Espresso and white chocolate cake, apple compôte, almond ice cream, espresso tuile and roasted chocolate crémeux

For the cake, preheat the oven to 170˚C. Grease and dust with flour 5 small bundt tins of 10cm diameter. In a medium pot over medium heat, heat the butter, 75g white chocolate, 220g sugar and 125ml (½ cup) milk until the sugar and chocolate have melted and dissolved. Pour into a medium mixing bowl and set aside to cool down.

Sieve together all of the dry ingredients. Add the egg and espresso to the milk mixture. Gently fold in the flour mixture until incorporated. Bake in a prepared bundt tins, 20 minutes.

For the crémeux, lower the heat of the oven to 160˚C. Place 180g white chocolate in a baking tray lined with baking paper and roast, 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. When all of the chocolate has turned a golden colour, remove from oven to cool down. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.

Heat 60ml (4 tbsp) milk in a small pot over medium heat, 20 minutes. Mix the 55g sugar and egg yolks together until the sugar has dissolved. In stages, add the milk mixture to the yolk mixture. Return to a low heat and stir until it reaches 56˚C (using a sugar thermometer to check the temperature).

Place a sieve over the chocolate in the bowl and strain over the custard. Mix together until all of the chocolate has melted. Pour into an airtight container and chill, overnight.

For the tuile, whip the egg whites to soft peaks and add the icing sugar. Fold in the cake flour and lastly the espresso or coffee. Spread the mixture out as thinly as possible in a large roasting dish lined with baking paper and bake, 8 – 12 minutes, at 165˚C or until the entire surface is golden. Break into large pieces and place in an airtight container to keep.

For the almond ice cream, preheat the oven to 160˚C. Roast the almonds with some salt, 6 – 8 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven. Heat 200ml milk, 200ml fresh cream, the honey and toasted almonds together in a large pot over medium heat, 5 minutes.

Mix the 150g sugar and yolks together until the sugar has dissolved. Add the milk mixture to the yolks in stages. Return to a low heat, continuously stirring, until the temperature reaches 56˚C on a sugar thermometer. Pour into a roasting dish and chill over ice or in the fridge, at least 1 hour. Blitz and chill again. Once chilled, strain the mixture through a sieve and churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If you do not have an ice-cream maker, place the mixture in a freezer-proof bowl and freeze, about 2 – 3 hours. Just before frozen (it will be thick, but almost liquid), beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Return to the freezer until completely frozen.

For the compôte, peel and cube the apples. Place in a pot with the remaining ingredients, except the lemon juice. Cook over medium heat. Once all of the sugar has dissolved, add the 200ml apple juice and cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the star anise, cinnamon quill and lemon zest. Turn up the heat until the apples start to caramelise. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice.

To serve, spread some crémeux on 5 plates, add a quenelle of ice cream, pipe blobs of apple compôte and add shards of the tuile.