Because I couldn’t choose which tart to make for Easter lunch dessert, I obviously had to make both the Lemon Tart and the Exploding Chocolate Gateaux as the gateaux looked too divine to wait for another occasion.
As the “Chocolate” episode of How to Cook Like Heston hadn’t aired yet, I found the recipe on the UK website which had already aired the series.
The ingredients were pretty accessible, except for possibly the popping candy. As I had to get everything on the Saturday morning, there wasn’t much time to shop around for the candy. We were unable to find it in any of the supermarkets or department stores, but there is a lolly shop in town which had some flavoured popping candy in stock (the manager did say that they have had quite a few questions about it lately as My Kitchen Rules also featured a recipe using popping candy and everybody was after it).
As the only removable base tin I had for this was 26cm, I doubled the quantities in the recipe to ensure that the base wouldn’t be really thin and there would be enough for everyone.
As the popping candy we purchased was in a pack of three with the flavours strawberry, blue raspberry and green apple, I went with the strawberry option as I didn’t think the blue or green flecks in the base would be overly appetising.
Once the candy was mixed into the base (you could hear it popping away from the moisture of the butter), it was pressed into the bottom of the tin.
The base was put to the side and I commenced making the chocolate ganache. Adding the passion fruit was great as it did cut through the bitterness of the dark chocolate. Once cooled slightly, I brushed the top of the popping candy base with a layer of the ganache and put in the freezer to set. The rest of the ganache was then poured on top and put in the fridge until it was ready to be served.
As we weren’t able to buy the quantity of the popping candy the recipe says for the base, the popping sensation wasn’t quite as effective, however it still tasted pretty good. Now I am on the hunt for a better supply of unflavoured popping candy to see what else I can sneak it into.
I would like to share that I had some of both the lemon tart and the exploding chocolate gateau. They were both amazing.
I was lucky enough to plan an easter trip to see my family in orange and blayney, with a bonus of amazing creations by my lovely cousin, cathy. I need some lessons…
Holy cow, this exploding cake looks really delicious! Just saw your link over at The Chicken Chick’s link party and thought I’d come check it out 🙂
I’d love for you to stop by and link up a few recipes at my weekend link party “The Weekend re-Treat” that is going on right now too (well it runs till midnight tonight, lol) !
http://thebestblogrecipes.blogspot.com/
Hope to see you there!
Hi, I’ve been making the exploding gateau for a while now using the flavoured varieties of popping candy; I sift out the popping candy using a small tea strainer and discard the flavouring. It uses 6 or 8 packets of popping candy, but the result is very good – the more popping the better!
Great tip Peter. I have now found a place in Sydney I order neutral popping candy from and have about 1kg in the pantry to go through… if the hubby stops eating it and giving it to friends. Thanks for stopping by!
Where have you found the popping candy? I am desperately looking for some, and just cannot find it anywhere in Sydney!! In the UK, you could just buy it at the local supermarket!
Hi Lexie. I get my popping candy from The Red Spoon Company who sell popping candy in a variety of sizes. Check them out here. They also have a couple of different varieties (natural, chocolate coated or cocoa butter coated) and I tend to go with cocoa butter coated as it is meant to act as a bit of a barrier so the candy doesn’t pop when you add it to what you are making. Hope this helps!