Friday, November 30, 2018

What’s on the MENU this week. Chocolate Nemesis


An alternative to Christmas pudding is this luxurious and truly decadent dessert. It is so rich that it will serve at least 12 to 15 people, as you really cannot manage more than a small slice. We have to confess that we veered away from this recipe because Lynne has been hoarding slabs of Lindt 85% and 90% dark chocolate to make a dessert like this for John’s birthday this week. And she used salted butter; we think a little salt with dark chocolate makes it taste better. If you are using 85 or 90% chocolate do taste the molten chocolate mix and if it is not sweet enough, add a spoonful or two more of caster sugar to the mix, stirring well. It should not be bitter, but also not too sweet
Below is the classic recipe for you to try. Lynne used a loose bottomed cake tin; it is easier to get the ‘cake’ out when it is set. Make sure you seal it well. You will need to use an electric beater for this recipe or your arm might tire when whipping the eggs
340g 70% Dark bitter chocolate – 225g unsalted butter – 5 organic eggs – 210g caster sugar
You will need a 25 cm cake tin. Grease it with extra butter and line the base with parchment paper. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it with the butter in a bowl over a pot of simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Alternatively, pulse it in the microwave at 30 second bursts, stirring between each one. Beat the whole eggs with a mixer or hand mixer with 70g of the sugar. Beat until the volume of the eggs quadruples; you want them light and fluffy
At the same time, heat the rest of the sugar with 100ml of water until dissolved to a light syrup. Then pour this syrup into the melted chocolate and mix well. Allow it to cool slightly
Turn your oven on to 125°C (it works very well if you have a convection oven as the temperature will be constant)
Add the chocolate mix to the eggs, beating slowly until it is combined properly. Pour into the tin and put the tin into an ovenproof dish a few inches larger than the cake tin. It might help to put a folded tea towel underneath the tin to keep it in place. Put it into the oven and then fill up the bain marie with hot water, so that it comes three quarters of the way up the sides of the tin
Bake in the oven for 50 minutes until set and make sure to leave the cake in the bain marie to cool. Then refrigerate and when you are ready to use it, very carefully turn it out face down onto a suitable dish, and slowly remove the lining paper. Decorate with fresh berries or some edible Christmas decorations. See the 2 pictures

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