 |
| I was hoping this would look better. Need to work on my plating skills. |
The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.
I tested this recipe out with my girlfriends, and we all enjoyed the richness of the dessert. It tastes similar to a dense chocolate ice cream with crunchy, spicy, salty, sweet, and cool textures and flavors. The dish requires a lot of work and time, so plan on making it over the course of two days (Day 1: Chocolate Base & Marquise, Spiced Almonds; Day 2: Tequila Caramel, Torched Meringue and assembly) To simplify this dessert and decrease labor time, I would probably skip the meringue and spiced almonds.
Recipe after the jump!
Chocolate Base
Servings: n/a - this is an ingredient for the chocolate marquise, not meant to be used separately
Ingredients
6 oz bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa)
¾ cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 cup tequila
1/8 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 cup cocoa powder (we used extra brut, like Hershey's Special Dark, but any Dutch-processed cocoa would be fine. Do not substitute natural cocoa powder.)
1/16 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 oz unsalted butter, softened
Directions:
1. Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.
2. In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch (but is not boiling). Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
3. Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
5. Set aside until cooled to room temperature. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture. If you make it the day before, you may need to warm it slightly. Whisk it until it is smooth again before using it in the marquise recipe.
Chocolate Marquise
Servings: 9 2.5"x2.5" cubes
Ingredients
6 large egg yolks at room temperature
2 large eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons water
Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe above)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling) (Note: We used extra brut, like Hershey's Special Dark. Make sure it's a Dutch processed cocoa, not a natural cocoa powder.)
Directions:
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high speed until very thick and pale, about 10 - 15 minutes.
2. When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to softball stage (235F/115C). If you have a cake tester with a metal loop for a handle, the right stage for the syrup is reached when you can blow a bubble through the loop (as seen in the following pictures).
3. With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk.
4. When all of the syrup has been added (do it fairly quickly), turn the mixer back on high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
6. When the egg mixture has cooled, add the chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you've whipped into the eggs. We used the stand mixer for this, and it took about 1 minute.
7. Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.
8. Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn't allow in any air).
9. Freeze until very firm, at least 2 - 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).
Spiced Almonds
Servings: Makes about 1 cup of spiced almonds
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg white
1 cup blanched whole almonds
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
3. In a larger mixing bowl whisk the egg white until it's frothy and thick.
4. Add the spice mix to the egg white and whisk to combine completely. Add the nuts to the egg white mixture and toss with a spoon.
5. Spoon the coated nuts onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake the nuts for 30 minutes, or until they turn light brown. Allow the nuts to cool completely and they will get very crunchy. Set aside until ready to serve.
Tequila Caramel
Servings: Makes about 1/2 cup of caramel
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tequila
Directions:
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water on medium-high heat. Boil until the water completely evaporates and the sugar caramelizes to a dark mahogany color.
2. Working quickly, add the cream to the darkened caramel. It will bubble and pop vigorously, so add only as much cream as you can without overflowing the pot.
3. Return the pot to the stove on low heat and whisk gently to break up any hardened sugar. Add any remaining cream and continue stirring. Gradually, the hard sugar will dissolve and the caramel sauce will continue to darken. When the caramel has darkened to the point you want it, remove it from the heat. Add the salt and tequila and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.
Torched Meringue
Servings: Makes about 2 – 2½ cups of meringue. If you aren't planning on serving *all* of the marquise at once, you might want to scale this recipe back a bit.
Ingredients
6 large egg whites
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using your (clean, washed) hand, reach in the bowl and stir the three together, making sure the sugar is moistened evenly by the egg whites and they make a homogeneous liquid.
2. Over a saucepan of simmering water, warm the egg white mixture. Use one hand to stir the mixture continuously, feeling for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don't feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.
3. Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and return it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly.
4. When you're ready to plate the dessert, spoon the meringue onto a plate (or use a piping bag) and use a blowtorch to broil.
Putting it all together.
When you're ready to plate, remove the marquise from the freezer at least 15 minutes before serving. While it's still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment 'handles' or by flipping it over onto another piece of parchment.
Cut it into cubes and roll the cubes in cocoa powder. These will start to melt almost immediately, so don't do this step until all of your other plating components (meringue, caramel, spiced nuts, cocoa nibs) are ready. The cubes need to sit in the fridge to slowly thaw so plating components can be done during that time. They don’t need to be ready before the cubes are rolled in the cocoa powder. The cocoa powder made us cough a lot, so if that is the sort of thing that would bother you I'd sprinkle the cocoa on rather than covering the marquise.
Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment