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Creative Desserts with Broken Gel

Learn more about what broken gel is, how to make it, and get inspired by how you can actively use it as an element in desserts. It can contribute to the appearance, texture, and taste when used the right way.

Broken gel is a thick, viscous liquid commonly used in gourmet restaurants as a flavor and character-defining element in their desserts. Chefs often use broken gel in their desserts as an artistic and flavorful element to add innovation and visual appeal. This approach involves carefully preparing the gel, followed by deliberately breaking its structure to achieve the signature thick and viscous form.

To incorporate broken gel into their desserts, chefs start by making a gel base by combining flavor (often fruit juice), sugar, and gelatin or agar-agar (for a vegetarian alternative). After the gel sets, the chef blends it with an immersion blender to create a smooth, thick liquid suitable for precise dosages using a piping bag or a “squeeze bottle.”

This technique allows chefs to experiment with different flavor variants, colors, and presentation methods. The result is not only a delicious dessert but also a visually appealing and artistic dish that stands out and impresses guests with its unique aesthetic and flavor combination.

Recipe for Broken Gel

Here’s a basic recipe for how to make “broken gel” for your desserts in Danish:

Ingredients:

500 ml fruit juice of your choice (e.g., orange, raspberry, strawberry)
100 g sugar
10 g gelatin powder or agar-agar (for a vegetarian alternative)
Fresh fruit, nuts, or meringue for serving (optional)

Method:

Prepare Gel Base:

Heat the fruit juice in a saucepan over low heat.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
If using gelatin, soak the gelatin in cold water for a few minutes and then add the softened gelatin to the heated fruit juice. Stir until completely dissolved.
If using agar-agar, add it directly to the heated fruit juice and stir until dissolved.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes.

Pour into a Mold:

Pour the prepared gel mixture into a mold or tray. Choose a shallow mold for easier breaking of the gel later.

Cooling and Setting:

Place the mold in the refrigerator and allow the gel to cool and set for at least 4-6 hours or overnight.

Blend the Gel:

Once the gel has set, blend it using an immersion blender until the consistency is a thick liquid with a smooth surface.

Serving:

Transfer your broken gel to a piping bag or “squeeze bottle” to deliver precise “dots” of broken gel onto your plate alongside other dessert elements.

This is a basic recipe, and you can adjust it according to your preferences and creative ideas. Let your imagination run wild and create your own unique version of “broken gel” to impress your guests with a delicious and visually appealing dessert.

Flavor Variants

There are no strict rules for which direction to take your broken gel. Below are some traditional examples, along with a brief explanation of what makes each of them special:

Fruity Variants:

Raspberry: Adds a tart and intense flavor.
Mango: Provides a sweet and exotic character.
Citrus (orange, lemon): Contributes freshness and acidity.

Berry Combinations:

Strawberry and blueberry: Creates a balanced and sweet flavor experience.
Blackberry and currant: Adds complex notes of sweetness and tartness.

Exotic Flavors:

Passion fruit: Intensifies the flavor profile with a unique tartness.
Pomegranate: Offers a mildly sour and refreshing taste.

Flowers and Spices:

Lavender: Adds a subtle floral scent and flavor.
Mint: Gives a fresh and invigorating character.

Seasonal Flavor Variants:

Apple and cinnamon: Perfect for the fall season.
Watermelon and mint: Ideal for summer desserts.

The key is to balance sweetness, acidity, and any spicy elements to achieve a well-balanced flavor experience. Additionally, combinations of fresh fruits, nuts, or meringues served with your broken gel can contribute to a complex and exciting mouthful. The chef’s creative freedom allows for exploring and adjusting the flavor profile according to the seasons and personal preferences to create a memorable dessert.

Desserts with Broken Gel

As is tradition, we’d like to provide examples of how an element can be used in desserts, and here we present a handful of tangible examples of how broken gel has been used as a component in a dessert from our own dessert universe. Feel free to draw inspiration from them.

Tiramisu with Espresso Honey Ice Cream

This is a reinterpreted version of the classic Italian Tiramisu, the much-loved and well-known dessert served in restaurants worldwide. The coffee element in the dessert comes from a beautiful coffee gel, as well as our Espresso Honey cream ice cream. In this dessert, we’ve also made a Kahlúa broken gel, which pairs perfectly with the coffee flavors and also adds visual appeal to the dessert.

Frangipane

Frangipane is a French cake made with crushed hazelnuts, which can be a bit heavy. Therefore, it’s a good idea to serve it with something light and fresh. This is where broken gel comes into play, in this case, raspberry broken gel, which adds some acidity. Read more about this delicious dessert.

Milk Chocolate Brownie

Another somewhat heavy dessert, as brownies themselves tend to have a dense texture. Therefore, it’s beneficial to serve them with light elements and some fresh, tangy components to create contrast. This dessert is served with passion fruit sorbet and passion fruit broken gel, both of which contribute to color contrast and a delightful tangy contrast in the dessert.

Carrot Cake

This dessert aims to show that there are many different ways to use carrots, even in desserts. It consists of carrot cake, carrot parfait, carrot broken gel, and powder from dried carrot. Carrots provide a natural sweetness due to their fructose content, so they’re paired with orange sorbet to provide contrast to the dessert. In this case, broken gel isn’t used to provide flavor contrast but rather as decoration and possibly as a textural contrast.

Festive Dessert

This dessert features balloons of passion fruit mousse, raspberry sorbet, and raspberry broken gel, making it a fun little creation designed for a festive event. Broken gel is used here both as decoration and to provide a textural contrast to the rest of the dessert.

Vegan Dessert

Here’s a vegan dessert, which is a bit special since not all restaurants think about vegan desserts, even if they have vegan starters and main courses. This dessert consists of a strawberry and coconut tart with strawberry sorbet, and in this case, both strawberry and coconut broken gel, which contribute to flavor, texture, and appearance.

Chocolate Dessert

This dessert is all about chocolate, but with an effort to prevent it from becoming too heavy. Therefore, it’s served with a piece of light marzipan cake, light chocolate cream, vanilla coral, wood sorrel, and not least, a tangy black currant broken gel, since chocolate and black currant pair very well together and balance each other out.

Now, hopefully, you’ve learned a bit about broken gel, how to make it, and how you might incorporate this delightful dessert element when planning and preparing your own desserts.