Tag: Chocolate

Rich chocolate cake with a decadent chocolate glaze

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SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

White chocolate and strawberry terrine


Serve with strawberry sauce and crispy sugar almonds

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White chocolate and strawberry terrine

The terrine:
3 cups/750 ml fresh strawberries, hulled and cut in half
240 g/8.5 oz good-quality white chocolate, chopped
127 g/4.5 oz sugar
2 tablespoons/30 ml water
1 tablespoon/15 ml light corn syrup
4 large free-range egg whites
½ teaspoon/3 ml cream of tartar
1½ cups/375 ml chilled fresh cream
seeds from one vanilla pod
1 tablespoon/15 ml Grand Marnier liqueur

The crispy sugary almonds:
100 g/3.5 oz sugar
2 tablespoons/30 ml liquid glucose
1 tablespoon/15 ml water
3 tablespoons/45 ml almonds, flaked and roasted

Extra garnish:
glazed fruit, such as green fig and orange, finely sliced (optional)
reserved strawberry puree

Make the terrine:
♦  Line the bottom of a 22 x 12 x 7 cm/8½ x 4.7 x 2.7 in terrine dish (7-8-cup capacity) with cling-film, extending the foil over the shorter ends.
♦  Puree the strawberries and measure out 1¼ cups/312.5 ml of the puree and set aside. Reserve the remaining puree for garnishing.
♦  Stir the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water until melted. Remove from the heat.
♦  In a small saucepan, heat the sugar, water and corn syrup until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat. Boil for about 4 minutes (120°C/248°F on a sugar thermometer), periodically brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush.
♦  Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl until it forms soft peaks. Gradually add the boiling syrup to the whites, beating until the meringue is cool, about 5 minutes; then fold the melted white chocolate into the meringue.
♦  Beat the cream and vanilla in a large bowl until medium-firm, then add to the white chocolate mixture to form the chocolate mousse.
♦ Transfer 4 cups/1 liter of the white chocolate mousse to a medium bowl and fold the 1¼ cups strawberry puree and Grand Marnier into the mousse.
♦ Spread half the strawberry mousse in the prepared terrine dish, and freeze until almost firm, about 15 minutes. Keep the remaining white chocolate mousse and remaining strawberry mousse in the refrigerator.
♦  After 15 minutes, spread the white chocolate mousse over the half frozen strawberry mousse layer and freeze for about 25 minutes.
♦  Spread the remaining strawberry mousse over the white chocolate layer. Cover the terrine with plastic and freeze overnight. (Can be prepared and kept frozen for 4 days ahead).
♦  Uncover the terrine and carefully invert the terrine onto a platter. Carefully peel off the cling-film.

The crispy sugary almonds:
Bring the sugar, glucose and water to a boil over medium heat until it turns golden and lightly caramelizes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Glucose is very sticky and an easy way to measure it is with either a heated spoon or a spoon dipped in oil. The glucose will simply slip off the spoon. Do the same with honey and corn syrup.

Lightly grease some parchment paper, or use silicone paper, and with a teaspoon drizzle the sugar syrup into patterns of your choice. Immediately scatter the almonds over the sugar patterns, then leave to cool totally and become crispy.

To serve:
Brush a wide stripe of the reserved strawberry puree over the center of each serving plate, place a slice of the terrine in the middle of the stripe, and decorate with sugary almonds and glazed fruit (if using).

Categories
SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

Baked chocolate pudding


Made with hazelnuts and cherries and a rich chocolate glaze

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The reason for dredging the fruit and nuts is to ensure that it mixes well with the cake mixture and does not sink to the bottom. The cake baked in the bread tin makes it attractive, when sliced, for presentation purposes. Any shape tin may be used.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

The pudding:
100 g/3.5 oz self-raising flour 
½ teaspoon/3 ml baking powder 
a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 
1 tablespoon/30 ml cocoa powder 
75 g/2.6 oz caster sugar 
1 extra large free-range egg, lightly whisked 
1 tablespoon/30 ml golden syrup (corn syrup) 
6½ tablespoons/100 ml milk 
6½ tablespoons/100  ml sunflower oil
½ cup/125 ml hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup/250 ml Marachino stoned cherries in syrup (available bottled in syrup), drained and cut in half 
flour for dredging the nuts and cherries

The glaze:
¼ cup/60 ml sugar syrup
½ cup/125 ml water
4 tablespoons/60 ml glucose syrup
3 tablespoons/45 ml cream
3 tablespoons/45 ml cocoa powder
1 tablespoon/15 ml Drambuie (optional)

The garnish:
12 Marachino stoned cherries with stalks (available at well-stocked supermarkets)

Preheat the oven to 150°C/302°F.
Grease a bread tin of approximately 28 x 13 cm/11 x 5 in.
Sieve all dry ingredients together into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Mix the egg with the syrup, milk and oil and add to the dry ingredients. Mix well until smooth. Lightly dredge the hazelnuts and cherries with the flour and mix it into the batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes. Remove from the tin and let cool.

