RECIPES: 'Dessert FourPlay'

Jan. 23, 2008— -- Nothing says Valentine's Day like dessert. GMA Now asked celebrated pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini of New York City's Jean-Georges restaurant to share some of his favorite recipes for the end of a romantic night.

Iuzzini, known for inventive pairing of sweet and spicy flavor, suggests trying these recipes from his first cookbook, "Dessert FourPlay."

Meyer Lemon Tarts, Chocolate Crème Chiboust, and Earl Grey Fluid Gel

Chocolate and lemon make an age-old combination; the tartness of lemon enhances the acidity of the cacao bean and cuts the fatty mouth feel. Meyer lemons have a short window of availability, and they're coveted for their lemony-orangey flavor -- which is particularly good when paired with chocolate. They're versatile, with as many uses in the savory kitchen as in the pastry kitchen.

Serves 8

Put the water and tea in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and infuse for 10 minutes. Strain, pressing on the solids, and measure; add water if necessary to make 1 1/4 cups. Refrigerate until cold.

Pour the tea into a blender and turn the blender on to low. Slowly sprinkle the agar into the vortex. When you've added all the agar, blend for 1 more minute.

Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook at an active simmer for 5 minutes, then pour into a baking dish. Refrigerate until set and chilled, at least 2 hours.

Put the gel back in the blender and blend until smooth and fluid. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

For the Earl Grey Fluid Gel:
1 1/3 cups (320 g) water

1 tablespoon Earl Grey tea leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons (3 g) agar

Grate the zest from the lemon and put it in a blender. Cut off the peel and pith, cut the lemon in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Chop the lemon and put it into the blender with the egg, egg yolk, vanilla sugar, and cream. Blend until very smooth. Strain into a pitcher or measuring cup. Skim off the foam and refrigerate until needed.

For the Meyer Lemon Custard:

1 Meyer lemon

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

5 tablespoons (62 g) Vanilla Sugar (page 185)

1/2 cup (120 g) heavy cream

For the Tarts:

1/2 recipe Spiced Chocolate Tart Dough (page 182)

Roll the dough to 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of parchment. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Cut 3 1/2-inch rounds from the dough and line eight 2 1/4-inch tart rings with the dough, setting the rings on the sheet pan as you finish. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375ºF or 350ºF on convection.

Trim the excess dough. Line the dough with parchment and fill with dried beans (or rice or pastry weights) and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Let the pastry shells cool and remove the beans and parchment.

Reduce the oven temperature to 250ºF (225°F if you're using convection).

Pour the Meyer lemon custard into the tart shells. Bake until the custard is set, with just a slight jiggle in the center, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

To Serve:
Chocolate Crème Chiboust (page 263)

Confectioners' sugar

Almond Praline Powder (page 216; optional)

Almond praline paste (optional)

Use a 2 1/8-inch cutter to cut the chocolate crème chiboust into eight disks. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate.

Heat the oven to 400ºF or 375ºF on convection.

Set a chiboust disk on top of each tart. Bake until puffed, about 2 minutes.

Smear some Earl Grey gel onto a dessert plate. Dust a tart with confectioners' sugar and place it on the gel. Garnish the plate with some praline powder and praline paste, if you want. Repeat for each serving.

Citrus-Almond Sponge Cake, Margarita Semifreddo

Serves 8 to 9

As I'm a great fan of a true margarita, I thought it would be fun to take the components apart and rearrange them into a dessert. This makes a lot, but leftovers will keep for a month in the freezer.

I learned a version of this sponge cake, which is called biscuit mirliton, at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo. I love it for its airy/cakey texture, which is like no other sponge. Perfumed with citrus zest, it is a great complement to the tangy semifreddo.

The key to the sponge is baking just before serving. You'll need eight to nine 1-ounce aluminum timbale molds for the cake and twenty 2 x 2-inch ring molds for the semifreddo (see Note, page 120).

For the Margarita Semifreddo:

1/4 cup (110 g) gold tequila

1/2 cup Cointreau

2 1/2 teaspoons (15 g) Simple Syrup (page 184)

2 tablespoons (4 g) fresh lime juice

Grated zest of 1 lime

1 teaspoon powdered gelatin (or 4.5 g sheet gelatin; see page 276)

1 large egg

2 large egg yolks

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (90 g) sugar

1 cup (240 g) heavy cream

Put twenty 2 x 2-inch ring molds on a tray and put them in the freezer at least 1 hour before you start to make the semifreddo.

Stir the tequila, Cointreau, simple syrup, and lime juice and zest together to make the margarita base. Measure 2/3 cup (drink the rest).

Pour about 3 tablespoons of the margarita base into a small glass bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Let sit for about 1 minute, then microwave for 45 seconds or heat gently in a small saucepan until melted.

Put the egg, egg yolks, and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer. Set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water-make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water-and whisk until the sugar is melted and the mixture is hot. Whisk in the gelatin.

Move the bowl to the standing mixer fitted with the whisk and whisk at medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and light and the sides of the bowl are cool.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream to medium peaks.

