Pie and Pastry Bible (88 page)

In a small bowl, whisk together the cræme fraîche or cream and the yolks and whisk this into the chocolate mixture.

Lightly whisk the egg whites to break them up for easier pouring. Pour 2 tablespoons of the egg whites into a small bowl and with the whisk, gently stir them into the chocolate mixture, just until incorporated.

In a large bowl, beat the remaining egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Add the sugar and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form (when the whisk is raised, the mixture will form stiff peaks that curve over slightly). Stir one fourth of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder.

Arrange the pastry-lined tart pans on a baking sheet. Fill the tart pans almost to the top with the chocolate filling. Drop a ganache ball into the center of each.

Bake the soufflés for 8 to 10 minutes. They will have puffed, the top surface will have dulled, and only a dimple in the center of each suggests the molten surprise. When touched gently, they should no longer wobble.

While the soufflés are baking, ready a heavy container, slightly smaller than the bottom of the opening of the tart pans, for unmolding (a tall little spice jar filled with water for stability works well) and a thin pancake turner.

UNMOLD THE SOUFFLÉS

Place each tart pan on top of the container and, with both hands protected by pot holders, press the sides firmly downward. Slip the pancake turner between the bottom of the pastry and the metal tart pan bottom, lift it, and slide the soufflé tart gently onto a serving plate. Serve immediately.

POINTERS FOR SUCCESS

Soufflés should still be quite moist when baked. If overbaked, the centers will be dry and they will fall.

UNDERSTANDING

The ganache centers, made with a higher proportion of chocolate to cream than is usual, have the perfect thickly flowing consistency when hot and melted.

Stirring a small proportion of unbeaten egg white into the soufflé is a brilliant technique developed by Shirley Corriher, author of CookWise. Since the white is not beaten, its structure has not been weakened, and therefore it offers more structural strength, preventing the soufflés from falling for a significantly longer time after they have been removed from the oven.

CHOCOLATE PECAN BLASTS

T
hese tartlets have all the intensity of a candy bar with none of the cloying sweetness. The combination of crisp bittersweet chocolate pastry, creamy dark mocha filling, crunchy pecans, and chewy caramel satisfies just about every craving for texture and flavor. The tartlets look every bit as good as they taste, with the dark chocolate glistening through lacings of amber caramel set off by the scattering of broken toasted pecans.

MAKES: SEVEN 4¾-INCH TARTLETS OR EIGHT 4-INCH TARTLETS
INGREDIENTS	MEASURE	WEIGHT
VOLUME	OUNCES	GRAMS
*Toast for about 7 minutes in a preheated 350°F. oven until their color deepens only slightly.
Bittersweet Chocolate Cookie Tart Crust for eight 4-inch tartlets or eight 4¾-inch tartlets (page 61), prebaked and cooled	1 pound	455 grams
Mocha Filling Medaglia d’Oro instant espresso powder	(2 cups) 1 teaspoon	(15.25 ounces) • (434 grams) •
boiling water	2 tablespoons	•	•
heavy cream	¼ liquid cup	2 ounces	58 grams
unsalted butter, softened	6 tablespoons	3 ounces	85 grams
2 large eggs, separated yolks whites	2 tablespoons ¼ liquid cup	1.3 ounces 2 ounces	37 grams 60 grams
bittersweet chocolate, chopped	two 3-ounce bars	6 ounces	170 grams
cream of tartar	¼ teaspoon	•	•
Butterscotch Bourbon Caramel light brown sugar	(1 cup) cup, packed	(10.5 ounces) 2.5 ounces	(300 grams) 71 grams
sugar	3 tablespoons	1.3 ounces	87 grams
Lyle’s Golden Syrup (refiner’s syrup) or light corn syrup	3 fluid ounces (6 tablespoons)	approx. 4.5 ounces	127 grams
heavy cream	3 fluid ounces (6 tablespoons)	3 ounces	87 grams
unsalted butter 1 tablespoon	0.5 ounce	14 grams
bourbon	1½ tablespoons	•	•
pecan halves, broken or coarsely chopped and lightly toasted*	1 cup	3.5 ounces	100 grams
Topping bittersweet chocolate, chopped	of a 3-ounce bar	1 ounce	28 grams
heavy cream	2 tablespoons	1 ounce	29 grams

EQUIPMENT

Eight 4- by ¾-inch flan rings or eight 4¾-inch fluted tart pans with removable bottoms

Make the dough (page 61). Roll, shape, and prebake it (see page 254). Let cool.

MAKE THE MOCHA FILLING

In a small bowl, stir together the espresso powder and boiling water until the espresso is dissolved.

In a small saucepan, whisk together the espresso mixture, cream, butter, and yolks and heat, stirring constantly with the whisk, until the mixture reaches 160°F. (not less) on a candy thermometer and is the consistency of heavy cream. Remove it from the heat and, with the whisk, stir in the chocolate until it is melted. Pour the mixture into a bowl and set it aside until lukewarm or cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised. With a whisk, fold the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture.

With a spatula or spoon, spread ¼ cup of the mocha filling (scant 2 ounces/ 54 grams) into each tartlet shell. Freeze until very firm, at least 2 hours. (Once the filling is frozen solid, wrap the tartlets airtight.)

MAKE THE BUTTERSCOTCH BOURBON CARAMEL

Remove the flan rings from the tartlets and place the tartlets close together on a sheet of parchment or waxed paper.

Have a greased 1-cup heatproof measuring cup next to the stove.

In a small heavy saucepan, preferably with a nonstick lining, combine all the ingredients for the caramel except the bourbon and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for 7 to 10 minutes or until it turns a deep amber; a candy thermometer will read 246°F., the firm ball stage (a dab of caramel dropped into ice water can be formed into a firm ball that does not lose its shape when removed from the water but is still malleable). Immediately pour the mixture into the measuring cup. Add the bourbon and swirl it in.

Pour 2 tablespoons of caramel on top of each tartlet, quickly tilting it to spread the caramel evenly. Immediately sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the pecans over each tartlet.

MAKE THE TOPPING

In a small microwave-proof bowl, or the top of a double boiler set over hot, not simmering, water, place the chopped chocolate. (Do not allow the water to touch the bottom of the upper container.) Heat the chocolate, stirring often, until melted and remove it from the heat; if using a microwave, stir every 15 seconds.

Pour the cream on top of the chocolate and stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a reclosable quart-size freezer bag and close it securely. Use it at once to pipe the topping onto the cooled tartlets. To pipe, cut off a very small piece from one corner of the bag and form lines of chocolate back and forth over the top of the pecans, first in one direction (front to back) and then the other (side to side). If the topping is too thick, add a little more heavy cream. Serve chilled.

STORE

Refrigerated, up to 3 days; frozen, up to 1 month.

NOTE

For a Big Chocolate Pecan Blast, as pictured on page 15 of the photograph insert, use a 9½- by ½-inch entremet ring and increase the filling by one and a half.

POINTERS FOR SUCCESS

Leave the pastry in the flan rings after cooling to serve as support for the filling. Unmold after filling.

For a silky smooth chocolate filling that does not curdle, the mixture must not be allowed to boil.