I just watched Giada's Hawaiian vacation on the Food Network and was impressed with the Black Pearl Dessert. Anyone tried it? Is it as tasty as it looks?

Here's a pic of the dessert and the episode information:

Host Giada De Laurentiis experiences a three day weekend filled with beautiful scenery and cuisine in Maui, Hawaii. Giada makes the beautiful drive to Paia to experience Hawaiian dining and the incredible views at Mama's Fish House. Then it's paddle surfing at Wailea Point followed by lunch at the Haliimaile General Store. The trip wouldn't be complete without a flight over the island by helicopter and dinner overlooking pineapples fields at Plantation House.

What a beautiful showcase dessert, I would love to try to make it (actually, I would love to fly to Hawaii and try Mama's, but that's out of the question for now :) ). The only description I could find on the internet was "...Chocolate Covered Chocolate Mousse on top of Passionfruit Cream. All this was placed in a cookie clam shell and put on top of a swirly design of some liquer"

Looks like a fortune cookie type shell, I may have to make a ceramic mold and bake some. Then use a chocolate coated passionfruit truffle for the pearl. Without tasting Mama's, it would be hard to replicate but you could still make a nice dessert.

EDIT: OK, I re-thought this. The description above calls for a choculate pearl on a passionfruit cream. A bed of passionfruit mousse on the shell cookie would:
1- look more like a clam (maybe tint the mousse pink)
2- keep the pearl from rolling around
3- hold the top shell upright
4- allow you to use ready made chocolate truffles for the pearl instead of making your own. You could even use chocolates filled with Kahlua or some other complimentary flavor.

You could even buy Madeleines (shell shaped cookies) if you wanted, or use a Madeleine mold and make your own.

HMMMMMMM....

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Leave the fire behind
Swim out past the breakers
And watch the world die.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-07-27 14:04 ]

I also tried to hunt down a recipe on the internet, but came up empty-handed except for a few brief desciptions:

"The pearl part of dessert was made of chocolate mousse, with a shiny chocolate glaze and the shell was baked using almond flour."

"Chocolate Mousse & Passion Fruit Cream in a “Seashell”"

"Chocolate mousse and Liliko'i cream in a pastry seashell"

So here's a start for you cooks out there(minus the Mousse & Glaze so far):

Liliko'i Cream
Ingredients

• 3/4 cup passion fruit purée*
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 12 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 2 pounds brownies*, cut into about 60 cubes (3/4-in.)
• Chocolate sauce*

Preparation

1. In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat passion fruit purée and butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until simmering. In a medium bowl, whisk sugar and yolks together to form a paste. Slowly add hot liquid, whisking constantly, until combined. Pour mixture into pan and cook, whisking constantly, until it just reaches a simmer around the edges, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a glass or ceramic bowl, cover with a piece of plastic wrap pressed against the curd's surface to prevent a skin from forming, and chill until cold and firm, about 1 1/2 hours.

2. Using an electric mixer, whisk cream until soft peaks form. Whisk in one-third of the cold curd; then, using a rubber spatula, fold in the remaining curd

==================== or? ===================================

LILIKO'I (PASSION FRUIT) ICING

2 sticks butter
2 (8 ounce) tubs whipped cream cheese or
2 (8 ounce) blocks regular cream cheese
1 cup confectioner's sugar or to taste
Liliko'i syrup to taste (Recipe below)

Mix all ingredients in a food processor or with an electric hand mixer. Drop in large `glops' all over the top of cake, letting it run down the sides, but before you do:

Drizzle the cake with some of the liliko'i syrup, being careful not to drench too much.

LILIKO'I SYRUP
Cut passion fruit in half and scoop out pulp and seeds. Pass
through a fine mesh sieve or squeeze through a couple layers of cheesecloth.

