini Recipe



It has a very subtle and delicate taste with hints of passion fruit, pear, grapefruit and lemon and it has low sugar content (almost half that of other liquors).

 This molecular gastronomy recipe uses the Reverse Spherification method created by Ferran Adria and el Bulli team. After a few tests, this is the best recipe I have to offer you.

Pear Elderflower Mix
- 40 g (1.4 oz) Pear Vodka (Absolut or Grey Goose)
- 40 g (1.4 oz) St. Germain
- 40 g (1.4 oz) water
- 20 g (0.7 oz) grapefruit juice

Sphere Mixture Ingredients
- 140 g (5 oz) Pear Elderflower Mix
- 3.6 g Calcium Lactate Gluconate
- 0.6 g Xanthan

Alginate Bath
- 1000 g (35 oz) of water
- 5 g sodium alginate

Preparation

Start by preparing the alginate bath. Mix the sodium alginate in the water using an immersion blender until the sodium alginate is completely dissolved. If this is your first time doing this, be aware that this may take longer than expected. Let it rest for 24 hours in the fridge so that the air that has entered the mixture disappears and the sodium alginate is completely rehydrated.

Then create the pear elderflower mix by mixing the vodka, St. Germain, water and grapefruit juice. Then mix in the calcium lactate gluconate and finally add the Xanthan and let it hydrate for 1 minute. Then mix it using an immersion blender and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours to eliminate the air bubbles.

You are now ready to start the spherification process! Remove the alginate bath from the fridge. Scoop the pear elderflower mixture with a half sphere 5ml measure spoon and carefully pour it into the alginate bath. It is important that the martini spheres don’t touch since they would stick together. Leave the spheres "cooking" for about 2 minutes in the alginate bath and then carefully remove them using a slotted spoon.

Then rinse them very gently with water and strain them carefully. If desired they could be stored in a sealed container with water in the fridge. To improve the technique read 10 Tips to Create a Perfect Sphere.

Serving suggestions

- Serve in appetizer spoon

All recipe has been linked from www.molecularrecipes.com
where you can also purchase all necessary equipment to make molecular gastronomy food.