Chocolate Royal

I was planning on posting my recipes much more often, but I was slowed down by my husband. Believe it or not, he started cooking, always complaining about the results, but with enthusiasm in discovering new flavors and serving new dishes. So I have to share my already small kitchen with him, who in the last few weeks has been cooking homemade sausages almost non-stop. He also started reading La Cucina Italiana. Who does actually read La Cucina Italiana??? I mean, we, food-lovers, look at the pictures, read the recipes… he actually reads all the articles! And then comes to me with all this prescriptions regarding how to place food in the fridge and entertains me for hours with the story of Tabasco. Despite this annoying new obsession (but at least he abandoned a few others to cultivate this one) it’s been great to share this great passion with him and it’s going to be fun to try new dishes together, at least as long as he recognizes who’s the boss!

This recipe of a traditional French cake comes straight from a great, beautiful book on chocolate techniques and recipes. I made just a couple of minor changes and the result was delicious. The book is Cooking with Chocolate – Essential Recipes and Techniques, edited by Frederic Bau.

INGREDIENTS FOR 10-12 PEOPLE:

ALMOND DACQUOISE

1/3 cup (1 ¼ oz / 35gr) all-purpose unbleached flour

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (3 ½ / 100gr) ground almonds

1 cup (4 ¼ oz / 120gr) confectioners’ sugar

6 (6 oz / 170gr) egg whites

1/3 cup (2 oz / 60gr) sugar

CRISP PRALINE

3.5 oz (100gr) milk chocolate, 40% cocoa
1 ½ oz (80gr) crushed crepes dentelles
(wafer-like biscuits also sold on Amazon.com)
7oz (200gr) homemade praline
(a paste of nuts and sugar – see below for recipe)

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

7 ½ oz (220gr) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa

2 egg yolks

5 teaspoons (2/3 oz / 20gr) sugar
½ cup (100ml) whole milk
Heavy cream, divided as follows:
1 ¼ cup (300ml) and
1 ½ cup (400ml)

Prepare your homemade praline. Preheat the oven to 300 ºF (150ºC). Roast 5 oz (140gr) of hazelnuts or blanched almonds for about 10 minutes. Leave them to cool for a few minutes and peel the hazelnuts (for this recipe I used only hazelnuts). Keep in a warm place.
Prepare a caramel with 3 ½ oz (100gr) of sugar, preheating a saucepan and pouring in one third of the sugar. Stir constantly until it reaches a uniform caramel color. Add the next third of the sugar, stirring constantly. Then pour in the remaining third, still stirring constantly, until the sugar caramelizes completely. 

Incorporate the roasted nuts, stirring quickly until thoroughly combined, and immediately smooth out over a silicone sheet or sheet of parchment paper. Leave to cool at room temperature. Then break up the praline into medium chunks and place them into the bowl of a food processor and process until you have a smooth paste.

Prepare the almond dacquoise, which is a light soft meringue that has nuts folded into it and is baked in a thin layer. Preheat the oven to 350ºF – 375ºF (180ºC - 190ºC). Sift the flour with the ground almonds and the confectioners’ sugar into a mixing bowl.

Whisk the egg whites with the sugar, until soft peaks are formed. When whisking the whites, make sure that the bowl is perfectly clean and dry and that the whites are at room temperature. Always add a pinch of salt, use medium speed and stop when you obtain soft peaks (like shaving foam or styling mousse), not stiff peaks.

Carefully fold in the sifted dry ingredients with a flexible spatula. Spread it out evenly over the silicone mat or a parchment paper sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a nice golden color.

Now it’s time to prepare the crisp praline. Chop the milk chocolate and melt it slowly in a bain-marie. Crush the wafer biscuits. Incorporate the praline into the melted chocolate, and then carefully stir in the crushed crepes dentelles.

Prepare a 9.5-10 in. (24-26cm) springform pan (a hinged pan) putting a parchment paper sheet at the bottom. Cut the dacquoise base out into a circle slightly smaller than the pan, put it at the bottom of the pan and cover it with the crisp praline. Place in the refrigerator.

The last step of this preparation is the bittersweet chocolate mousse. Chop the chocolate and melt it slowly in a bain-marie. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and pale. Add the milk and 1 ¼ cup (300ml) of heavy cream, pour the mixture into a saucepan and simmer over low heat. The temperature should not rise over 183ºF (84ºC). The only purpose of this step is to melt the sugar and smooth the mixture. Overheating it can cook the eggs and ruin the cream. Remove from the heat and pour the custard through a mesh strainer into a mixing bowl. Process for a few seconds with an immersion blender for a smooth, creamy texture. Gradually and very slowly pour the custard over the melted chocolate, mixing energetically. Process with an immersion blender for a perfect texture. 


Whip the remaining heavy cream with an electric blender until it is lightly whipped. Both the bowl and the heavy cream have to be well-chilled. When the chocolate mixture reaches a temperature of 113ºF – 122ºF (45ºC – 50ºC), fold in the whipped cream, carefully and softly, with a flexible spatula.

Pour this chocolate mousse into the pan and place in the freezer immediately and freeze for at least 12 hours. A few hours before serving remove the cake from the pan and put in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. Serve it only when it is completely defrosted. Decorate with praline, cocoa powder and whipped cream.