Mocha Heaven (Plated Desert)

Mocha Heaven recipe is a Masterchef worthy plated desert. This is a recipe which I came up with during my trials when I was preparing for my Masterchef Journey. The platter consists of mocha mousse dome placed on top of a buttery no cook chocolate sand. Other components like coffee caviar, strawberry gel, coffee jelly cubes elevates this dessert to a whole new level.

Mocha Heaven (Plated Desert)

You all know that I was in Masterchef Tamil Season 1. After I was selected, I had a month worth time to prepare for the show. I tried so many desserts and dishes for the show like my white chocolate plated dessert. This is one desert which I came up during my days in Masterchef. I created this recipe for my youtube channel and it immediately got trending. 

Jump to:

• About Mocha Heaven
• Watch Mocha Heaven Recipe Video
• Mocha Heaven Ingredients
• Tips I Learned in my Experience
• Mocha Mousse Dome (Pictures)
• Coffee Caviar (Pictures)
• Strawberry Gel (Pictures)
• Chocolate Sand (Pictures)
• How to Assemble Mocha Heaven Plated Dessert
• Expert Tips
• 📖 Recipe Card

About Mocha Heaven

Mocha heaven is a name that I came up with for this dessert. I wanted to create a dessert that represent my love for coffee and chocolate. All the elements in this dish elevates the chocolate and coffee combo.

The mousse is the main element in this recipe. It is a combination of chocolate and coffee flavour which is known as "mocha". I wanted the mousse to be a set moulded mousse. So I added some agar agar to make it set, also coated the mousse in a chocolate mirror glaze. You check my chocolate mousse recipe.

Even though this dessert is a 5 star restaurant worthy recipe, I wanted it to be easily understanding for my viewers. So I kept the element simple and approachable. I made a no cook chocolate sand, simple strawberry gel that is made with easy homemade ingredients.

The one complicated looking element is my coffee caviar. But I have made it simple enough to try at home without ingredients like Sodium alginate or Calcium chloride. This recipe uses black coffee, agar agar powder and cold oil.

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Watch Mocha Heaven Recipe Video

Mocha Heaven Ingredients

Mocha Mousse Dome - Like all mousse recipes, you need cream, chocolate, sugar, coffee powder. Since I am setting this in mould, I added some agar agar powder for it to set. The glaze is made with just two ingredients cream and chocolate.

Chocolate Sand - this is a no cook chocolate sand recipe. In which we blend few ingredients together till crumbly. I ground cocoa, sugar, salt and melted butter.

Strawberry Gel - This simple fruit gel is made with fruit juice, lemon, sugar and cornstarch which is cooked together till thick gel like.

Coffee Caviar & Cubes - simple recipe for caviar is made with a strong cup of brewed coffee, agar agar powder and some sugar. You also need some cold oil to forms the caviar.

I am naming this particular dessert as Mocha Heaven. Mocha means Chocolate and Coffee combination. This dessert has 5 Elements, 

1. Mocha Mousse Dome coated with Mirror Glaze. 
2. Coffee Caviar which gives the burst of coffee flavour. Like an explosion in your mouth. 
3. Coffee Jelly which adds Chewy element. 
4. Strawberry Gel which adds the tangy element
5. Chocolate Soil for the Crispy Buttery Layer.
6. A small sprig of basil leaves or mint leaves which gives a fresh look to the whole dessert.

Tips I Learned in my Experience

Mocha Mousse

Use good quality dark chocolate for this mousse which provides the intense chocolate flavour. When mixing in melted chocolate and agar agar, make sure it is completely cooled so the cream won't melt. Don't over whip the cream else it will curdle. When setting the mousse, place it in freezer so it is easy to de mould and mirror glaze later.

Chocolate Soil or Sand

All you need is a blender to make chocolate soil. If you want another easy option, you can use crushed chocolate cookies instead of this recipe. Leftover chocolate soil can be stored in fridge and sprinkled over vanilla ice cream.

