'No Ordinary Schoolboy' - White chocolate banana filled with banana mousse and popping candy, a side of banana cake, caramel, banana ice cream and granola

  • medium
  • 12
  • 4 hours plus time for chilling mousse and ice cream
5.00

This playful but technical dessert from Tom Shepherd was first devised for Great British Menu. A banana mousse is dipped in white chocolate, and then carefully painted to look like a real banana, and served with granola-topped ice cream.

First published in 2024

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Banana mousse

  • 100g of banana purée, ideally from Ponthier
  • 75g of milk
  • 65g of egg yolk
  • 35g of caster sugar
  • 75g of cream cheese
  • 15 bronze gelatine leaves, bloomed
  • 125g of double cream, softly whipped
  • 100g of popping candy, chocolate coated

Banana ice cream

  • 500g of banana purée
  • 250g of double cream
  • 25g of glucose
  • 25g of caster sugar
  • 20g of dextrose
  • 15g of milk powder
  • 4g of gellan gum type F
  • 1 vanilla pod

Banana cake

  • 50g of unsalted butter
  • 1 dash of vanilla essence
  • 175g of caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 bananas, mashed
  • 175g of self-raising flour
  • 5g of bicarbonate of soda
  • 50ml of banana flavour burst
  • 1 pinch of salt

Granola

Banana dip

Equipment

  • Pacojet or ice cream maker
  • Thermomix
  • Stand mixer
  • Piping bags
  • 12 cavity silicone banana mould (8.7 x 2cm per mould)
  • Half gastro tray

Method

1

To make the banana mousse base, first heat the banana purée, milk, egg yolk and sugar in a Thermomix to 90°C. Add the cream cheese and gelatine and blend, then transfer to a container to cool and set. This can also be done in a pan and with a blender

  • 100g of banana purée, ideally from Ponthier
  • 75g of milk
  • 65g of egg yolk
  • 35g of caster sugar
  • 75g of cream cheese
  • 15 bronze gelatine leaves, bloomed
2

Fold the banana base into the double cream, then fold in the chocolate-coated popping candy and transfer to a piping bag

  • 125g of double cream, softly whipped
  • 100g of popping candy, chocolate coated
3

Pipe into the banana mould and then transfer to a blast freezer until solid

4

To make the banana ice cream, place all ingredients into a Thermomix and heat up to 98°C. Divide between Pacojet containers and then freeze in the blast chiller until ready to churn

  • 500g of banana purée
  • 250g of double cream
  • 25g of glucose
  • 25g of caster sugar
  • 20g of dextrose
  • 15g of milk powder
  • 4g of gellan gum type F
  • 1 vanilla pod
5

Alternatively, this can be heated up to 98°C in a pan and then chilled and churned in an ice cream maker

6

To make the banana cake, first preheat the oven to 160°C

7

Cream the butter, vanilla, and sugar in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment fitted. Incorporate the eggs, then finally add the mashed banana, self-raising flour, sodium bicarbonate, salt and banana extract

  • 50g of unsalted butter
  • 1 dash of vanilla essence
  • 175g of caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 175g of self-raising flour
  • 5g of bicarbonate of soda
  • 50ml of banana flavour burst
  • 1 pinch of salt
8

Transfer the cake mix to a half gastro lined with parchment paper and bake for 25 minutes

9

Let cool then cut out 12 pieces of cake with a ring cutter

10

To make the granola, combine all the ingredients and mix together in a stand mixer

11

Bake in the oven, also at 160°C, for 24 minutes, turning and stirring every 8 minutes

12

To make the cocoa butter dip, first heat the cocoa butter to 70°C, then pour over the chocolate. Blend the mixture with a stick blender and add yellow food colouring until it’s the colour of a banana

13

Dip the frozen banana mousse in the cocoa butter mix and then transfer to the fridge so the dip can set and the mousse can defrost

14

Paint with the black colouring to make it look like a banana

  • black cocoa butter colouring
15

To serve, put a banana on each plate, and then place the banana sponge on the side and top with the ice cream, granola and drizzle over the caramelised condensed milk

First published in 2024

Tom Shepherd cut his teeth in Michelin-starred kitchens working for the likes of Michael Wignall and Sat Bains, before winning Staffordshire its first ever Michelin star at his own restaurant, Upstairs, located above his father’s jewellery shop. His success is a result of an ethos centred around drawing as much flavour as possible out of every single ingredient on the plate.

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