The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.
In the kitchen, some things elude me. Yeast rising, for one. The other is egg whites beaten to a stiff peak. I'd like to be able to blame the humid Florida climate, but I think it's just me.
If I had to give myself a grade for this challenge, it would be a C-. For one, my meringues fell. In fact, they did a total face plant. I tried twice, and ended up with the same result. Next, I overcooked the creme anglaise. It was the perfect consistency, then I stepped away for 5 seconds to grab a bowl and when I turned back to the pot, I had cooked egg bits in the sauce. By this time, I was too disheartened to try again, so I skipped the mascarpone cream.
I did manage to make a white chocolate version of the mascarpone mousse. I garnished with a remnant of meringue. One component out of four - okay, maybe my grade for the challenge should be a D.
Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse
1 ½ cups heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces of 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups mascarpone cheese
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp Grand Marnier (or orange juice)
Put ½ cup of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. Do not overbeat or the mascarpone will break down.
Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated.
In the kitchen, some things elude me. Yeast rising, for one. The other is egg whites beaten to a stiff peak. I'd like to be able to blame the humid Florida climate, but I think it's just me.
If I had to give myself a grade for this challenge, it would be a C-. For one, my meringues fell. In fact, they did a total face plant. I tried twice, and ended up with the same result. Next, I overcooked the creme anglaise. It was the perfect consistency, then I stepped away for 5 seconds to grab a bowl and when I turned back to the pot, I had cooked egg bits in the sauce. By this time, I was too disheartened to try again, so I skipped the mascarpone cream.
I did manage to make a white chocolate version of the mascarpone mousse. I garnished with a remnant of meringue. One component out of four - okay, maybe my grade for the challenge should be a D.
Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse
1 ½ cups heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces of 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups mascarpone cheese
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp Grand Marnier (or orange juice)
Put ½ cup of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.
Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. Do not overbeat or the mascarpone will break down.
Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated.
4 comments:
your cream looks delicious! I love how you used the pavlova "chips" as a garnish with the cream. I think you deserve at least a C. Plenty of effort and great creativity to rectify a bad situation. Great job on the challenge! I hope you try again one day!
The important thing is that you tried, and you certainly are daring! That glassful does look delicious! Well done with salvaging the challenge!!
That's a sad, but one thing I've discovered as a DB is that the challenges do need concentration. :)
Inspite of your problems, I'd say you bounced back more than admirably. YOur dessert in a glass looks good.
You put a lot of effort into this, especially with those chips as decoration. Kudos to you for giving this a go.
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