To serve:
For the glaze, heat the sugar syrup, water, glucose, cream and cocoa powder and bring to a boil. Stir until the sauce thickens, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool. When the pudding as well as the glaze have cooled totally, pour the glaze (reserving 4 tablespoons/60 ml) over the pudding. Decorate with the cherries and chocolate curls. 

Glucose is very sticky and an easy way to measure it is with either a heated spoon or a spoon dipped in oil. The glucose will simply slip off the spoon. Do the same with honey and corn syrup.

When ready to serve, cut the pudding in slices and put on a cooling rack with a plate underneath to catch the dripping glaze. Spoon the glaze over the piece of cake making sure that you cover it all over. Carefully lift the cake off the rack and place in the center of the serving plate. Decorate with the cherries.

Categories
SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

Papaya mousse with chocolate and orange and Cointreau mousse topping


Serve with brandy snaps or wafer rolls.

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Serves 4

Experiment with mangoes or other soft seasonal fruit such as ripe peaches, melon,etc. Adding lemon juice to prevent them from browning is essential. If orange flavored chocolate is not available, finely grate some orange zest into the melting dark chocolate.

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The papaya mousse :
1 small, ripe papaya, seeded and peeled
¼ cup/60 ml caster sugar
2 tablespoons/30 ml fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons/10 ml peach Scnapps / Cointreau, or orange juice

The chocolate mousse topping:
¼ cup/60 ml whole milk
¼ cup/60 ml double cream
85 g/3 oz orange-flavoured dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 free-range egg

The brandy snaps:
125 g/4.4 oz butter
4 tablespoons/60 ml golden syrup
125 g/4.4 oz dark brown sugar
125 g/4.4 oz plain flour
1 teaspoon/5 ml ground dried ginger

Puree the papaya in a liquidizer. Add the caster sugar, lemon juice and Schnapps / Cointreau (if using) or orange juice. Pour into 4-6 fluted glasses or large cocktail glasses and chill to set.

In a large saucepan and over medium heat, slowly bring the milk and cream to the boil. Put the chopped chocolate into a liquidizer and pour over the hot milk and cream. Leave to stand for two minutes, then blend the mixture for about 30 seconds. Add the egg to the mixture and blend for another 45 seconds. Carefully pour the chocolate over the papaya mousse and refrigerate for about 2 hours or until set.

The recipe for the chocolate mousse contains raw eggs and is not suitable for pregnant women, the elderly or very young children. If you wish to avoid using raw eggs, make the Quick chocolate mousse. The recipe is in the Glossary.

The brandy snaps:
Heat the butter, syrup and sugar over low heat until melted. Sift the flour and ginger together and add to the butter mixture. Mix until smooth, then cool and chill for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F and lightly grease a baking tray.
Roll teaspoons full of the mixture into balls and flatten them into discs directly onto the baking tray. Leave enough room between each disk for spreading out during baking. Bake in the oven for 7 – 10 minutes or until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly then wrap over the bottom of a glass or around a rolling pin, or simply leave it flat. Leave to cool completely.

To serve:
Place each glass of papaya and chocolate mousse in the center of a serving plate with two brandy snaps each. (One or two wafer rolls can be used instead of the brandy snaps.)

Categories
SOUPS/SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

Carnival fritters served with a chocolate soup


These traditional fritters are very much appreciated all around Italy during Carnival days which root back in medieval times.
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Serves 4

CARNIVAL FRITTERS

 

 

The fritters:
250 g/8 oz flour, sifted
salt
1 egg
2 egg yolks
seeds of half a vanilla pod

Once you have scraped the seeds from the vanilla pod, store it in an airtight container filled with sugar. This will provide you with vanilla flavored sugar in just a few days.

grated zest from half an orange
1 teaspoon/5 ml olive oil
2 tablespoons/30 ml milk
1 tablespoon/15 ml dark rum
25 g/0.8 oz butter, melted
oil for deep-frying
icing sugar for sprinkling

The chocolate soup:
125 g/4.5 oz dark chocolate
pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon/5 ml instant coffee dissolved in
1 tablespoon/15 ml hot water
½ cup/125 ml Drambuie

Process the flour, salt, eggs, vanilla, orange zest, olive oil, milk and rum to form a dough. Cover in cling film and  refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out with a pasta machine until 5 mm thick.  Brush the entire length of the pasta sheet with butter, then fold in two.  Roll out again until it is 5 mm thick.  Repeat this process three times then cut into long strips of 1½ cm/0.6 in wide and cut each strip into 12 cm/4.7 in long pieces. Tie a loose knot with each piece, then working in small batches, deep-fry the pastry knots in the hot oil until golden all over.  Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain.

Combine the cream and milk in a heavy, medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the chocolate and cook, whisking constantly until smooth, about 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the liqueur.  Cover and keep warm.

To serve:
On four plates, pile a helping of the fritters off center and sprinkle generously with the icing sugar.  Place a small dipping bowl or small coffee cup next to the fritters and fill with the chocolate soup. Serve warm.