Strawberry Gel

Use fresh strawberries for fresh taste. Always taste the gel and adjust lemon juice. The gel has to have a fresh zingy taste. You can add more or less cornstarch as per consistency. If you find the gel gets lumpy once cooked, take it in a blender and whip it once to make it smooth. Strawberry gel can be stored in fridge upto a week.

Coffee Caviar

Use cold oil, it is best to freeze the oil overnight. Always use refined oil which doesn't freeze rock solid. Use small dropper and be patient when you drop the caviar in the cold oil. Never rinse the caviar in hot water, use cold water to rinse the excess oil. Store leftover caviar in fridge.

Mocha Mousse Dome (Pictures)

Ingredients

1)Start by making chocolate mousse filling. First take all your ingredients. You need a handful of ingredients to make mocha mousse.

Take cold cream, agar agar powder, instant coffee powder, dark chocolate and sugar.

Heating Agar Agar

2)Take cold water in a bowl, sprinkle agar agar powder in a bowl. Leave it to sit for 10 minutes to bloom the agar agar.

3)Heat the mixture in microwave for 30 seconds till agar agar is melted. Set aside till needed.

Melting Chocolate

4)Take dark chocolate in a bowl. Place it in microwave and heat for few seconds till chocolate is melted.

You can melt the chocolate in microwave or double boiler.

5)Now the chocolate is melted completely. Once chocolate is melted, set aside so it cools completely.

Whipped Cream

6)Take cream in a mixing bowl. Make sure the cream is cold.

7)Add in instant coffee powder to the cream and mix well. Instead of instant coffee you can add espresso powder as well.

8)Add in some powdered sugar and mix until cream is thick and mixed.

9)Now the cream is combined well.

Making Chocolate Mousse Mixture

10)Now add in the melted cooled agar agar mix into the whipped cream. Make sure the agar agar mix is not super hot when you add into the cream mix.

11)Mix gently until combined. Don't over mix at this point, else it may curdle.

12)Add in the cooled melted chocolate into the whipped coffee mixture. It is very important that the chocolate is completely cold when mixing else the cream will melt down.

13)Use a spatula to gently fold the chocolate into the whipped cream. Don't over mix, just combine gently.

Setting in Mould

14)Take silicon dome shaped mould. You can use any mould as per your liking, silicon is preferred for easy unmoulding.

Dip a paper towel in oil, grease the mould with this oil briefly. Set aside till use.

15)Spread the chocolate mousse mixture into the mould. Use a spatula to gently smoothen the top of the mousse.

16)Now place this into the freezer and let it set for 2 hours. Since we are coating the mousse dome in chocolate, it is best to freeze the mousse. So the coating process is easier.

Mirror Glaze

17)For making mirror glaze. We are going to make a chocolate cream glaze. It is very simple. Take cream in a sauce pan. Heat it gently till the cream comes to a simmering stage. Take it off the heat.

18)Add chocolate into the hot cream and allow it to sit for 5 minutes.

19)Mix it using a spoon till chocolate is completely melted. Set aside so it cools.

De Moulding Chocolate Mousse

20)Take the set chocolate mousse dome. It is time to de mould, place a wire rack on top of a baking tray to catch any dripping chocolate.

21)Gently de mould the chocolate mousse, place it carefully onto the wire rack.

Mirror Glazing Mousse Dome

22)Now pour the cooled chocolate mirror glaze over the mousse dome. Pour it gently so the mousse is covered in chocolate glaze.

23)Allow the mousse to set in the wire rack for few minutes. You can place this in fridge till needed.

Pro Tip: Usually this is the last step I do before plating. So You can wait until all the elements is done, then do the glazing part.

Coffee Caviar (Pictures)

Coffee caviar adds a nice touch to this plated desert. It looks pretty as well as add a balance and explosion of coffee flavour. It is nothing but sweetened black coffee is thickened with agar agar mixture. This is then poured into a dropper and made into caviar by dropping it into the cold oil. I have already shared coffee caviar recipe in a separate post. Coffee Caviar Recipe. It is a fun process, and in this same recipe, instead of using coffee, you can use any fruit juice.

