Chef Serge Jost
Chef Serge Jost
Fairmont MacDonald, Edmonton From High Tea to harvesting honey and everything in between, Chef Serge Jost is no stranger to impressing people.
To strike a perfect balance, he recommends cooking the spirit before adding it to a dessert.
If you wouldn’t drink with it, you shouldn’t cook with it. Chef Jost hazards against choosing “too cheap a spirit,” and says most of the time a bad taste will appear before a good one. “You don’t need to use the most expensive, but always go with a decent product,” Jost says.
“You want to have the flavour of the spirit, but not that strong alcohol taste, which is unpleasant,” he says. “Just boil the spirit so the alcohol will evaporate. You can add a little raw spirit to the dessert to have a little of the alcohol taste. It usually gives a kick, but it’s not aggressive on the palate.”
5. Once done, remove from the oven
and let cool on a wire rack. Leave in the fridge overnight to set.
6. Take the brownie out of the tray and
remove the parchment paper. Have the flattest side down on the chopping board. Begin to square up the sides and then cut into rectangles in 2 cm wide strips. Whiskey Ganache
Total prep and cook time 10 minutes
Brownie with Warm Whiskey Ganache and Yuzu Mousse
Serves Plenty Total prep and cook time 90 minutes 240 g dark chocolate 150 g unsalted butter 2 free-range eggs 175 g caster sugar 2 drops vanilla extract 20 g 70% cocoa powder, sieved 1 Tsp (5g) baking powder 60 g plain flour, sieved 100 g walnuts, roasted and lightly chopped 100 g 39% milk chocolate, roughly chopped Icing sugar for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a deepsided baking tray with parchment paper.
2. Melt the dark chocolate and butter
in bowl over a bain-marie. Stir constantly until they have melted completely; take the bowl off the bain-marie and leave to cool slightly.
2½ cups (600 mL) cream 500 g 70% dark chocolate ½ cup plus ¹ ⅓ /³ cup (200 mL) Jack Daniels
1. Melt cream and chocolate on a double boiler.
2. Burn off the alcohol from ¾ cup (180 mL) whiskey, reserving 4 tsp (20 mL) to add later.
3. Whisk the eggs and sugar in an electric 3. Once the cream and chocolate forms mixer until doubled in size. Once the egg mixture is aerated, fold in the melted butter and chocolate mix, being careful not to knock the air out of the mix.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and
pour into your baking tray. Place in the oven. It should take approximately 30 minutes for the brownies to cook; check by pushing a cocktail stick into the tray. The stick should come out slightly wet.
a homogenous mixture, add the whiskey and finish off with the raw whiskey for extra flavour. See culinairemagazine.ca for the Yuzu Mousse recipe to accompany Chef Jost’s brownies.
Wife, mother, and food lover, Leilani has a diverse background in digital marketing, writing, and event planning. She can be found buzzing around the Calgary Farmers’ Market as their Marketing Coordinator. 11