Picture this: You’re digging a spoon into a soft chocolate cake as it oozes out molten chocolate, and you take a bite, the cake melts in your mouth. How does it feel? Simply heavenly, doesn’t it? We all love indulging in chocolate desserts, but can we actually make them at home? Especially the ones we get at high-end restaurants? Well, the answer is yes. With unstumbled’s Chef’s Corner, you can easily make delicious desserts and many other dishes at home.
Chef’s Corner is unstumbled’s cozy culinary corner, where notable chefs share heartfelt recipes for you to make at home. In this article, Chef Vikas Kumar, an accomplished executive pastry chef currently leading the pastry kitchen at JW Marriott Pune, shares the recipe for the Chocolate, Raspberry & Szechuan Pepper Dessert. Check it out!
Mouth-Melting Chocolate, Raspberry & Szechuan Pepper Dessert Recipe
About Chef Vikas Kumar and JW Marriott Pune
Chef Vikas Kumar is an accomplished Executive Pastry Chef who has over a decade of experience across luxury hospitality brands in India and the Middle East. He is currently leading the pastry kitchen at JW Marriott Pune and brings deep expertise in patisserie, boulangerie, and chocolate.
This expertise is backed by a strong foundation in food safety, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points), and team leadership. Rotana Hotels, Fairmont, and Safir Hotels & Resorts have played key roles in his career. These were the places where he has driven large-scale buffet planning, dessert innovation, and high-quality pastry operations across international markets.
Chocolate, Raspberry & Szechuan Pepper Dessert
Chocolate, raspberry, and Szechuan pepper is a very innovative dessert which is prepared by blending rich sweetness with tangy fruit and a unique tingly spice. The dark chocolate base offers deep, bittersweet cocoa notes while raspberry adds bright, tart juiciness, amid the cocoa notes for balance. Mid palate, the fruity chocolate taste gets a nice subtle spicy hit from Szechuan pepper.
Without much ado, let’s go ahead and check out how you can make this scrumptious dessert easily.
Components of the dessert:
- Chocolate & Szechuan Pepper Crumble
- Raspberry Sorbet
- Soft Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate, Raspberry & Szechuan Pepper Mousse
- Final Assembly & Plating
- Chocolate & Szechuan Pepper Crumble
Ingredients
- 37 g Szechuan pepper
- 600 g caster sugar
- 975 g T55 flour
- 325 g Cacao Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder
- 20 g baking powder
- 12 g Maldon sea salt
- 945 g unsalted butter, cold, diced
Method
- Grind Szechuan pepper to a fine powder.
- Sieve together flour, cocoa powder, pepper, baking powder, and salt.
- Add all ingredients to a Hobart bowl fitted with a paddle and mix until a coarse crumble texture forms.
- Spread evenly on Silpats.
- Bake at 165 degree celsius for 10 to 20 minutes, stirring halfway for even baking.
- Cool completely and break into small crumbles. Store airtight.
- Sorbet Syrup (Base)
Ingredients
- 2250 g caster sugar
- 2700 g water
- 900 g glucose
- 205 g stabiline
- 50 g glycerine
- 25 g super neutrose
Method
- Combine sugar, water, glucose, stabilizer, and glycerine in a saucepan.
- Bring to a full boil, whisking continuously.
- Once boiling, whisk in super neutrose.
- Blitz with a hand blender, pass through a chinois, and chill rapidly.
- Store refrigerated.
- Raspberry Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1000 g raspberry purée
- 100 g sorbet syrup (from above)
Method
- Blitz raspberry purée with sorbet syrup until smooth.
- Mature in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Churn in the ice cream machine or Pacojet before service.
- Soft Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 180 g T55 flour
- 135 g dark brown sugar or demerara
- 12 g Extra Brute cocoa powder
- 3 g bicarbonate of soda
- 100 g unsalted butter, melted
- 100 g whipping cream
- 100 g whole milk
- 70 g golden syrup
- 100 g Inaya 65% dark chocolate, melted
Method
- Preheat oven to 175°C.
- Spray a 15 cm square pan with release spray and dust with flour.
- Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and bicarbonate of soda together.
- In a separate bowl, whisk butter, cream, milk, and golden syrup until dissolved.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and whisk briefly to combine.
- Fold in melted chocolate.
- Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 20–30 minutes until just set and a skewer comes out moist.
- Cool completely, then cut into portions.
- Chocolate, Raspberry & Szechuan Pepper Mousse
Ingredients
- 350 g whole milk
- 20 g Szechuan pepper
- 220 g caster sugar
- 180 g pasteurized egg yolk
- 720 g Harmonie Lactée 32% milk chocolate
- 360 g Ocoa 70% dark chocolate
- 150 g raspberry purée
- 720 g whipping cream, softly whipped
Method
- Bring milk to a boil. Add Szechuan pepper, cover, and infuse 20 minutes. Strain.
- In Thermomix: add infused milk, egg yolk, and sugar. Cook 90°C / 15 min/speed 5 to make anglaise (final temp approx. 85°C).
- Add both chocolates, allow to melt, then blitz smooth.
- Add raspberry purée and blitz briefly.
- Cool mixture to 35–38°C.
- Fold in softly whipped cream.
- Pipe immediately into 5 cm ring moulds lined with acetate, approx. 40 g each.
- Freeze until firm.
- Final assembly and plating
- Components per plate
- Soft chocolate cake cube or disc
- Chocolate & Szechuan pepper crumble
- Chocolate, raspberry & Szechuan pepper mousse
- Raspberry sorbet
- Fresh raspberries
- Cocoa nibs / micro herbs (optional)
Plating Method
- Place a piece of soft chocolate cake slightly off-center.
- Spoon chocolate crumble beside or over the cake.
- Unmould frozen mousse and place on crumble.
- Quenelle raspberry sorbet and position alongside.
- Garnish with fresh raspberries, cocoa nibs, and micro herbs.
- Finish with light cocoa powder dusting or raspberry gel dots if desired.
Summing Up
If you are done trying basic chocolate desserts, try making something different with Raspberry & Szechuan Pepper Dessert. Though the recipe looks lengthy, you and your guests will surely be more than happy with the result.