Pre-Preparation

1)For making coffee caviar, you need agar agar powder. I am using this brand every time and it works great.

2)The day before making coffee caviar, take any neutral tasting oil in a jug and place it in freezer. The oil has to be very cold.

Make Coffee Caviar Mix

3)Take black coffee in a sauce pan. You can mix instant coffee powder with some water or brew some fresh black coffee. Make sure the coffee is cool.

4)Add in sugar into the black coffee and mix well.

5)Sprinkle some agar agar powder into the black coffee mixture. Let it sit for 10 minutes to bloom the agar agar.

Heat Coffee

6)Place the coffee mix on heat and cook on low medium heat till agar agar melts. Keep whisking the whole time.

7)The coffee mixture will thicken as it cooks.

Making Caviar

8)Take cold oil from the freezer. Pour the coffee agar agar mix into a dropper.

9)Now gently drop the coffee agar agar mix into the cold oil. As it sinks down the oil, it will set and form small caviar like shape.

10)Do this in patience. Make sure you drop one at a time.

11)Now you can see the coffee caviar is set beautifully.

12)Strain the coffee caviar in a sieve. Rinse the coffee caviar under cold water just once to remove the excess oil.

13)Coffee caviar is ready to serve.

14)Store the coffee caviar in fridge until needed.

15)I transferred the remaining coffee mixture in a small pan and allowed it to set for few hours. Cut into cubes and you can use for plating.

Strawberry Gel (Pictures)

This is an easy way of making strawberry gel. All you need is strawberry juice, lemon, cornstarch and sugar. Cook it together till thickened. This adds colour and taste to the dessert.

1)Take strawberry juice in a sauce pan. Instead of strawberry juice, you can use cranberry juice or orange juice.

2)Add in some sugar to taste. if you are using store bought sweetened juice, you can skip the sugar.

3)Add in lemon juice and cornstarch. Mix it really well into the juice so it is lump free.

4)Once the cornstarch is mixed completely, you can place it on heat and cook.

5)Cook on low heat till the juice thickens. Keep mixing so there is no lumps formed.

6)Once the juice is thickened, transfer to a bowl and place in fridge to set.

7)Strawberry Gel is ready.

Chocolate Sand (Pictures)

This is a no cook chocolate sand recipe. It adds a buttery crunchy element to the dessert. It is very simple to make as well. All you need is blend few ingredients together till crumbly and serve.

1)Take sugar in a blender. I am using refined sugar.

2)Add in cocoa powder with a pinch of salt. Salt is important, it balance the taste and texture of the chocolate sand.

3)Now blend till till sugar and cocoa powder is combined and fine.

4)Drizzle in the melted butter. Don't add too much, else the mix will get pasty. So add little at a time and blend.

5)It has to resemble coarse sand.

6)Chocolate sand is ready.

How to Assemble Mocha Heaven Plated Dessert

1)Take a pretty serving plate. A shallow white bowl is perfect for this desert. Spoon chocolate sand in the base and spread as a thin layer.

2)use a small off set spatula to lift the chocolate mousse some from the wire rack and place it on top of the chocolate soil.

3)Spoon some caviar on the side.

4)Take strawberry gel in the piping bag and pipe small dollops. Scatter some coffee jelly.

5)Decorate it with a sprig of basil leaves.

Expert Tips

• This recipe is a labour of love. so take your time and make this amazing dessert.
• Strawberry gel, coffee caviar, coffee cubes, chocolate soil can be made a day in advance.
• You can make the mousse dome in advance and keep in freezer till use.
• At the time of serving give the mousse dome mirror glaze for shining look.
• For coffee caviar, use refined oil so it doesn't freeze in the freezer. 

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📖 Recipe Card

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