Easter Eggs

 

 

I’m guessing, unless you were in Roses, Spain that you didn’t find any Easter Eggs like this in your yard today. Before we go any further, I have to give FULL credit for this idea to my friend Yi Lynne Weber. She conceptualized the entire dish, I merely executed.

Remember when “Easter Egg” referred to hidden extras on a DVD? That’s like what this dish is… for memicking, surprises, fun!

Yi Lynne had an idea to make a dessert for an Easter party. Her vision was a sweet “scotch egg“. A few weeks ago we were Facebook chatting and she had the idea to take mango spheres, wrap them in a coconut sticky rice and fry them… GENIOUS!

Here’s what came out:

 

So I used the reverse spherification method to produce the mango spheres.

Mango Sphere Base:

371g Odwalla Mango Tango (or fresh mango puree if you can get them in season).

10.2g Calcium Lactate Gluconate (2.75%)

3.7g Ultratex 8 (1%)

 

Reverse Spherification Setting Bath:

1000g Bottled water.

5g Sodium Alginate (0.5%)

 

You’ll want to mix both of these solutions the night before to allow the hydrocolloids a chance to fully hydrate and air bubbles to escape.

Before you start making spheres, fill a container with fresh water for holding the completed spheres. Be sure to have towels on hand to wipe the bottom of the spoon each time it enters the alginate bath. This will prevent a skin from forming in the mango base. You can also put the mango base in a squeeze bottle for easier dispensing…

Wait! Before you make the spheres make some coconut sticky rice… Sushi rice (about three cups), rinsed of excess starch repeatedly until water runs clear. Cooking liquid should be half coconut milk, half water. For the fluid measurement, use the technique listed here. Pressure cook that shit for 3 minutes on high pressure, with a 7 minute slow release. Stir in shredded sweetened coconut to your taste. I used about two cups of coconut. Allow the rice to come to room temperature.

Back to spherification. Carefully drop 1/2 tablespoon of the mango base into the alginate bath. Allow the spheres to “cook” for about 30 seconds before removing them from the alginate and carefully putting them into the fresh water bath. While the spheres are in the alginate bath, make sure the spheres are fully submerged. The calcium in the mango liquid needs to come into contact with the alginate solution to form the “skin” that holds the liquid centered spheres.

Okay, this is the hardest part: forming the “eggs” I used plastic Easter egg shells as a mold, and also did some hand formed ones… the hand formed ones look more like goose eggs:)

make sure you have a good seal between the halves. Be careful not to press the rice too hard or you’ll break the mango yolk. Plan on making more than you need… my final yield was about 40% of the eggs I shaped. Some separated as I was battering them. If one of these yolks breaks while it’s in the fryer… um, well that would be bad news…splatter splatter.

Dry Tempura Mix:

250g Rice Flour.

250g Cake Flour.

20g Baking Powder.

 

To Mix Batter:

Revere about 1/2 Cup of dry mix for dredging the eggs.

 

2 Cups dry tempura mix.

1 Egg, beaten.

Ice cold club soda… enough to make a pancake batter consistency.

 

Dredge, batter, and fry at 375F until light brown.

 

Serve warm.