Special Chocolate Desserts

[DeletedAccount53]

Throughout the year which 'Covid lockdown' gave us the greatest opportunity, Jules and I have made all of these chocolate-based desserts, but unanimously agree that the first 5 are truly outstanding! Jules (my nickname for identical twin Julie) has helped me with the spelling and grammar. All recipes came from BBC Good Food, but wouldn't find any other recipe that matched Marcel Desaulniers' Frozen Chocolate Mousse Bombe! (which will be last).


I've never been keen on posting links mostly because some break, and then you lovely people would be without the recipes! So I'm going to post each recipe up with the link so as to ratify said links are authentic.



I may add to this thread of recipes, depending if I can find more even if they aren't chocolate, will be most deffo tried and tested. Without doubt though, all chocolate lovers will be in for a treat!


First Best: Squidgy chocolate pear pudding (using canned pears)
Reference 1: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/...e-pear-pudding


Reference 2: Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2014


Ingredients:
200g butter, plus extra for greasing

300g golden caster sugar 4
large eggs

75g plain flour

50g cocoa powder

410g can pear halves in juice, drained

100g plain dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

25g flaked almonds (optional)

cream or ice cream to serve


Step One.
Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Lightly grease a roughly 20 x 30cm shallow ovenproof dish. Put the butter in a large saucepan and place over a low heat until just melted. Remove the butter from the heat and stir in the sugar until well combined.

Step Two.
Whisk the eggs together in a large bowl. Gradually add the eggs to the butter and sugar, beating well with a wooden spoon in between each addition. Sift the flour and cocoa powder on top of the egg mixture, then beat hard with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined.


Step Three.
Pour into the prepared tin or dish and nestle the pears into the chocolate batter. Put the chocolate on a board and cut into chunky pieces roughly 1.5cm with a large knife. Scatter the chocolate pieces over the batter and sprinkle with almonds, if you like. Can be frozen at this stage.


Step Four.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 mins or until the mixture is crusty on the surface and lightly cooked inside. Do not allow to overcook, as the cake will become spongy rather than gooey in the centre. Serve warm with cream or ice cream.


TIPS
Wrap the cooled, unbaked pudding tightly in foil, label and freeze for up to 1 month. To serve, unwrap the pudding and bake from frozen as above in step 4 for 50 mins.

[DeletedAccount53]

Second Best: Chocolate Marquise
Reference 1: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-marquise
Reference 2: Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2007


Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate, use 70%, good quality, such as Valrhona or Green & Black's

150g unsalted butter, softened

150g caster sugar

6 tbsp cocoa powder (Valrhona or Van Houten's)

6 eggs

450ml double cream

300g box After Eights


Step One.
Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Then assemble a bain-marie – do this by pouring a little water into a saucepan and placing the bowl over the water (making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl). Set the pan over a gentle heat and warm the water until the chocolate has melted. Take off the heat and leave to cool a little.


Step Two.
Meanwhile, place the butter and half the sugar into another large bowl. Using a tabletop mixer or electric hand whisk, beat until the mixture is really light and creamy, then beat in the cocoa powder.


Step Three.
Separate the eggs (the whites can be frozen for another time) and put the yolks in a third bowl. Tip in the remaining sugar, then beat together until pale and creamy. To check if it’s ready, make a figure-of-eight shape in the mixture with the beater – it should hold its shape for a moment. In a fourth bowl, whip the cream until thickened with soft peaks.


Step Four.
Pour the melted chocolate into the butter mixture, and carefully stir through until it is well combined. Gently fold in the egg mixture. When this is amalgamated, stir in the whipped cream. Now line a 6.5 x 22cm tin with 3 layers of cling film, leaving a 10cm overhang.


Step Five.
Spoon the mixture into a large piping bag with a large nozzle attached (see Gordon’s steps, far right). Pipe a layer over the bottom of the tin, then cover this with a layer of After Eights (cut some in half to ensure they fit). Pipe over another layer of chocolate cream, followed by a layer of After Eights. Continue until you have 4 layers of chocolate mints and the tin is full, finishing with a chocolate cream layer. Fold over the cling film, then chill overnight or up to 2 days.


