I feel like that couple that has a baby and feels like they are the first ones to ever have a baby, or, more aptly, the new dog owner who feels like they are breaking new ground when their pup has their first doo doo or injury. But seriously, I feel like I discovered a new food group, and I have to thank Alton Brown for that. I made chocolate whip – which, aside from sound vaguely like to puppy above, is like nothing I’ve ever tasted. Or at least nothing that is so outrageously simple to make tastes, not something that will be oh so easy to modify to my will. My poor friends are going to be sick of this – me, never. And, here’s the money shot:
Just having consumed a nice meal, the Sine Qua Non granache that had been open at least an hour and deep, dark, luscious, chocolate mousse with a hint of Solerno. The shocking thing is that the wine took longer to open than the mousse to make and both were dairy free.
So, I’m getting the hand of the foamer. The variables being temperature, viscosity, liquification factor (how about that for making up new technical terms?!), and flavor concentration. All of that sounds complicated but then you get to this recipe and it’s like hitting the sweet spot on a golf ball – bad analogy since I only did that once and then promptly retired from the game, but you get the gist.
Alton Brown has both a recipe and video for Foam Whipper Chocolate Mouse and I recommend both fir first timers. The following is adapted from his recipe. The keys I took from Mr. Brown are to make more of a Chocolate Sorbet base (i.e., chocolate and water) to chill the mixture slightly before whipping. He used a mixture of water and coffee for the base, I used a mixture of water and Solerno liquor (blood orange), so I got rid of the sugar and it was intense. I also had more than was humanly possible to eat during dinner so I just put the rest in the fridge and I think I preferred it even more after it had chilled overnight. It took on a very slightly grainy texture that reminded me of properly freezer burned fudgsicles and my mother’s chocolate mousse from when I was a kid – something about the sugar texture.
Chocolate Orange Whip
8 oz dark bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup water
1/3 cup Solerno
- In a heat proof bowl add water and chocolate. Melt – I did so in the microwave as gently as I could. So 30 second jolt and a good stir. I thnk it took 4 rounds with a little rest in between. You want the chocolate water mix smooth and not overcooked. If you watch Alton Brown’s video he used a modified warm water bath. Stir in the Solerno.
- Bring the mix to room temp or cooler using an ice bath. Alton Brown suggested 60 degrees. I was too impatient and made the mixture when the thermometer pinged between 58-65 depending on where it was in the mix.
- Pour the mix into your foamer. Charge it, shake it, let it sit 20 seconds then shake it again. Fill your serving cups and dig in.
If you’re like me, this would generously serve 2 people – they might have to address over-consumption issues afterwards, but they would be very happy people. More likely you could serve 4-6 depending on how much you wanted to serve and/or whether it was a component of a grander, more complex dessert. Nopi has a recipe for a baked ganache with spices and orange oil, it could be interesting to add frozen little dollops of this , for example, although that is a perfect dish all on its own.
I’ve been in Pittsburgh for work so a little delayed on posting. Will get back into it again now that I’m at home base. I got introduced to geocaching while in Pittsburgh. Not to offend the geologist who introduced me to it, but it’s a little like the Pokemon game. On the other hand, geologists are the coolest people I know. They think in terms of geologic time spans and they focus on rocks and water – they always, therefore, know a lot about bourboun, terroir, and other interesting things. And, they are usually the nicest people I meet. I did not capture my first geocache experience on film but I did look up and the heavens in Pittsburgh seemed to recognize the moment by turning the clouds into stone. Check this out: