Pour l’amour du chocolat! (for the love of chocolate)
To celebrate World Chocolate Day, Le Cordon Bleu released a recipe from its global Chocolate Bible. Titled ‘The Marvel’, this mouth-watering chocolate masterpiece features chocolate sponge, caramelised walnut cream, chocolate praline mousse and chocolate shards.
“The Marvel is the perfect dessert for chocolate lovers who want to try their hand at creating something a little more challenging, it’s also a great dessert to impress family and friends at your next dinner party,” Le Cordon Bleu, Executive Dean, Professor Alan Bowen-James.
Serves: 8-10
Preparation: 1.5 hours
Cooking: 30 minutes
Refrigeration: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Sponge
20g Unsalted butter
4 Eggs
125g Caster sugar
90g Flour, sifted
30g Unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
Caramelised Walnut Cream
70ml Whipping cream
20g Honey
100g Caster sugar
70g Chopped walnuts
Chocolate Praline Mousse
150g Dark chocolate
75g Praline paste
250ml Whipping cream
Decoration
150g Chopped walnuts
Chocolate shavings
Sponge
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Butter a 20cm round cake tin.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside.
- In a heatproof bowl place the sugar and eggs; whisk to combine. Stand the bowl over a bain-marie and whisk continuously for 5-8 minutes, or until the mixture becomes light and doubles in volume. Do not allow it to become too hot.
- Remove the bowl from the bain-marie and continue whisking quickly by hand, or with an electric beater on high speed, until cool and the batter falls in a ribbon from the whisk or beater.
- Gently fold in the sifted flour and cocoa powder, adding it in 2 or 3 batches.
- Quickly add the melted butter and mix
- Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the surface is firm but springy to the touch.
- Cool for several minutes before turning out onto a rack.
Caramelised Walnut Cream
- Heat the cream and honey over a low heat until simmering; set aside.
- Place the sugar in a separate saucepan, and cook slowly until it melts and becomes a golden caramel. Do not stir during the cooking process but gently shake the saucepan occasionally to move the melted sugar off the bottom.
- Carefully stir in the cream-honey mixture (or it will spit violently when the liquid is added). Stir until smooth then remove from the heat and immediately add the chopped walnuts.
- Pour the caramelised walnut cream into a bowl; leave to cool to room temperature.
Chocolate Praline Mousse
- Roughly chop the chocolate and place it and praline paste in a bowl and melt over a slowly simmering bain-marie until the temperature reaches approximately 45°C on a digital thermometer.
- Beat the cream until firm peaks cling to the whisk.
- Whisking quickly, add about 1/3 of the whipped cream to the melted chocolate.
- Pour the mixture over the remaining cream and fold in gently with the whisk or a spatula to evenly blend the ingredients.
- Using a long, serrated knife, cut the cooled sponge horizontally into two layers of equal thickness.
- Spread one with the caramelised walnut cream then add a layer of the chocolate praline mousse.
- Top with the other sponge layer; refrigerate 15 minutes.
- Coat the entire surface with the remaining mousse and press the chopped walnuts onto the side of the cake; decorate with chocolate shavings.
Bon Appétit!