Step Six.
Just before serving, place the marquise in the freezer for 10 mins to make it easier to slice. Place the tin, bottom-side up, on a serving plate, slide off the tin, then peel away the cling film. If you have a blowtorch, quickly run the flame over the surface of the marquise to give it a glossy sheen. Alternatively, dip a palette knife in boiling water and smooth the surface that way. Use a serrated knife dipped in boiling water to cut the marquise into slices.


Recipe Tips.


NO PIPING BAG?

If you don’t have a piping bag, snip off a small corner of a plastic food bag. Spoon the filling into this and use it to pipe, instead. Or, you can spoon the chocolate mixture over the After Eights, making sure to smooth over any air pockets.


BUY THE TIN

You can buy 6.5 x 22cm tins from specialist baking shops, or online at divertimenti.co.uk. You could also use a regular loaf tin – but as this is a bit wider, only make three layers of After Eights.


FREEZE FOR A MONTH

The marquise will keep in the freezer for up to one month – just defrost in the fridge for an hour before serving. Try freezing slices individually – this will make plating up much quicker.

[DeletedAccount53]

Third Best: Chocolate & chestnut truffle torte.
Reference 1: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/...-truffle-torte
Reference 2:Recipe from Good Food magazine, January 2010

Please note that alcohol is used in this recipe, so first please ask permission from a parent or guardian if you are underage to be handling alcohol. Thank you.


Ingredients:
50g butter, melted, plus a little extra

3 eggs

85g caster sugar

40g plain flour

40g cocoa, plus extra for dusting

2 tbsp brandy (optional)

For the truffle topping

435g can unsweetened chestnut purée (we used Merchant Gourmet
2 eggs, separated

2 x 200g/7oz bars plain chocolate, broken (don't use one with a very high cocoa content) (my suggestion is use 60% plain choc from Lidl or Aldi)

600ml pot double cream

• STEP 1Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Grease a 25cm spring-form tin, then line the base and sides with baking paper. Whisk eggs and sugar until pale and thick.
• STEP 2Sift the flour and cocoa together onto the mixture, then gently fold in, followed by the butter. Pour into the tin, ease to the edges, then bake for 8-10 mins until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin.
• STEP 3Meanwhile, beat the chestnut purée and egg yolks until as smooth as possible. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water with half the cream. Remove from the heat, then beat into the chestnut mixture.
• STEP 4Whisk the egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl, whip the remaining cream until it holds its shape. Fold into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the egg whites. Drizzle the brandy, if using, over the sponge base, then pour the chocolate mix on top. Level the surface and chill for 5 hrs or overnight until firm. Chill for 2 days, or freeze for 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
• STEP 5To serve, carefully remove from the tin, strip off the paper and slide onto a cake stand. Dust heavily with cocoa.

[DeletedAccount53]

Forth Best: Sunken drunken chocolate cake (Julie recommends us marsala instead).
Reference 1:https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/...chocolate-cake
Reference 2: Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2012


Please note that alcohol is used in this recipe, so first please ask permission from a parent or guardian if you are underage to be handling alcohol. Thank you.


Ingredients:

• 140g prune (Agen if you can get them), pitted
• 4 tbsp marsala or PX Sherry
• 100g butter , plus extra for the tin
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 140g dark chocolate (70%), chopped
• 100g caster sugar
• 50g light muscovado sugar
• 4 large eggs , 2 separated
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 100g ground almond
• 1 tbsp plain flour

• STEP 1Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Gently heat the prunes and Marsala over a low heat until hot. Remove from the heat and leave for about 1 hr or until the prunes have absorbed almost all of the liquid. Whizz the prunes and any remaining booze in a food processor until roughly chopped.
• STEP 2Butter and line the base of a 20cm spring-form tin. Dust with cocoa, tip out any excess and reserve. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir in the prune mix.
• STEP 3Whisk the sugars, 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks until pale, thick and doubled in volume. Fold the chocolate mixture and vanilla into the egg mixture, then sift over the ground almonds, flour and remaining cocoa. Fold until everything is combined.
• STEP 4Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the mixture. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 mins or until a light crust has formed. Allow to cool in the tin – it will sink and crack as it cools. Remove from the tin and dust with cocoa before serving.

