Posts tagged ‘trish deseine’

May 24th, 2010

Latest Kitchen Experiment – Torte au Chocolat Blanc et Noix de Coco

I’m sure that I’m not the first person who, upon trying Trish Deseine’s Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie, thought, “I wonder what this would taste like with white chocolate?”. I’ve been mulling different ideas over in the past week.

Should I make a dense white chocolate torte with strawberries? Or a Torte Pina Colada with coconut and pineapple? I knew the recipe would have to be altered. White chocolate isn’t really chocolate. It has a different melting point, more sugar and will interact differently with flour and eggs, producing a texture very different from the Gâteau au Chocolat Fondant de Nathalie.

I decided to keep it simple and stick to white chocolate and coconut. I also wanted a fluffy torte, not too dense.

This is what I came up with:

  • 300 grams white chocolate
  • 150 grams unsalted butter
  • 125 grams coconut shavings (only 100 grams in the torte, set 25 grams aside to decorate cake with)
  • 150 ml heavy cream
  • 30   grams sugar
  • 4     eggs
  • 4     tablespoons flour
  • Powdered Sugar for decoration

Pre-head oven to 190°C (375°F)

Line 20cm pie dish with parchment paper

Melt the white chocolate and butter in a double broiler. Add cream, stirring continually. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Add 100 grams of the coconut shavings (reserving 25 grams for decoration). Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing with electric mixer. Add the 30 grams of sugar and 4 tablespoons of flour.

Pour mixture into the lined pie dish. Bake for 24 minutes.

Allow to cool for 30 minutes. To serve, sprinkle with coconut shavings and powdered sugar.

The cake has a lighter and slightly spongy texture. It’s not overly sweet and would be perfect with coffee.

Tip: Be very careful when melting the white chocolate. I noticed that it burns more easily than authentic chocolate. So melt it very slowly and stir often!

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April 26th, 2010

Death by Chocolate

I showed up to my dear friend’s for dinner last night to find that there were indeed four of us for dinner instead of two. The more the merrier! Steve had made desserts so it was no problem that I only took enough for two. He promptly opened his fridge to show me the sugarless mousse au chocolat. He then said, “I also baked a floorless chocolate cake”.

I wasn’t quite sure what he meant. I tried to imagine but,… a chocolate cake without a bottom? Not physically possible unless he’s mastered anti-gravity baking and his cake exist in a two-dimensional world.

Throughout dinner he mentioned this “floorless” chocolate cake a few times so my curiosity peaked. Finally he brought out the casserole dish he had baked it in and I understood. This was Trish Deseine’s almost FLOURLESS chocolate cake!

His French accent is so adorable!

He did a brilliant job at baking it. Another friend, Miss S was dining with  us. Miss S is responsible for the chocolate tastings offered by La Maison du Chocolat in Paris. She has agreed to give me a brief, “How to Taste Chocolate” course. I will be writing about it, no doubt.

By the time Miss S and I  headed out into the night, I noticed something. Death by chocolate is not nearly as uncomfortable when there is almost no flour in the cake or additional sugar in the mousse au chocolat. Here is my adaption of Trish Deseine’s Gâteau au chocolat fondant de Nathalie. recipe:

Required time: about 40 minutes

Ingredients:

200 g un-salted butter

200 g high quality dark chocolate (70 % cacao)

250 g sugar (original recipe calls for 200 g)

4 eggs

3 rounded tablespoon of flour (original recipe calls for just 1 tablespoon. I prefer 3 level tablespoons)

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line an 8-inch (20cm) round cake pan with parchment paper (no need to if you’re using a non-stick pan).

Melt together the butter with the chocolate in a double-boiler. Transfer into a medium mixing-bowl. Add in the sugar, stir with a wooden spoon and let cool a little. Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Finally, add in the flour and mix well.

Pour the dough into the pan, and put into the oven to bake for 22 to 35 minutes, until the center is set but still a little wobbly. Turn the oven off but leave the cake inside for another ten minutes, then put the pan on a cooling rack on the counter to cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and take it out about an hour before serving.

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