Perfect Christmas recipe: Hide Christmas Tree by Ollie Dabbous

If there were ever a time to get adventurous with your cooking, it’s during the festive season. Those who are up for a culinary challenge with big results ought to forget the classic brandy-soaked pud and put down the yule log, because we’ve got something extra-special that will enable you to bring the best of fine dining to your own table. This year’s recipe, the Hide Christmas Tree, comes courtesy of Michelin-starred chef Ollie Dabbous, so you perhaps won’t be surprised that it’s methodically meticulous – his reputation is built on the intricate details.

Dabbous takes us through one of the most spectacular desserts we’ve seen, and whether you fancy making it yourself or not, it’s worth following his epic journey just to see a master at work.

Mincemeat

Ingredients

450g muscovado sugar
500g Bramley apples, peeled and chopped
400g currants
250g brown raisins
250g golden raisins
100g cranberries
100g goji berries
100g mixed candied peel, chopped
100g brandy
250g vegetable suet
1.5g cinnamon
1.5g clove
1.5g nutmeg
1.5g ginger
1 lime, zest and juice
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 clementine, zest and juice

Method

1. Blitz all the ingredients together into a coarse puree.
2. Vacuum pack thoroughly, removing all the air.
3. Leave to ferment for at least one month.

Soaked fruits

Ingredients

350g currants
250g brown raisins
250g golden raisins
100g goji berries
100g cranberries
100g mixed candied peel, chopped (Woods)
750g apple juice
3,750g cranberry juice
1,500g demerara sugar
1,440g Armagnac

Method

1. Bring both juices and sugar to the boil.
2. Pour over dried berries.
3. Leave to cool to room temperature.
4. Once cool, add Armagnac and vacuum pack.
5. Leave to infuse for at least 9 hours.

The frozen bombe

1. Spice cream

Ingredients

10g cinnamon
5g star anise
5 cloves
2 whole nutmeg, grated
10g ginger, fresh, crushed, without skin
4g clementine zest
3g lemon zest
500g whipping cream (1)
150g sugar
1,200 whipping cream (2)

Method

1. Crush and toast the cinnamon, star anise and cloves (180°C, 2 minutes) and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, bring the cream (1) and sugar to a boil.
3. Add to the hot cream, warm spices, ginger, nutmeg and zests.
4. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes.
5. Strain the cream through a fine-mesh strainer and combine it with the remaining cream, topping up to 1,700g with more cream as needed.
6. Leave to cool completely.
7. Once cold, set aside 100g, whip the remaining to stiff peaks and keep in the fridge.

2. Gelatine mix

Ingredients

100g infused cream
200g mincemeat
80g gelatine base

Method

1. Heat cream to 60°C.
2.  Add gelatine and stir until dissolved.

3. Pâté à bombe

Ingredients

300g yolks
200g sugar
Fresh red currants
Soaked fruits, thoroughly strained

Method

1. Place the egg yolk and the sugar in the Thermomix, cook to 84°C, speed 4.
2. Once at 84°C, transfer to a Kitchen-aid bowl and whip at high speed until the mixture reaches 35°C.
3. Fold 1/4 of whipped cream into gelatine mix.
4. Add the pâté à bombe and finish with the remaining whipped cream
5. Carefully fold in 500g of the strained soaked berries.
6. Fill moulds, freeze.

Pine Marshmallow

1. Infused whites

Ingredients

900g pasteurised egg whites
50g Douglas fir pine needles

Method

1. Vac-pac together and leave at room temperature for one day, or 15 hours.
2. Pass, and bag at 275g.

2. Marshmallow

275g pine egg white infusion
150g sugar
50g glucose
60g water
175g gelatin base
3g silver powder
55g chlorophyll

Method

1. Heat the sugar, glucose and water to 115°C.
2. Whip the egg whites on high speed.
3. Once the sugar reaches 121°C, add to whipped egg whites.
4. Melt the gelatine in the microwave, then mix in the food colouring and silver powder.
5. Add gelatine mixture to meringue once it is under 80°C.
6. Whip until soft peak and then reduce speed and leave to cool down to 45°C.
7. Dip the tree and leave to set in the freezer.

Shortcrust pastry

Ingredients

100g butter
50g icing sugar
20g yolks
175g flour

Method

1. Whip the butter and icing sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the yolks and then the flour, being careful not to overmix.
3. Film and let rest at least one hour.
4. Roll pastry out to 3.5mm.
5. Cut using 6Ø cutter.
6. Cook between two Silpats at 160°C, fan 4, 0% for 6 minutes.

Red currant gel

Ingredients

1kg red currant puree
125g sugar
12g agar
4 leaves gold leaf gelatine, soaked in ice water

Method

1. Bring the puree to a boil.
2. Add the sugar/agar mix and boil for two minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in gelatine leaves.
4. Pour into demi-gastro and set in blast chiller.
5. Once fully set, blend in Thermomix first, then the VitaPrep.
6. Pass through a chinois and vacuum pack three times to remove the air.
7. Keep in piping bags. 

Red sauce

Ingredients

250g port
75g sugar
500g red currant puree
150g cranberries
Fresh red currants

Method

1. Boil together port and sugar.
2. Add red currant puree and return to simmer.
3. Remove from heat, add cranberries and leave to cool.
4. Let soak overnight.
5. Warm up the sauce in the pan. Add 50g fresh red currants for 200g sauce.

Decoration

Ingredients

Bronze fennel fronds, chopped
Red currant gel
Wakame powder
Arctic thyme
Desiccated coconut
Gold leaf
70g red sauce, finished with fresh currants (at least 70°C)

Method

1. Place dipped tree onto pastry disc.
2. Coat in chopped bronze fennel.
3. Sprinkle with arctic thyme and wakame powder.
4. Pipe 11-13 red currant gel drops around.
5. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut.
6. Top with gold leaf.
7. Serve 70g with hot finished red sauce in a saucepan.

Merry Christmas!

The editorial unit
Photos: Filippo L’Astorina
Video: Filippo L’Astorina and Weronika Kulesza

To book a table at Hide, 85 Piccadilly London W1J 7NB, or to book a delivery, call +44 20 3146 8666 or visit their website here.