[DeletedAccount53]

Fifth Best: Chocolate fudge crinkle biscuits.
Reference 1: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/...inkle-biscuits
Reference 2: Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2019


Ingredients:

• 60g cocoa powder, sieved
• 200g caster sugar
• 60ml vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 180g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 70g icing sugar

• STEP 1Mix the cocoa, caster sugar and oil together. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until fully combined.
• STEP 2Stir the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl, then add to the cocoa mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. If it feels soft, transfer to the fridge and chill for 1 hr. Heat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Tip the icing sugar into a shallow dish. Form a heaped teaspoon of the dough into a ball, then roll in the sugar to coat. Repeat with the remaining dough, then put, evenly spaced, on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
  • STEP 3Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 mins – they will firm up as they cool. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. Will keep for four days in a biscuit tin.
• Recipe Tip.
  FREEZE THE DOUGH
  
  Freeze the dough in balls and bake as needed, or halve the recipe for fewer biscuits.

[DeletedAccount53]

Chocolate fruitcake.


Reference 1: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-fruitcake
Reference 2: Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2010


Please note that alcohol is used in this recipe, so first please ask permission from a parent or guardian if you are underage to be handling alcohol. Thank you.


Ingredients:

• 200g butter
• 200g dark brown soft sugar
• 100g dark chocolate (we used 80%) broken into chunks
• 75ml brandy
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 250g raisins
• 250g currants
• 100g dried cranberries
• 100g dried sour cherries
• 100g mixed peel
• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g ground almonds
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 3 eggs , beaten with a fork.

• STEP 1Put the butter, sugar, chocolate, brandy, vanilla and dried fruits into a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until everything has melted together. Remove from the heat.
• STEP 2Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Line a deep cake tin, 20cm round or 18cm square, with a double layer of baking parchment. Wrap a few layers of newspaper around the outside and secure with string.
• STEP 3Mix the flour, almonds, cocoa and spice together. Stir the eggs into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture in the saucepan, followed by the flour mixture. Scrape into your prepared tin and bake for 1½ hrs- 1 hr 45 mins or until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then decorate (see 'Goes well with', right, for decoration ideas). Greaseproof-wrapped cake will keep for 2 months in an airtight container.

[DeletedAccount53]

Marcel Desaulnier's Frozen Chocolate Bombe.

Reference Book: Marcel Desaulniers' Celebrate with Chocolate: Totally Over-the-Top Recipes

Originally published: 22 October 2002

A note from me.

First, read the recipe through a couple of times. Then it won't be nearly as intimidating as it seems.

Before commencing, shut off your phone.

This splendid, truly memorable Frozen Chocolate Bombe will take some time to make. But it will be totally worth it. Now, I've made this several times, so the recipe is no way as daunting. But you will be remembered for making it for your loved ones. I guarantee they'll be asking you for it again!


Ingredients:

Cake:
1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus an extra tsp for greasing the pan
8 oz good quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 eggs
1 egg yolk (don't dump the white, you'll need it)
1 Tbsp sugar

Mousse:
8 oz good quality dark chocolate (divided), coarsely chopped
1/4 cup freshly brewed coffee
1/4 cup honey
4 Tbsp sugar
3 egg whites (you can use one of the ones left over from the cake)
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted. Pick out about half cup of pretty ones and chop the rest.

Glaze:
8 oz good quality dark chocolate, coarsely chopped*
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp unsalted butter

Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Line a 9" spring-form pan with parchment and grease the bottom and sides with a bit of butter. Set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate and the butter in a glass bowl in the microwave in 20 second increments, stirring at each break until everything is smooth. Set aside.
4. Place the eggs, yolk and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a balloon whip and whisk on high until light in color and slightly thickened (about 5 min). Using a rubber spatula fold in the chocolate and butter mixture just until it's incorporated. Try not to mix too much or you'll lose the volume you just whipped into it.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spread evenly and bake for about 25 min, or until a toothpick stuck into the middle comes up with a few crumbs but definitely not covered in raw batter. Cool completely at room temp before removing from the pan. Set aside.

