Radio Times: Review by:; Jane Rackham

So, you’re cleaning your computer keyboard one day when you realise you could use the spray’s propellant to freeze a tray and then dribble chocolate on it to make a decorative shard. At least you do if you’re Heston Blumenthal. The rest of us concentrate on getting bits of sarnie out from under the space bar. But the mad professor of food loves theatricality, whether it’s concocting tiramisu disguised as a potted plant or adding popping candy to a chocolate gateau to make it explode.

Tucked away in the madness are some brilliant nuggets, such as the best way to empty a bottle of wine quickly (no, not that way) and how to make bitter chocolate sweeter (just add salt, apparently).

About this programme

3/6. Chef Heston Blumenthal challenges the way chocolate is often used in cooking, suggesting it should be kept away from moisture and direct heat. He prepares a popping candy passion fruit gateau with an exploding base, and cooks a flowerpot tiramisu with edible soil which he turns from a sweet into a surprisingly savoury dish. He also uses keyboard cleaner to shock-freeze melted chocolate, and offers advice to an amateur dramatics society on the best way to make a hot chocolate.