Categories Pastry Chef Articles
Six innovative techniques from the XOK book for creating signature turrones and chocolate bars
In the book XOK, the chefs David Gil and Ingrid Serra, from I+Desserts, explore the great versatility of turrón through traditional and innovative recipes, showing that it’s a product that can be consumed all year round, not just at Christmas.
One of the most interesting aspects of this work, published by Books For Chefs, is that it teaches innovative techniques applicable to the world of chocolate making so that every chef can create their own turrones or chocolate bars. Throughout its 416 pages, you’ll find 62 different creations and up to 260 recipes.
One year after its launch, XOK has become the reference manual for all those who want to take turrones and its creative chocolate bars to the next level. A true turrón encyclopedia where tradition and avant-garde come together with the distinctive seal of its authors, David and Ingrid.
Ready to discover innovative techniques for creating signature turrones? We’ll give you a sneak peek at six of the many you can find in the book!
Volcanic Rock. Airy Gianduja
XOK devotes ample space to showing different techniques for making and applying to gianduja-filled turrones, with very different results.
One example is Volcanic Rock, where David Gil and Ingrid Serra use a restaurant pastry technique: making puffed or inflated rocks using a siphon and a vacuum sealer. To do this, they start with a classic gianduja recipe, which is tempered and placed in a siphon. The foam is then poured into a gastrovac tray and a vacuum is applied until the puffed rocks are formed. Then, they are left to crystallize quickly in the freezer.
The next step is to bathe the rocks and apply air with the compressor so that the holes or craters that will give them that distinctive organic shape are clearly marked.
Discover the recipe in XOK
Blueberries. A surprising interior with textured oil
In the “Tarts” section of XOK, Gil and Serra present a collection of turrones-shaped cakes. Classic desserts like the famous blueberry tart, a symbol of popular Anglo-Saxon pastries.
Their approach features a biscuit base, a dairy component with a yogurt gianduja, and a fruity part with a blueberry fruit paste.
What’s interesting about this piece is the use of a technique typical of restaurant desserts to create a surprising interior: textured oil inside a turrón. The idea is to avoid using an infusion to obtain the flavor of an aromatic element, but rather to blend it with oil, thus preserving all its potency and maximum purity, with a semi-liquid texture. To achieve this, they use Glice (monoglyceride and diglyceride obtained from glycerin and fatty acids), a special emulsifier for fatty elements.
Discover the recipe in XOK
Cheesecake. Use of Freeze-Dried Ingredients
Also in the “Tarts” section, we find this turrón cheesecake, whose contents are essentially those found in a typical New York cheesecake: a biscuit base, cream cheese, and a berry coulis.
Regarding the cream cheese, which in this case is gianduja, they use freeze-dried mascarpone and Parmesan cheese. “We know that in chocolate making, what is known as free water is a problem for the shelf life of products. In this way, by using freeze-dried ingredients, we achieve the flavor we are looking for, but without the inconvenience of free water.”
And not only that, they also use a silicone mold shaped like half raspberries and a fruit paste to simply prepare the red and fruity topping so characteristic of a good cheesecake.
Discover the recipe in XOK
Classic marzipan with mandarin. Introducing a second nut into the marzipan
XOK also dedicates a chapter to marzipan, whose origin is very similar to that of turrón. The official definition refers to a paste made with ground almonds and powdered sugar, which comes in different forms, either in bars or in larger or smaller shapes.
Although classic marzipan is made with almonds, variations can be made, such as adding a second nut, in this case pistachio, although it could be any other.
“It’s as simple as replacing half the almond with raw, dried pistachio powder. We accompany the marzipan with a mandarin fruit paste, and to enhance its flavor, we cover it with pistachio chocolate,” they say.
Discover the recipe in XOK
Galet. Christmas in 3D
In the “Icons” section, the book showcases elements (clothing, decorations, food, and more) which are typical of Christmas in the form of turrón, like this galet, which is a nod to the galet soup traditionally eaten on December 25th in Catalonia.
Galet is a type of snail-shaped pastry, available in various sizes and filled or unfilled. “I thought it would be fun to take advantage of this unique shape to reproduce a hollow turrón whose filling is hidden in the walls. It’s a good example of a piece designed and executed entirely in 3D,” explains David Gil.
“We were interested in a flexible caramel so we could adjust it to the interior shape of the mold. That’s why, in addition to regular sugar, we used glucose, which provides flexibility, and sorbitol, which provides stability and prevents the crystallization of the sucrose, preserving the caramel in optimal conditions for longer,” he continues.
Discover the recipe in XOK
Gingerbread man. The Gingerbread Man as a Starting Point
The Gingerbread Man is one of the best-known stories in the United States. It’s the story of a gingerbread man who comes to life, but many characters chase after him to eat him.
The Gingerbread Man by David Gil and Ingrid Serra, included in the “Desserts” section, a typical way to liven up the end of Christmas meals, is much more than a cookie. It’s a turrón, with a filling formed not by one gianduja, but by two, one made from cookie dough and the other with pieces of gingerbread. And all of it encased in caramelized white chocolate. The figure comes to life thanks to the colored chocolate details.
The highlight of this turrón is that to make the giandujas, instead of using nuts, they use a cookie as a starting point. “To work properly within the recipe, the cookie must be thoroughly baked, as dry as possible, and have a high fat content so that it forms a paste when refined,” they warn.
Discover the recipe in XOK