Add honey or sugar to taste and boil down to half the original amount. When cool, place in a plastic squeeze bottle and keep in refrigerator until needed

=======================================================
Almond Wafer Cups

Ingredients :

125 gm almonds, ground
50 gm flour, plain
180 gm icing sugar
4 x egg whites
1 tbl water (approx)

Method :

• 1.Mix all dry ingredients. Add egg whites and water and mix to a smooth paste. Mixture should not be too runny.
• 2. Line baking trays with greaseproof paper and spray with non-stick spray.
• 3. Using a metal spatula form four circles 12cm diameter of mixture of even thickness on the tray. Allow some room for spreading.
• 4. Bake in a moderate oven (350F) for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• 5. Working quickly, lift off wafers immediately with a spatula and lay over an inverted mould or cup(or Scallop Shell). Gently press to form into a cup shape. Allow to cool. Store in airtight container until required.
• *To serve:
  Fill with fruit, ice-cream or your favourite mousse.
• Unused mixture will keep wrapped in fridge.
• For that special occasion, these will really impress!

Thanks for the thoughts on preparation of this dessert.

The episode did show some of the assembly, but only the finishing touches. The clam shell is two separate pieces that are held together with a big dollop of the chocolate if I remember correctly. They also showed how to achieve the "starburst effect" with the plating by using a couple of syrup squeeze bottles to make concentric rings, then taking a utensil and dragging out the "rays" to the outer edges of the plate.

I'll have to attempt a re-creation at some point. If any of you beat me to it, let me know how your experiments go!

My wife and I ordered this dessert a couple of years ago when we visited Maui. It was the best dessert we had all week (and we ate at all 4-5 star restaurants) and in my top 3 of all time. It was fantastic to say the least. Good luck making it! It should be fun.

Here's a recipe I ran across that may help

Chocolate Dome
FOR THE MOUSSE
62 gm Bitter chocolate
62 gm Butter
10 gm Gelatine
4 x Eggs
7 gm Sugar substitute powder
75 ml Cold water
25 gm Cocoa powder
265 ml Cream, lightly whipped
Chocolate sponge to line the moulds
FOR THE GLAZE
20 gm Gelatine
40 ml Water
100 gm Cocoa powder
45 gm Sugar substitute powder
300 ml Water
300 ml Single cream

CHOP the bitter chocolate and melt both chocolate and the butter together in a heavy bottomed pan. Mix well and keep aside to cool.

Soak the gelatine in 60 ml water. Whip the eggs till they are light and stiff. Meanwhile put the sugar substitute powder and 15 ml water in a pan and keep stirring over low heat till the sugar dissolves and you obtain a thick syrup. Slowly pour this syrup in a string over the eggs and continue to whip. Melt the gelatine and gradually pour over the eggs. Keep whipping Then lightly fold in cocoa powder, followed by melted chocolate and butter mixture. Finally fold in the whipped cream.

Fill the mousse in dome shaped chilled moulds, leaving half cm on top. Cut the chocolate sponge into rounds with a spare mould and place on top of the mousse. Chill in the deep freezer. Glaze and serve chilled.

To finish: Demould the mousse onto a wire rack. Pour the warm glaze on top to coat it evenly. Remove onto a cold plate and decorate as required. You can use tempered chocolate and make it into a thin sheet, break into pieces and put on all sides of the mousse.

=======================================================

and a few more pics:

Thanks, Meega!

After posting the Chocolate Mousse recipe I noticed the use of a sugar substitute, without mentioning the brand(type), which could make a big difference when measuring by weight. It had more to do with the shaping/molding technique.

I thought I'd post a more traditional recipe to work with.

==================================================
Chocolate Mousse
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Knopf) by Julia Child.
Six to eight servings

6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the

chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from

heat.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of

the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is

thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)

3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat

until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg

yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until

they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick

and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.

5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder

of the whites just until incorporated, but don't overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at

least 4 hours, until firm.