Mousse:
1. Melt 5 oz of the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave at 20 second intervals , stirring at each stop until it's smooth. Set aside.
2. Combine coffee, honey, and 2 Tbsps of the sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil it, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 240F (about 5 min).
3. While the syrup is cooking combine the egg whites and the remaining 2 Tbsps sugar in a bowl of a mixer and when the syrup is almost ready, start whipping the egg whites on high and whip until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Your syrup should be ready now, so lower the speed to low and slowly add it to the egg whites. Once it's all in there turn up the speed to high and whip until very thick (about 4 min).
4. Carefully fold in the melted chocolate.
5. In a separate bowl whisk the heavy cream on medium-high until stiff peaks form, then fold that into the chocolate meringue until it's uniform. Keep in the fridge until needed.
6. Melt the remaining 3 oz chocolate the same way as before, let it cool a bit and transfer to a large bowl. Add 2 cups of the chocolate mousse and the chopped pecans. Fold with a rubber spatula until combined and keep in the fridge until needed.

Assembly 1:
1. Lightly spray the inside of a large bowl, which should be about 9" in diameter at the top, with Pam, or some other vegetable oil spray, and line with plastic wrap, making sure to leave lots of it hanging over the sides.
2. Spoon the chocolate honey mousse into the bowl and use an offset spatula to make sure it's spread evenly and that there are no air bubbles. Pour the chocolate pecan mixture over the top and smooth that as well. Top with the cake and press down a bit to make sure there are no air bubbles or gaps trapped in between. Cover the top with the ends of the plastic wrap, adding more if needed and put in the freezer. It will need to chill at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Glaze:
1. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.
2. Heat the heavy cream, honey, and butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat and stir to combine. DO NOT WALK AWAY or the milk will boil over. As soon as you see little bubbles at the edges take it off the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let it stand for a minute and then stir with a whisk until smooth.

Assembly 2:
1. Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet.
2. Remove the bowl from the freezer, unfold the plastic wrap from the bottom and flip onto a 9" cake circle placed on top of the cooling rack. If the dome doesn't pop right out of the bowl, soak a towel in hot water, wrap it around the bottom and sides of the bowl and hold it there for a few seconds, then try to un-mold again. It should pop right out, but you may need to tug gently at the plastic wrap to help it along.
3. Pour the glaze over the bombe, letting excess drip down onto the baking sheet. Transfer to a plate or a bigger cake circle and stick it back in the freezer to set for 20 min. In the mean time scrape up the glaze that dripped onto the baking sheet into a bowl and let it chill in the fridge for 20 min.
4. Transfer the chilled extra glaze to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, pull out the bombe from the freezer and pipe a border around the bottom, alternating with the reserved pretty pecan halves.
5. Store the bombe in the freezer, but take it out 20 min or so before serving to let it soften a bit, otherwise it will be really hard to cut. Enjoy!


* Yes, there is a pound and a half of chocolate in this cake. So what?

[MsNobleEleanor]

Oh wow, lots of chocolate recipes! Which one out of the ones you shared is your favorite to make and why?

[DeletedAccount53]

Originally Posted by MsNobleEleanor

Oh wow, lots of chocolate recipes! Which one out of the ones you shared is your favorite to make and why?

I'm delighted you asked because Maman adores making grande dinners and I'm her culinary Sorcerer's Apprentice. You'll understand why shortly.


I have a weakness for pears; even the tinned variety are pretty good where we live, except it's their combination with the best chocolate you can buy, and for me that would be either Valrhona or Green & Black's for it high cocoa content. Not Lindt or Cadbury's: too much sugar content.


Now, combining chocolate with thick cream and you have ganache, the base for fine chocolate truffles or ganache used by a Master Chocolatier creating their special dark delights. But add butter - for all desserts I use unsalted and the eggs are free range organic, and that combination makes for a richly pronounced and deeply, chocolately satisfying dessert. I've used ripe pears instead of tinned - it is heaven! But only if you like pears.


