The Concorde

Sunday, 2 Jan 11

What’s your New Year’s resolution? It’s a question I dread being asked, especially only minutes into the year once the spectacular fireworks display has just died down. See, I’m usually far too tired, having run around like a headless chicken organising a party (why I’ve done this to myself, and to Tim, for the past 3 years is a mystery, but I always seem to enjoy it), and this year (unusually), somewhat hazy from a particularly yummy moscato at midnight.

I don’t think I was particularly eloquent in my fatigue. I don’t have one.

But that’s not really true. Thinking about it, given the grace of a few days and sleep, the picture is a little clearer. My New Year resolution is to improve. To become a better photographer, and learn to use my camera properly and not shoot at a diagonal all the time. That will be helped by the lightbox set up Tim bought me below, especially for night time shooting. To become a better student, and not leave things to the last minute, especially not my thesis. To become a better friend, and be more sociable and open, less selfish, and to lose the habit of abandoning my computer without telling people that I’m afk.

To improve my confidence, to stand for what I believe and to know when to say no so I don’t end up burning myself out baking at midnight without reward. To be a better daughter and yet at the same time learn to stand up for my rights without getting into a fight. To be a better karate-ka and actually train properly, improve my fitness and my technique. To be a better blogger, whether using words or photos or making sure I actually write something when I have a backload of photos. And improve my cooking.

What does all that have to do with the chocolate La Concorde? Well, hopefully, I’m already on the road there with a few of those lofty aims above. Especially the cooking, photographing, blogging and maybe, the friend part. Maybe not so much with the fitness part ;P

Recipe

This cake is sexy. Imagine a rugged exterior, but soft, dark chocolate mousse, with bites of sweet and crunchy, yet melt in the mouth meringue. It looks spectacular, yet is reasonably straight forward to make, even given the length of the recipe.

(as in Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermes, written by Dorie Greenspan)

The Meringue

100 g (1 cup) icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 large egg whites (at room temperature)
100 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 120°C with 2 racks dividing it into thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Draw two 22cm circles on piece of parchment paper, and one on the other using pencil. Turn the sheets over so the pencil faces downwards.

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa together.

Beat egg whites at high speed until they form soft peaks, then add half the caster sugar until whites are glossy and hold firm peaks. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually beat in the remaining caster sugar.

Using a spatula, gently fold in the icing sugar and cocoa mixture.

In a large piping bag fitted with a plain 1.5 cm tip, spoon 2/3s of the mixture. Pipe the batter at the centre of a traced circle, working your way in a spiral towards the edge. Keep the disks thin, piping with light consistent pressure (try to have it no more than 1cm high, or the meringue will be too thick and difficult to cute through). Repeat for the other 2 circles.

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With the remaining batter, pipe as many long strips of meringue as you can in the remaining space.

Place the baking sheets in the oven, using the handle of a wooden spoon to keep the door slightly ajar. Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meringue is firm but not coloured. Turn off the oven and allow the meringues to dry overnight with the door closed.

Transfer the meringues to an airtight container – these can be made up to 1 week in advance, as long as moisture and humidity are avoided.

The Mousse

250 g dark chocolate, finely chopped (we used Lindt)
250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 egg whites, at room temperature
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 egg yolks, at room temperature, beaten with a fork

Melt the chocolate, then allow it to cool until it feels just warm to the touch (about 45°C). If too hot when added to the butter, the mousse will be heavy.

Beat the butter until very smooth. Add the cooled chocolate in 3 additions, beating until well blended.

In a clean, dry bowl, whip the egg whites at high speed until they hold soft peaks, then add the sugar, continuing to whip until the whites hold firm, glossy peaks. Still beating, pour in the yolks and beat for another 30 seconds.

Working with a flexible spatula, stir 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate to lighten it, then gently fold in the remaining. The mousse should be used immediately after making.

To assemble

Place a dollop of chocolate mousse in the centre of a cakeboard or plate and use it to glue one meringue disk down (save the disk with the smoothest underside for the top). Cover the disk with a little less than 1/2 of the mousse, and smooth the surface with an offset spatula.

Position another disk over the mousse and jiggle the disk so it settles evenly onto the mousse. Repeat as above, then with the final disk, turn it over so the smooth side is up.

Cover the top and sides with the remaining mousse, and put the cake into the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Using a serrated knife, cut the meringue strips into pieces. There’s no need to make it neat, the rugged look is best for this cake I think.

Remove the cake from the freezer, and use a hair dryer to warm the sides and top of the cake to soften the mousse just a little, enough to let you stick the meringue pieces into the sides and top of the cake. I chose to do a fairly helterskelter design, but I’ve seen lovely cakes where it is a little more organised.

You can serve the cake now, or wrap it well and freeze it at least overnight (the meringue will become more tender if this is the case). To defrost, leave the cake still wrapped in the fridge overnight. I prefer the cake at room temperature when the mousse is a little more yielding, so leave out for an hour before serving.

8 Comments

1. What an amazing looking concorde cake! And loving the lightbox action too!

   Comment by Helen (grabyourfork) — January 2, 2011 @ 3:54 pm

2. I like how the trail of meringue logs is quite organic in that it trails down the side, and admiring the lightbox setup you have going as well. All the best in your aspirations for 2011!

   Comment by mademoiselle délicieuse — January 2, 2011 @ 4:55 pm

3. AFK = away from kitchen. :P
   I love your Light Box Set Up! The Concorde looks really cool! I think I can eat the whole thing!
   Happy New Year! :)

   Comment by eatmarvin — January 2, 2011 @ 6:42 pm

4. What good resolutions they are! I’m sure you’ll be able to achieve them in time, in the meantime, that cake is stunning and VERY impressed with the lightbox!

   Comment by Moya — January 2, 2011 @ 8:52 pm

5. The cake (and photo) looks fantastic. Happy new year, and best of luck with your resolutions.

   Comment by OohLookBel — January 2, 2011 @ 9:42 pm

6. hells yes that cake is sexy!

   Comment by chocolatesuze — January 3, 2011 @ 12:53 am

7. Where do you purchase your lightbox?

   Comment by Jane Ko — January 3, 2011 @ 2:11 pm

8. We bought the lightbox online at thinkgeek

   Comment by chris — January 3, 2011 @ 7:49 pm

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