Fold about half of the remaining margarita base into the eggs. Fold in half the cream, then repeat, folding in the remaining base and the cream, gently but thoroughly.

Fill a pastry bag and pipe the semifreddo into the ring molds (see Note), leaving about 1?3 inch of headroom. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.

Heat the oven to 375ºF or 350ºF on convection. Spray eight to nine 1-ounce aluminum timbale molds with cooking spray and coat them with sugar (vanilla sugar, page 185, would be best). Set the molds on a baking sheet.

In a small bowl, rub the sugar, orange and lemon zests, and vanilla seeds (rinse, dry, and save the pod for another use) together with your fingers.

Whisk the almond flour, cornstarch, and salt together.

Put the egg and egg yolk in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk. Whisk at medium speed until frothy. Add the sugar mixture and beat at medium-high speed until light and doubled in volume. Add the dry ingredients gradually, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Increase the speed to high and beat until the batter regains its original volume, about 3 minutes. You can prepare the batter about 2 hours in advance. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it right away.

If you've made the batter in advance, whisk it again on high speed for about a minute. Fill a pastry bag and pipe the batter into the molds, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake until puffed, golden, and firm, about 11 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.

Unmold the cakes right away. You'll need to nudge them out of the molds with a small knife. Serve them warm.

For the Sponge Cake:

1/4 cup (50 g) sugar

Grated zest of half an orange

Grated zest of half a lemon

1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1/2 cup (50 g) almond flour

2 teaspoons (5 g) cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon (2 g) salt

1 extra-large egg

1 extra-large egg yolk

Mix the orange zest and sugar together in a small bowl. Dip the tops of the warm sponge cakes into the sugar and set them on small plates. Garnish with the candied kumquats and lemon zest. Unmold the margarita semifreddos by rubbing each mold briskly between your palms and then pushing the semifreddo out of the mold. Add them to the plates.

To Serve:

Grated zest of half an orange

About 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar

Candied Kumquats (page 258)

Candied Lemon Zest (page 258)

Note: You can freeze this dessert in whatever size molds you like (just be sure it's something you can push the semifreddo out of). For tastings, I use small plastic molds for the semifreddo that I have cut to order at a plastics store on Canal Street in New York City. The tubes have a 3/4-inch opening and they're cut in 13/8-inch lengths. If you are freezing the semifreddo in plastic, make sure you line the molds with acetate first. Muffin tins lined with plastic wrap would also work.

Citrus Fourplay

Winter may mean there are no more local stone fruits or berries in the markets, but this is the season for citrus. This tasting is an exercise in balance between sour and sweet, showcasing the bright flavors of citrus.

Serves 8

Citrus Salad, Calamansi Noodles

Lemongrass Ice Cream, Dehydrated Grapefruit, Carbonated Lime Curd, Crispy Tangerine Sticks

Citrus-Almond Sponge Cake, Margarita Semifreddo

Meyer Lemon Tarts, Chocolate Crème Chiboust, Earl Grey fluid Gel

Citrus Salad, Calamansi Noodles

Serves 4 on its own or 8 as part of a fourplay

Make it Simpler:

Instead of making noodles, you could pour the noodle base into glasses, let it set there, and then top with fruit and cream. Or combine it with gin for a killer "Jell-O" shot. Calamansi is a limelike citrus from the Philippines with a distinct flavor. It's sweeter than a lime, but it retains that tartness you expect. For this dessert, I turn calamansi puree into "noodles" by setting it with gelatin and then weave the tangy, slippery noodles in and out of a salad made with blood oranges and clementines.

For the Noodles:

3/4 cup (210 g) Simple Syrup (page 184)

4 teaspoons powdered gelatin (or 18 g sheet gelatin; see page 276)

Grated zest of half a lime

2 cups (250 g) calamansi puree (see page 276), or 1 cup fresh orange juice, 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, and 1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Rinse a 9 x 12-inch rimmed baking sheet with water and shake off the excess. Line the damp pan neatly with plastic wrap.

Put the simple syrup in a glass bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Let sit for at least 2 minutes to soften.

Microwave for 1 minute or heat gently in a small saucepan until melted. Whisk the gelatin and the zest into the calamansi puree. Pour into the pan and chill until set, about 2 hours.

To Serve:

1 thin slice Brioche (see page 194)

Olive oil

Coarse salt

Sugar

1 blood orange, segmented (see page 115)

2 clementines, segmented (see page 115)

Micro red shiso (or thinly sliced fresh red shiso leaves; optional)Black and white sesame seeds, toasted

Cut the brioche into tiny dice and leave it on the counter for a few hours.

Heat the oven to 350ºF or 325ºF on convection.

Toss the brioche with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and sugar. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Let cool.

Cut the calamansi into thin "noodles" with a sharp paring knife. Pick up a noodle by its end and lower it onto a dessert plate, adding citrus segments as you drape it so the noodle and citrus will be interwoven. Garnish with the shiso, sesame seeds, and brioche croutons. Repeat for each serving.