For National Chocolate Week, award-winning chef Tom Kitchin has created a selection of mouthwatering delights
The secret to finding good chocolate is to seek out those producers who really care about where their ingredients come from and who understand the beauty of roasting and grinding pure cocoa beans in a careful, crafted way.
It’s all about the best beans, knowing their origin, authenticity and taste – the same principles I apply to all my cooking and the ingredients I work with.
As with any produce, if you seek out quality ingredients that have been sourced and created with passion, you will always get better results.
With quality chocolate, you can also keep the recipes simple and still get outstanding results.
Chocolate truffles or mousse are both a great place to start and can be great recipes to get the kids involved – if you’re prepared for a little mess!
But when it comes to the mousse, I do like to add a little Drambuie for the adults if we’re having dinner guests.
If you’re cooking with chocolate, a solid bar or block of chocolate works best for tarts, rich cakes, mousses, cheesecakes, gateaux or sauces, while cocoa powder can give a stronger, more bitter concentrated flavour to cakes, icing, biscuits and, indeed these wonderful, delicious truffles.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE WITH RASPBERRIES
- SERVES 4
- 150g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
- 4 eggs, separated
- 75g sugar
- 30g whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons Drambuie
- 20 raspberries
- Icing sugar for dusting
Break up the chocolate and put it into a bowl. Bring a saucepan of water to simmering point, then set the bowl over the pan of water until the chocolate melts. Set aside.
Put the egg yolks and 25g of the sugar in another bowl, set this over the pan of water and whisk until the mixture starts to form ribbons and coats the back of spoon. Set aside.
Whisk the egg whites and the remaining 50g of sugar to stiff peaks. In another bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks.
Mix the melted chocolate into the egg yolks until smooth and add the Drambuie.
Gently fold in the egg whites and then the cream. Pour the chocolate mousse into four glasses and leave to set for two to three hours in the fridge.
Serve with a handful of raspberries and a dusting of icing sugar on top.
CHOCOLATE TART
- SERVES 6-8
- For the Sweet Pastry:
- 500g flour
- 100g icing sugar
- 350g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 egg
- For the Chocolate Filling:
- 450g dark chocolate
- 300g butter
- 1 shot Grand Marnier
- Zest of 3 oranges
- 6 whole eggs
- 5 egg yolks
- 60g caster sugar
- Vanilla
- Icing sugar for serving
To make the pastry, sift the flour and sugar together.
Pulse with the butter in the food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the egg and knead gently until the dough clings together. Flatten to a round, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 4mm and line in a 23cm pie tin or fluted flan case. Trim the edges and add some parchment paper and three cups of baking beans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then remove the bean and paper and cook for another 10 to 12 minutes or until golden.
While the pastry is still warm brush the inside with beaten egg. This helps to seal the pastry from the tart filling, ensuring a crispy base.
To make the chocolate filling, place the chocolate, butter, zest of three oranges and Grand Marnier in a bowl. Cover tightly with clingfilm and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water.
Allow the chocolate and butter to melt gently until there are no lumps left. Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 150°C/Gas 2. Whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, caster sugar and vanilla until tripled in volume. Fold this slowly into the warm chocolate mixture until completely incorporated.
Pour the chocolate filling into the cooked tart shell and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Leave to set at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put the tart into the fridge for at least an hour to finish setting.
CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES
- MAKES AROUND 50 TRUFFLES
- 280g good quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
- 284ml pot double cream
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 tsp chopped stem ginger
- 200g cocoa powder
Chop the chocolate and tip into a large bowl. Put the cream and butter into a saucepan and heat gently until the butter melts and the cream reaches simmering point. Remove from heat, then pour over the chocolate.
Stir the chocolate and cream together until you have a smooth mixture. Add the ginger a little at a time to taste and mix through, or leave plain if you prefer. Cool and chill for at least four hours.
To shape the truffles, roll out the mixture and cut into cubes and roll in the cocoa powder until each cube is covered, then chill on greaseproof paper.