Michelin chef Gordon Ramsay devised that version of chocolate marquise, except he cunningly used half an After Eight to fit while building his marquise before firing a quick blast of blowtorch to give that dessert that appealing gloss.


Not for me becuase I disliked the peppermint fondant which, even halved, tasted far sickly. My family loved it, just not me. Except in any other recipe I'd have used certified organic 'Black Mitcham' Peppermint which Bendinks use in their peppermint chocolates, then that could have overtaken the pear's 1st because Mitcham peppermint has a drier taste, so a lot, lot less would have been used.


I didn't have that splendid peppermint to hand, more the pity.


My family and our friends went wild for the After Eight, but the pear one, the 1st won over even the chocolate & chestnut truffle torte. For why? Because the recipe stated only 'brandy', except Maman used Courvoisier VSOP.


To me, that was a dire mistake. Had I my lockpick set (I play Lock Sport) I'd hvae raided Maman's drinks cabinet and nicked her coveted Hennessy Paradis Imperial.


Chocolate fruitcake, chocolate fudge crinkle biscuits and 'sunken drunken' is for anybody, especially big kids. But the pear takes 1st, but the torte would have overtaken it on my choice of Hennessy and risking Maman's wrath. (OMG she'd have gone bats! )


And this leaves Marcel Desaulnier's Frozen Chocolate Bombe. It cannot be compared to the first five. It's construction is painstaking and ultimately the eating - hands down, that ice cream dessert is stratospheric!!!



You're thinking, 'what is lock sport'?
Take a look at this guy: https://www.youtube.com/c/lockpickinglawyer/videos

[DeletedAccount53]

Julie's Chocolate Espresso Cake

Chocolate (she says) in our house is very important because it's a mood lifter (which she's still feeling guilty for raiding that box of Leonardis!) because it helps everyone's' moods, so a cake will bring us together with some nice chilled milk from the fridge. Except this cake is different. Soon out of the oven, its centre sinks a little and a crisp shell forms across the top. I only use the best ingredients that I can afford because if you use the best, then the food will taste miles better

It's not difficult to make. My only advice is to measure out and prepare all the ingredients according the ingredients before you start cooking. Makes life easier that way.

Serves 8

180g fine dark chocolate, chopped
a small espresso (about three tablespoons of very strong coffee)
140g unsalted butter, diced
5 free range eggs, separated
200g golden caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
90g plain flour

Preheat the oven to 180. Line the base of 21-23cm shallow spring-form cake tin with silicone baking parchment, buttering the tin lightly to hold it in place.

Melt the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. As soon as it starts to soften, add the coffee and leave it for two or three minutes. Stir very gently, then when the chocolate has melted add the butter. Stir until it has melted.

Meanwhile beat the egg whites with an electric mixer till stiff, then fold in the sugar. Mix the baking powder with the cocoa powder and flour. Remove the chocolate from the heat, quickly stir in the egg yolks, then slowly, firmly and gently fold the melted chocolate into the egg whites. Lastly sift in the flour and cocoa mixture.

Stir the mixture tenderly with a large metal spoon, taking care not to knock out any air. It should feel light and wobbly. Do not over mix - just enough to fold in the flour. Scoop into the lined tin and bake in an oven preheated 180 for thirty-five minutes. Leave to cool in its tin then turn out.

[DeletedAccount53]

And while the opportunity is here, Maman has just given what looks totally amazing chocolate recipes by Michelin awarded Raymond Blanc.

Now while I've said of never being keen posting links, I am quite certain Raymond Blanc's superb website will remain featured on the internet for a long time to come. Just take a look at these incredibly delicious examples

Chocolate Mousse, or 'Maman Blanc'
https://www.raymondblanc.com/recipes...mousse-recipe/

Chocolate Fondant with Salted Caramel
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/c...dantwith_93623

Reverse Chocolate Crumble OMG!!
https://www.raymondblanc.com/recipes...rumble-recipe/

Raymond Blanc's Chocolate Delice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/c...tedelice_93624


We are already making preps to make some of these. All look quite easy to make.