It’s National Chocolate Week this week (14th-20th October), so why not celebrate with one of these recipes? As if you needed an excuse...
The Lido Café’s Azteca Chilli Hot Chocolate
Forget cocoa powder - once you’ve made hot chocolate with real, dark chocolate you’ll never go back. Brockwell Park’s The Lido Café have created this hot chocolate recipe using dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 90%, steamed milk, cinnamon and chilli flakes.
Ingredients:
150ml milk
60g dark chocolate
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
Method:
Steam the milk with half the cinnamon stick and the chilli flakes. Stir in the chocolate until melted. Finally, strain into a small mug and garnish with the other half of the cinnamon stick and a sprinkle of chilli flakes.
Tozi’s Chocolate Délice
This elegant dessert comes from Tozi, in London’s Victoria. Head Chef Maurilio Molteni let us in on the recipe.
Ingredients:
6/7 egg whites (depending on size)
50g caster sugar 290g dark chocolate, in pieces
150g double cream
3 egg yolks
Method:
Place the egg whites into a mixing bowl along with the sugar and beat until the mixture is nice and fluffy. Next, bring the cream to a gentle boil whilst you melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over simmering water. Pour the cream into the melted chocolate and mix slowly until you obtain a smooth, glossy ganache.
Add three egg yolks to the ganache mix, and then slowly stir in the ganache mix to the beaten egg whites. You should have a light, fluffy dough-like mixture. Place in the fridge to cool for a couple of hours.
To serve, allow the Délice to come to room temperature and serve with a sprinkling of toasted hazelnuts and coconut ice cream.
Gizzi Erskine’s Earl Grey Chocolate Fudge Cake
This impressive chocolate cake is infused with Earl Grey tea. It requires a bit of effort to make, but it’s definitely a show-stopper. Makes 10 slices.
Ingredients:
For the cake
6 Earl Grey teabags
150ml boiling water
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
3 large free-range eggs
150g soft dark brown sugar
100g light Muscovado sugar
250g self-raising flour
120g Divine Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted and cooled
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
For the Earl Grey cream
4 Earl Grey teabags
100ml boiling water
3 tablespoons light Muscovado sugar
250g cream cheese
For chocolate icing
150g Divine Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
100ml double cream
3 tablespoons honey
For the Earl Grey dust
2 tablespoons golden caster sugar
1 Earl Grey teabag
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C / gas 4. To make the cake, place the Earl Grey teabags in a cup and cover with the boiling water. Leave the tea to stew for 5 minutes, and then squeeze out the teabags and discard, leaving a really strong tea to cool a little. Grease and line a 22-23cm spring form cake tin with butter and a disc of greaseproof paper. Place all the cake ingredients, including the tea, into a food processor and blend until you have a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the cake tin and level out the surface. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until you can stick a metal skewer into the centre and it comes out clean. Leave to cool in its tin, covered with a clean towel, for two hours.
To make the Earl Grey cream, place the Earl Grey teabags in a small pan and cover with the boiling water. Leave the tea to stew for 5 minutes, and then remove the teabags, squeezing out the liquid as you go. Add the sugar to the tea, bring to the boil and boil for 2 minutes or until syrupy. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then whisk into the cream cheese.
Slice the cooled cake in to 3 horizontal layers. Spread the bottom layer with half the Earl Grey Cream. Replace the middle layer of cake. Spread over remaining cream and replace the top.
Melt the chocolate for the icing in a microwave with the double cream and honey, stir until blended leave to cool. Pour the chocolate icing over the cake. Using a spatula, gently tease the icing around the edges until the whole cake is iced. It looks beautiful if you draw swirls through it.
To make the gold dust, melt the sugar in a small dry frying pan. Once starting to caramelise, empty out the teabag into the caramel and stir the loose tea leaves through. Take off the heat immediately and pour onto a sheet of greaseproof paper. Leave to cool for 10 minutes, then grind up in a pestle and mortar until it becomes golden and dusty. Sprinkle over the top of the cake and serve.
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Salted Caramel Chocolates
Ever wanted to make salted caramel chocolates? Try this one, from Coworth Park’s resident Chocolatier, Niels Verweij. Makes about 30 chocolates.
Ingredients
65g caster sugar
110g UHT cream
4g Halen Mon vanilla sea salt
65g glucose
65g caster sugar
35g unsalted butter
Method:
Bring 65g caster sugar, with the UHT cream and salt, to a boil and keep aside. Melt the glucose in a saucepan and add the remaining caster sugar, cook till you obtain a dark coloured caramel. Stop the cooking process by adding the butter, and let it dissolve. Stir in the warm cream mixture and cook for 5 minutes.
Make smooth with a mixer and then cool the caramel down to 25ºC.
Use this caramel to fill your chocolate mold that is lined with tempered dark chocolate - don’t over-fill the mold. Leave the caramel to set in the mold for 12 hours and then close the mold with a think layer of tempered dark chocolate. The chocolates can be taken out of the molds after 2 hours and will keep for 3 weeks at room temperature.
Valrhona Dark Chocolate Mousse
Valrhona chocolate is known for its fine quality and is a favourite of bakers, chocolatiers and pastry chefs. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients:
300g dark chocolate (70%)
150g full-fat liquid cream
3 egg yolks (60g)
6-7 egg whites (200g)
50g caster sugar
For the chocolate sauce:
85g dark chocolate (70%)
100g whole milk
Method
Chop the chocolate and melt it gently in a bain-marie or microwave on medium powder, stirring occasionally. In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Gradually pour a third of the hot cream over the melted chocolate. Using a rubber spatula, stir vigorously in the centre making little circles in order to create a glossy and elastic core. Add in the second third and mix using the same process. Then, the last third following the same method. Add in the egg yolks and stir until smooth.
Meanwhile, whip the egg whites to soft peaks, adding about a quarter of the sugar at the beginning and the remaining at the end. When the temperature of the chocolate mixture reaches about 45/50ºC, fold in about a quarter of the meringue delicately, followed by the rest. Set aside for 12 hours in the refrigerator.
For the chocolate sauce: Chop the chocolate and melt in a mixing bowl over a bain-marie or in a microwave on medium power, stirring occasionally. Bring the milk to the boil.
Slowly pour about a third of the liquid over the melted chocolate, stirring vigorously in the centre with a rubber spatula in a small circular motion to create a glossy and elastic core of emulsion. Pour the second third of cream following the same process and then the third. Mix with a hand blender for a few seconds.
Take the chocolate mousses out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before tasting and accompany the dessert with a lukewarm or cold chocolate sauce.
Valrhona Chocolate Mousse recipe is from Cooking with Chocolate: Essential Recipes and Techniques by Frédéric Bau, Photography by Clay McLachlan. Available on Amazon and from good bookshops.
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