Storage: The mousse au chocolat can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

BTW: The plating seems to be a dollop of the Passion Fruit Cream(to hold the shell)
A ring of chocolate sauce, A ring of white chocolate sauce, and most likely a ring of passion fruit sauce, with radial scoring to resemble a passion flower.

I love that the Julia Child recipe calls for sugar AND rum. Looks tasty!

I am really working hard at making a version of this dessert. Unfortunately, I'm working six 12 hour shifts in a row right now and that doesn't leave much play time :lol:

I love to cook, but I really don't like to get too fancy or complicated (maybe it's a lack of patience. More like Sandra Lee than Julia Child) So I am planning a dessert "inspired by" the Black Pearl instead of a "re-creation of". Since I play with clay, I decided to make some shell dishes instead of using a bottom cookie. The shell on the left has a mother-of-pearl glaze on it, I like the iridescence.

I did a couple of attempts at using a ceramic shell as a mold for refrigerator sugar cookie dough but that didn't work. Next, I tried a couple of different fortune cookie recipes, but couldn't get the crispness I wanted. I think I'm going to custom make a tin cookie cutter and try some rolled cookie recipes next.

I plan on using a simple mango mousse instead of passionfruit; I love passionfruit but I think more people like mango, passionfruit can be a little tart. You could also use a scoop of some sort ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, or gelato. Then for the "pearl", I will use a Lindor truffle.

Again, there is no way this will match the spendor of Mama's Black Pearl, but it will be an easy and interesting dessert to serve at a small luau.

Black Pearl Experiment #1834b;

Made the upper shell out of Pillsbury ready made pie crust. Pricked the crust with a fork to make the lines in the shell and baked. A reasonable solution; easy, crispy & flakey, not too sweet.

Not happy with the mousse now. Used a recipe calling for mango puree, whipped cream, and beaten egg whites. It's too light and airy, won't support the cookie or the "pearl". Also very light on the flavor. Will have to try out a recipe with gelatin next for a stiffer consistency.

It is so magnificant.

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I also lean towards the Sandra Lee approach to things. After gathering some recipes, the first thing I wanted to do was simplify it a little.

The idea of this recipe rings of 50s/60s backyard Luau fare right out of an old Jell-O Cookbook.

The first thing I tought of was "on the half-shell". It seems like a lot of couples Share one desert, why not make it one or two bite sized?
BTW: A sugar cone recipe would work good for a shell. If you look at the rear shot of the desert you can see a flat area on the shell where it was likely formed over an inverted bowl. If it's served as finger food you wouldn't want the cookie to breakup to easily, or your guests may end up with mousse filled hands.

I also didn't recall ever having tasted passion fruit, so over the weekend I checked out a few local groceries, but all I came up with was a carton of Ceres passion fruit juice. Maybe it's just me but I would label this stuff I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Pineapple-Juice. Plenty of room to improvise here..........Mango is a good choice, Pineapple a good substitute.

Then there's Instant Chocolate Mousse Mixes too.

Meega, fresh passionfruits are hard to find. They are mass of slime-covered seeds in a leathery shell. But I have found Goya brand passionfruit puree in the freezer section of my local Mexican grocery.

I haven't given up on this dessert. I tried a new mousse recipe, fairly simple with mango nectar, unflavored gelatin, lime juice, and cool whip. It had good consistency and my wife liked the flavor but I thought it was a little bland, still cool and refreshing. This recipe called for some food coloring in the mousse. The picture doesn't show well but it's a light salmon color, there may be enough color contrast to use a white chocolate truffle as the pearl.

I used pie crust again for the cookie but brushed it with egg white and sprinkled on some pink sugar crystals - I don't think the sugar added any elegance.

The mousse was substantially thicker than the last batch but still would not hold the cookie upright, I need to redesign my ceramic shell to include a little "easel" on the back to hold the up cookie.

