When I was thinking of desserts to make, I was really inspired by a particular song from the Steven Universe movie called “Drift Away”. It was about a jester who was essentially abandoned by her queen and left to be forgotten for millenniums. I thought about the idea of drifting, and wanted to interpret it literally, with something that does drift, so I thought about driftwood and the ocean. I knew I could make a foam, I could do this tempered chocolate log with mousse piped inside of it, some crumble to resemble sand, and to make it especially special, I made a tuile that resembled seaweed, wrapping itself around the log. To play off the idea of driftwood in the ocean, I went with sea buckthorn as a flavoring, since that would help tie it together with the sea theme, and smoked maldon salt, just to add a unique twist to salted chocolate and caramel.

For the actual components, we have tempered chocolate, a smoked maldon chocolate mousse and salted caramel, spirulina tuile and “sea foam”, sea buckthorn cake, almond crumble, and sea buckthorn cake.

Makes 3-4 servings:
For the tuile:
1 egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon blue spirulina powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine together and pour onto a lined sheet tray that has a stencil(I made mine with parchment but you can really use anything that is cuttable). Spread a thin layer of the tuile batter through your stencil and remove. Bake at 325 degrees F for 10 minutes. While the tuile is still warm and pliable, press onto a rolling pin.

For the sea buckthorn cake:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons seabuckthorn oil
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Combine ingredients and pour into a lined silicone bonbon mold. Bake at 325 degrees F for 15 minutes. Cool down and slice into 3/4 inch by 1/8 inch disks.

For the log:
Dark chocolate
a pinch of salt

Bring about 3/4 cups of dark chocolate to 90 degrees F on a double boiler. Remove and stir in 1/4 cup of dark chocolate into that. Bring down the temperate to about 75 degrees before spreading onto some acetate. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before removing.

For the mousse:
1 cup dark chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped stiff
a pinch of smoked maldon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter with salt over a double boiler. Once fully melted, remove and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring to prevent it from setting. Fold in the heavy cream and transfer to a piping bag. To assemble the log, fill with both the mousse nad some slices of the cake.

For the crumble:
1/4 cup almond mill
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon brown butter
a pinch of salt

Blitz together and spread onto a sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Break apart into smaller pieces, or blitz in a food processor.

For the caramel:
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
a pinch of smoked maldon salt
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons brown butter

Heat down sugar with maldon salt until the mixture reaches about 225 degrees F. Deglaze with cream and butter and mix until smooth and emulsified.

For the foam:
1 egg white
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon blue spirulina powder
1 teaspoon gelatin powder

Bloom gelatin and melt into the water with sugar and spirulina. Once the mixture reaches over 200 degrees F, pour into your egg white and whip until it forms airy bubbles. Plate the foam immediately before serving.

To garnish:
Nasturtiums