I don't know if you have noticed this...but I don't have a lot of chocolate recipes here in my little corner of the interwebs.
See...I don't really mention this issue much because I figure y'all will look at me funny when I say it.
I don't really care for chocolate.
I know!! Crazy right?!?!
I have to really be in the mood for chocolate to have any at all. And that's not too often.
So when I have a chocolate recipe to make, I tend to make it at a time that I can give it away and not have to eat it myself.
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.
When I read this month's Daring Bakers challenge, I started thinking of how I was going to make and give away a chocolate, frozen dessert.
Well...the opportunity presented itself the other day when my family was over playing a game of Phase 10.
I know what you are thinking...family game nights are usually events when you make dips, small bites and other finger foods. NOT when you should be making a decadent, gourmet dessert.
But...this is how I roll. So...chocolate marquise on toasted meringue with a caramel drizzle was served at the last game night. Perfect right?? Ha!
Luckily, I had made the chocolate marquise earlier in the week and it was sitting in the freezer, waiting for the perfect opportunity to make its debut.
Everyone really enjoyed the dessert though the consensus was that the cayenne pepper in the chocolate marquise was a bit overwhelming. So keep that in mind when you are making this dish.
Also, the original recipe called for tequila in the marquise and the caramel but me being in my pregnant state (and the fact that we don't actually bake anything with this challenge, therefore the alcohol wouldn't be cooked off) I omitted that ingredient. There were also other optional components to this dish that I
Ready?? Let's get daring!
We start by making the chocolate base. Heat up some heavy cream.
And pour it over some chocolate. Let it stand for a minute or two and whisk it up until it's nice and smooth.
Toss in the rest of the ingredients and whisk those until they are well incorporated. Set it aside.
Now we start the marquise. Put the yolks and eggs in a large mixing bowl. And whip them into submission! Well...whip them until they are light and fluffy anyway.
While the eggs are whipping. Make a simple sugar syrup. Bring some water and sugar to boil until it hits the "soft ball stage."
Then slowly but quickly (what?) drizzle it into the eggs as they continue to whip.
Is anyone else having a problem with this song right now (other than me): When an egg comes along...you must whip it! No? Just me? Oh...
While the eggs and sugar syrup whip along...go ahead and make whipped cream out of your heavy whipping cream. That means whip the cream until soft peaks form. Don't be like me and whip too long though. That's annoying. Set that aside.
Back to the egg mixture! The eggs should be cool by now (remember, you poured boiling sugar syrup on them) so now it's time to mix in the chocolate base that we made earlier. Pour the chocolate in and mix for about a minute until it's all well incorporated.
Fold in the whipped cream.
Then pour that mixture into a parchment lined baking pan. Put some plastic wrap over the top, making sure to let the plastic wrap touch the chocolate mixture. Put in the freezer for a couple hours, overnight, or if you are me...a couple days. Oops!
When you are almost ready to serve up this dessert, we are going to make the meringue. put some sugar and egg whites into a mixing bowl. Mix it up with a clean hand.
Then make a sort of double broiler from that bowl, continue to mix with your hand until all the sugar dissolves. Now set that mixture to whip up on the mixer. In the last minute or so, add the vanilla until mixed in. Then set it aside until ready to use.
Now to make the caramel! Put some sugar and water in a small saucepan and cook until a deep amber/mahogany color. Then add the cream and salt and whisk it up. Set the caramel aside until ready to use.
When we are ready to serve up the dessert, unwrap the frozen brick of chocolate and cut it into squares. Quickly (because it's all melting) roll the squares in the cocoa powder then place them in the fridge to thaw for about 15 minutes or so while you work on plating the rest.
Start by drizzling the caramel on the plate. Spoon some meringue on the plate then torch it. Place a thawed chocolate square on the toasted meringue.
Serve it to family or friends and enjoy!!!f
Chocolate Marquise on Meringue
Retrieved from The Daring Kitchen
Printer Friendly Version
Ingredients:
- 6 large egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons water
- Chocolate Base, barely warm (recipe follows)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Dutch process cocoa powder (for rolling)
- Torched meringue(recipe follows)
- Caramel (recipe follows)
Directions:
- 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. 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
- 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.
- Fold 1/3 of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining whipped cream.
- Pour into the prepared pans and cover with plastic wrap (directly touching the mixture so it doesn't allow in any air).
- Freeze until very firm, at least 2 - 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).
- 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.
- Plate with the torched meringue and drizzled caramel sauce, and toss spiced almonds and cocoa nibs around for garnish. You want to handle the cubes as little as possible because they get messy quickly and are difficult to move. However, you want to wait to serve them until they've softened completely. The soft pillows of chocolate are what make this dessert so unusual and when combined with the other elements, you'll get creamy and crunchy textures with cool, spicy, salty, bitter, and sweet sensations on your palate.
Chocolate Base
Ingredients:
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) bittersweet chocolate (about 70% cocoa)
- 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/8 cup light corn syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 cup cocoa powder
- 1/16 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 oz unsalted butter (1 tablespoon/15 grams), softened
Directions:
- Place the chocolate in a small mixing bowl.
- 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.
- Allow it to sit for a minute or two before stirring. Stir until the chocolate is melted completely and is smooth throughout.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
- 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.
Torched Meringue
Ingredients:
- 6 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- Splash of apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 stir to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.