Here's a picture of my latest attempt:

Man that is an amazing presentation for a dessert - looks simply amazing

Murphy
http://tropicaldrinksblog.com

OK, I finally got a dessert that I would be satisfied to serve to company and I made new ceramic shell plates to hold it. This is "inspired by" the Black Pearl dessert of Mama's Fish House, not a copy of their dessert. I wanted a little extra mango flavor, so I started with 24 ounces of mango nectar and reduced/concentrated it down to 16 ounces. You could just use 16 ounces of nectar if you wanted. You could also use any flavor of nectar that you want. I used food coloring in the mousse so there would be enough color contrast to use a Lindor white chocolate truffle as the pearl. If you are the type to avoid artificial food coloring, I'm sure you could use beet juice extract :)

Mousse
2 twelve ounce cans of mango nectar
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 teaspoons lemon juice
10 drops yellow food coloring
2 drops red food coloring
1 dash salt
4 ounces Cool Whip, thawed

Mix exerything except the gelatin and Cool Whip in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally until reduced to 2 cups, about 15 or 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and sprinkle gelatin over liquid, quickly whisk to dissolve completely. Refrigerate about 2-3 hours, then blend the mango/gelatin mixture and the Cool Whip together.

Lemon Wafer
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter softened
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
3 drops red food coloring

Cream together everything except flour. Gradually mix in flour until a soft dough, roll out 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out shell shapes with a sharp knife (I made a paper template and cut around it. Prick wafers with a fork to make the shell lines, bake at 325 for 10 minutes, gently flip over and bake another 4 minutes.

I really like the shell dish with the built-in wafer holder. How many servings do you get from your recipe?

Thanks Mega,

I got about 4 cups of mousse and enough dough for six 5 inch shell wafers. Could have got a couple more wafers if I re-rolled the scraps.

This would be so much better if they got rid of the coconut!
The coconut ruined it for me.

I have not given up on this idea. Not looking to replicate Mama's, just want something inspired by it that looks and tastes good.

Here's an attempt from June 2022
Puff pastry shells, mango mousse, and a white chocolate truffle pearl. The mousse was mango puree folded into whipped cream, a little bland. And the presentation not that great either. You win some and you lose some.

Another attempt from June 2022

Banana and Mango, still not where I want it to be. Replaced the puff pastry shells from last time with pie crust. I did an egg wash and pink sanding sugar but that was a mistake as the sugar burned.
Mousse recipe
2 T warm water and 1 t unflavored gelatin, mix and allow to soften
1 cup whipping cream whipped to soft peaks
Mix in softened gelatin
Fold in 1 cup of spiced fruit puree (mango and cardamom, banana and allspice, or other as desired)
Assemble with 2 shells, mousse, and a chocolate pearl.

Most recent attempt.
Finally make some decent cookies - gingersnaps baked on sea shells. But my mousse didn't set so I just used canned whipped cream and a Lindor truffle for a black pearl 😁 The chocolate and passion fruit "smear" garnish didn't work out on a square plate and all of our plain white round plates are put away for the holidays

Going to try this method next. They used real shells (which I have) but to stay true to Mama's I may still try to use cookie shells. The gingersnaps had good texture but they were a bit darker than Mama's. Might try using clear Karo syrup instead of molasses to lighten the color. Fortune cookie dough might work too? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0P9iaHjB3c

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-12-11 13:27:12 ]

Used the YouTube video above to make this one.
I made boxed pudding mousse instead of "real" mousse but I home made the Liliko'i Jelly. The 3 inch chocolate sphere molds are too big for my 4 inch scallop shells. I need either smaller spheres or bigger shells. This video uses natural shells where Mama's uses shell shaped cookies. I will work more on shell cookies in the future. My plate decor needs more work too, I need to thicken the passion fruit puree into a gel. Hard chocolate shell, milk chocolate mousse, liliko'i jelly in the middle. Pretty sweet but good.

What a blast to scroll through all the information and photos. We have been there a few times and have never ordered this desert. I hope we have a chance in the future because we would never try to make one ourselves. Love you Mike you are one of a kind.

<3