Bon Appetit Desserts (148 page)

Authors: Barbara Fairchild

BOOK: Bon Appetit Desserts

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Frozen White Chocolate and Hazelnut Dacquoise

A dacquoise
is one of the greatest French cakes, combining wonderful textures and flavors into one luxurious dessert. Here, crunchy hazelnut meringue layers are sandwiched with a fudgy dark chocolate ganache and a light and creamy white chocolate mousse. This one is rectangular, but you can also make it round. Start preparing this layered treat at least one day before you plan to serve it, as it needs to freeze overnight.
10 servings

Meringue

1¼ cups hazelnuts, toasted, husked, divided

¾ cup sugar, divided

6 large egg whites, room temperature

⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar

Ganaches

2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided

4 tablespoons light corn syrup, divided

24 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), finely chopped

White Chocolate Mousse (see recipe)

8 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped

24 hazelnuts, toasted, husked

MERINGUE
: Preheat oven to 300°F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw three 9×5-inch rectangles on parchment. Turn paper over. Finely grind 1 cup nuts with ¼ cup sugar in processor. Coarsely chop remaining ¼ cup nuts; set aside for garnish.

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until foamy. Gradually add remaining ½ cup sugar, beating until stiff and glossy. Fold ground hazelnut mixture into whites in 2 additions. Divide meringue among traced rectangles on parchment, spreading to edges. Bake meringues until crisp and light golden, about 1 hour 30 minutes. Turn oven off; cool meringues in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven.

GANACHES
: Bring 1½ cups cream and 3 tablespoons corn syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add bittersweet chocolate; stir until smooth. Chill until slightly thickened but still spreadable, about 1 hour.

Line 9×5×2½ -inch metal loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving 3-inch overhang on all sides. Run thin knife under meringues to loosen from parchment. Gently transfer meringues to work surface. Using serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, trim each to 8×4-inch rectangle.

Spread ⅓ cup chocolate ganache over each of 2 meringues. Place on baking sheet. Freeze until ganache is set, about 10 minutes. Place third meringue, smooth side down, in prepared loaf pan. Spread half of White Chocolate Mousse over. Sprinkle with reserved ¼ cup chopped hazelnuts. Top with 1 meringue, ganache side down. Spread remaining mousse over. Top with remaining meringue, ganache side down. Fold plastic overhang over cake; freeze overnight. Chill remaining bittersweet chocolate ganache.

Bring remaining ½ cup cream and remaining 1 tablespoon corn syrup to simmer in small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; stir until smooth. Chill just until thick enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

Invert cake onto small baking sheet; remove plastic. Working quickly, spread white chocolate ganache thinly over top and sides of cake. Place 24 hazelnuts around top edge of cake. Freeze cake until frosting is firm, about 30 minutes.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover cake tightly and keep frozen.

Keep bittersweet chocolate ganache chilled. Before serving, rewarm ganache over low heat, stirring just until liquid.

Serve cake, passing remaining bittersweet ganache as sauce.

White Chocolate Mousse

Frangelico is used in this mousse to pair well with the hazelnut
dacquoise,
but other liqueurs can also be used. For instance, if you’re making meringues with almonds or pistachios, use amaretto in the mousse. Be sure the chocolate mixture is completely cool before folding in the whipped cream, or the cream will melt and the mousse won’t have an airy texture. Don’t worry if the mousse is soft at first; it sets up nicely as it chills.
Makes about 2½ cups

2 large eggs

⅓ cup sugar

3 tablespoons Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)

6 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Whisk eggs, sugar, and Frangelico in large metal bowl to blend. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water); whisk constantly until mixture thickens and candy thermometer inserted into mixture registers 140°F for 3 minutes, about 7 minutes total. Remove bowl from over water. Add white chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool completely, whisking occasionally. Beat cream in medium bowl to medium-firm peaks. Fold whipped cream into white chocolate mixture in 3 additions (mixture will be soft). Chill until spreadable, about 3 hours.

Strawberry and Chocolate Baked Alaskas

Baked Alaskas are like an edible magic trick: Sponge cake and a layer of ice cream are covered with meringue, then browned in a hot oven—without melting the ice cream. These individual baked Alaskas pair chocolate cake with purchased strawberry ice cream and a meringue topping. Even better: They can be assembled up to two days ahead.
Makes 6

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (do not exceed 61% cacao), chopped

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

¾ ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1½ cups sugar, divided

2 large eggs

⅓ cup unbleached all purpose flour

2 tablespoons natural unsweetened cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 pint strawberry ice cream, slightly softened

3 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×9×2-inch metal baking pan; line bottom with parchment paper. Stir bittersweet chocolate, butter, and unsweetened chocolate in heavy small saucepan over low heat until chocolates melt and mixture is smooth. Cool 10 minutes. Whisk ¾ cup sugar and eggs in large bowl until well blended, about 1 minute. Whisk in chocolate mixture. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt over; stir to blend. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake cake until top looks dry and tester inserted into center comes out with some thick sticky batter attached, about 17 minutes. Cool cake in pan to room temperature.

Cut around cake in pan. Place cutting board over pan and invert, tapping out cake. Peel off parchment. Using 3-inch round cutter, cut out 6 cake rounds (reserve remaining cake for another use). Line small baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange cake rounds on prepared sheet. Using 2¼- to 2½-inch-diameter ice cream scoop, place scoop of strawberry ice cream in center of each round, leaving about ¼-inch plain border. Freeze until ice cream is solid, about 2 hours.

Combine remaining ¾ cup sugar and egg whites in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of gently simmering water and whisk until mixture is very warm, about 2 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat meringue at high speed until very thick and billowy, about 2 minutes. Place baking sheet with cake rounds on work surface. Mound 2 heaping tablespoons meringue atop ice cream on 1 cake round. Spread meringue evenly over to cover, sealing meringue to plain cake border and swirling decoratively. Repeat with remaining desserts. Freeze uncovered on baking sheet until meringue is solid, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 500°F. Transfer desserts still on baking sheet from freezer directly to oven. Bake until meringue is deep brown in spots, turning sheet as needed for even cooking, about 3 minutes. Transfer to plates.

Recipe Tip:
How Does It Work?

Why doesn’t the ice cream melt when you bake this dessert? For one thing, all of the elements (the cake, the ice cream, and the meringue) start out very cold. For another, the baking time is brief—5 minutes or less. Plus, the meringue topping insulates the ice cream, protecting it from the oven’s heat.

Quick Browning

If you have a kitchen torch, you can use it to brown the meringue on these baked Alaskas, instead of baking them in a hot oven.

Pumpkin Baked Alaska

In this fall-themed version of the classic dessert, tender pecan cake is topped with a frozen spiced pumpkin custard (no ice-cream maker required), then covered in meringue and browned in the oven.
10 to 12 servings

Cake

3 large eggs, separated, room temperature

7 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 cup finely ground pecans

1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour

⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar

Pinch of salt

Filling

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

6 large egg yolks

½ cup sugar

½ cup (packed) dark brown sugar