Macarons – those brightly
coloured little bite-sized delights which look so frivolous and inviting are
also essentially meringues (with added ground almonds or other nuts) and
although a little tricky to make are absolutely delicious to eat! Once you have
mastered them, you will be churning them out by the dozen at a fraction of the
price you pay for them in bakeries and up-market delicatessens!
The golden rule when
making meringue is to ensure that you use scrupulously clean utensils and that
you don’t allow anything contaminate the egg white until you have whisked them
until they stand in peaks. Any lingering grease, fat or moisture will hinder
their ability to whisk up to the required volume or texture; you also have to
be very careful that no egg yolk creeps into the egg whites when you are
separating the eggs. If you follow this rule, success is more-or-less
guaranteed!
Anyway, it is very easy to get stuck into a cooking or baking rut, and whilst this is understandable because it makes sense to revisit recipes that have worked and taste good, sometimes it is nice to extend your culinary horizons. In many ways, I forced myself to do this by entering this year’s MasterChef Ireland, where I was constantly challenged and put under extreme pressure to try out new ingredients, flavour combinations and techniques that, as an amateur, I wouldn’t necessarily have tried out! The following recipe is an example of one that before, I would have thought too complicated or fussy to make but it is actually very simple and has an intense chocolate flavour that will satisfy the cravings of any chocoholics out there.
Anyway, it is very easy to get stuck into a cooking or baking rut, and whilst this is understandable because it makes sense to revisit recipes that have worked and taste good, sometimes it is nice to extend your culinary horizons. In many ways, I forced myself to do this by entering this year’s MasterChef Ireland, where I was constantly challenged and put under extreme pressure to try out new ingredients, flavour combinations and techniques that, as an amateur, I wouldn’t necessarily have tried out! The following recipe is an example of one that before, I would have thought too complicated or fussy to make but it is actually very simple and has an intense chocolate flavour that will satisfy the cravings of any chocoholics out there.
Chocolate Concorde Cake
is made up of chocolate flavoured meringue filled with a light, but rich
chocolate mousse. I think it’s amazing! There are conflicting opinions on where
the cake got its name; some people believe it was created to celebrate to
supersonic passenger jet plane Concorde, but others including Pierre Hermé the
renowned French pâtissier claim that it is, in fact, named after the
Place de la Concorde in Paris. Either way, this is a stunning-looking and
heavenly-tasting cake, which looks far more complicated than it actually is to
make. Dusted with icing sugar, this meringue cake has a very festive feel to it
and in my opinion would make a stunning Christmas dessert.
Ingredients:
Meringue:5 large egg whites
125g caster sugar
150g icing sugar
40g cocoa powder
Chocolate mousse:
150g dark chocolate (70%
cocoa solids)
150g butter (preferably
unsalted)
3 large egg whites
75g caster sugar
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 90C/Fan
Oven 70C. Draw three 15cm circles onto three sheets of non-stick baking
parchment and use to line three large baking trays. Set aside.
2. Place the egg whites in a
large mixing bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, whisk together until
they have almost reached the stiff peak stage. Gradually add the caster sugar,
mixing well after each addition.
3. Sift the icing sugar and
cocoa powder together and fold into the meringue mixture with a large metal
spoon, making sure that no pockets of the dry ingredients remain.
4. Spoon the meringue into a
large disposable piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle. Using the circled
you previously drew on the baking paper, pipe out three 15cm spirals of the
meringue mixture, starting at the centre of the circle and working your way
out.
5. Separately, using the
remaining meringue mixture, pipe out 8- 10 x 15cms long thin strips of
meringue. You should be able to fit 3 or 4 of these strips beside each spiral
on each respective paper lined baking tray.
6. Place in the oven and
bake for 60 minutes. Turn off the oven but leave the meringue for a further 30
minutes after which time you can remove from the oven and allow to cool
completely.
Mousse:
7. Place the butter and
sugar in a heat-proof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Allow
to melt, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
8. Whisk the egg whites to
the stiff peak stage and add the caster sugar, whisking until it is completely
incorporated. Fold 2 tablespoons of the meringue into the melted chocolate and
butter to ‘loosen’ it little and then fold in the remaining meringue. Make sure
everything is well, but gently mixed together.
To finish:
9. Place one of the meringue
spirals on your serving plate and spread with a thin layer (about 2cms thick)
of the chocolate mousse. Place another meringue spiral carefully on top and
also spread this with a layer of the mousse. Place the final meringue spiral on
top.
10. Cover the sides and top
of the assembled cake with the remaining mousse and refrigerate for 30 minutes
to allow the mousse to set.
11. Remove the cake from the
fridge and using a sharp knife, cut the meringue strips into 3-4cm pieces and
embed them in the mousse in a random fashion, all around the tops and sides of
the cake. Serve.
Serves 8-10.
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