Recipe Kakaw lava cake with achiote and guaque chili by Ronald García

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Few are aware of the connection of chocolate or vanilla with the Mayan culture. These foods have their starting point in the Mesoamerican region and pre-Columbian culture, before their universalization and spread throughout the world.

Knowing this, Ronald García, at Pizca Pâtisserie in Guatemala City, champions the rich local larder, the network of producers who nurture it and connect it with its historical heritage, rooted in the Mayan civilization.

‘I have dedicated myself to studying the ingredients of Guatemala indistinctly to see whether or not they are considered part of pastry,’ he explains, ‘with the objective of linking our identity and sweet gastronomy. I believe that the range of sweet is as wide as people’s palates, so there is no limit to the ingredients that can be part of a dessert.’

In so good.. magazine 32, the chef presents Kakaw, a version of the Lava Cake which represents how the Mayas consumed cocoa as a beverage and to add ingredients that were part of their rituals such as achiote and guaque chili.

“The ramón seed flour comes from the fruit of the tree of the same name, which is native to the Petén jungle. The Madre Cacao bush coexists in the habitat of the crop to provide natural shade and its flowers are edible. We bet on a chocolate made with cocoa from Finca Kampura in Río Dulce, which has several international awards for its exquisite bouquet. The cookie made with ramón represents the glyph of cacao (Kakaw), found in Tikal, Guatemala, in the Early Classic period (3rd to 5th centuries), in a closed vessel that still contained remains of what was the liquid beverage and is read syllabically ka-ka-wa (Jean-Michel Hoppan. Masters of cacao: the Mayas. 2011)”.

Discover so good.. magazine 32

Kakaw

Lava Cake

50 g Kampura origin dark couverture, 70% cocoa
46 g butter
68 g eggs
32 g sugar
16 g wheat flour
4 g ramón seed flour
3 g guaque chili powder*
2 g salt

Melt the chocolate with the butter and set aside. Combine the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, chili and salt and set aside. Add the egg to the previous mixture little by little until homogenized, avoiding the formation of lumps. Add the chocolate mixture to the previous mixture and incorporate. Reserve in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Pipe 100 grams into pastry rings and bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before unmolding.

*Originally from Mesoamerica (better known as guajillo in Mexico), it has been used in various original dishes since the pre- Hispanic cuisine of the region. Its aromatic profile is reminiscent of cocoa acidity, raisin fruit with sweet notes of panela and, in the mouth, spicy without being invasive with a level of bitterness similar to that of vegetables.

Achiote namelaka

112 g Kampura white chocolate, 36% cocoa
30 g achiote paste*
285 g heavy cream, 35% fat
150 g milk
150 g glucose
36 g gelatin mass (1:5)

Heat the milk, achiote and glucose. Pour over the gelatin mass and then over the chocolate until it melts and make a ganache. Add the cold cream to the previous mixture, which should be between 36-38ºC. Emulsify and set aside for 12 hours. Pipe between two round molds to form a ring and freeze. Unmold and cut in half. Set aside.

Cover with a layer of dark chocolate couverture and spray with the help of an airbrush using a mixture of equal parts of cocoa butter and dark chocolate. Reserve again.

*Achiote has an earthy, spicy and sweet flavor, with a chili bell pepper aroma.

Cocoa and dried tomato croustillant

70 g sugar
50 g cocoa nibs
20 g sun-dried creole tomato

Process the sugar and cocoa until a praliné is obtained. Cut thin slices of the sun-dried creole tomato. Mix until a sandy texture is obtained and set aside.

Ramón black cookie

See recipe on so good.. magazine 32

Other elements

10 u madre cacao flowers

Assembly

Form half of a ring with the cocoa and tomato croustillant. Surround it with the madre cacao flowers. Place the lava cake in the center and close the circle with the half ring of achiote Namelaka. Cover with the stamped black ramón cookie.

Discover these creations by Ronald García in so good.. magazine 32