Haupia Bombe

My latest dessert was inspired by the last wine dinner dessert. Adam and I were talking after I introduced Coconut Panna Cotta to the menu, and he told me about a classic Hawaiian dessert, Haupia. Haupia is basically a coconut pudding that is thickened with a cornstarch slurry while it is being cooked. I wanted to try my hand at it and see how it tasted, so I located Roy Yamaguchi's recipe for the dish.

Haupia
4 cups unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

To prepare the haupia, place the coconut milk, 1 cup of the water and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix the cornstarch and the remaining 1 cup of water together in a bowl, add to the pan, and stir until the mixture returns to a boil and thickens. Remove from the heat and keep warm in a double boiler.



I decided to take this to the next level, and make it into a bombe, which is a layer in a layer, usually in a half sphere. I baked off my almond cake in teeny tiny half spheres, then piped the Grande Marnier Mousse into a slightly larger mold, and pushed the almond cake into it. I froze this so I could pop them out of the fleximolds and handle them. I made the haupia and ladeled it into a larger half sphere mold and let it cool slightly. I then inserted the frozen mousse/cake portion into the center of the haupia and froze them.


While they were freezing, I made a macadamia nut pastry crust and cut out circles slightly larger than the haupia bombes. I baked them and let them cool while I unmolded the haupia bombes onto a sheet tray. I torched the outside of each bombe individually just long enough to melt it enough for me to be able to cover it with toasted coconut before finished the assembly by putting it on the pastry crust base.

To plate, I made a Bourbon Blueberry Compote and serve the bombe on top of the leftover Blueberry Thyme Glass. It sounds like alot going on, but it REALLY all works together so well! I was ecstatic when I tried the finished dessert because it ended up being so much better than I had even imagined in my mind. I love it when that happens! I can tell I am continuing to grow in my skill AND in my willingness to explore the unconventional flavor profiles and pairings.