CHOCOLATE VALENTINO - DARING BAKERS

The end of the month is getting close and, once again, all The Daring Bakers around the world are getting excited because the time has come to blog about their challenge and see what the other participants are presenting...

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of "WMPE's" blog and Dharm of "Dad ~ Baker & Chef" who have chosen a "Chocolate Valentino Cake" by Chef Wan; a "Vanilla Ice Cream" recipe from Dharm and a "Vanilla Ice Cream" recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

At home we both are very fond of flourless chocolate cakes and ice creams, so I was really looking fowards to making this very promising dessert!

Both recipes offered much freedom of interpretation and everybody had the choice to pick the kind of chocolate they wanted (be it giandujia, white, black, milk, etc...) and flavor the cake (or not) as they wished. We also could use the ice cream recip which we fancied. So, I decided to take a darker variety of chocolate (60% cocoa) and to adapt Dharm's "Vanilla Ice Cream". And, as I'm very keen on the irresistible association between chocolate, tonka and peanut, I chose to create my own "Peanut & Tonka Ice Cream" in order to accompany the "Chocolate Valentino Cake". To add a little touch of originality, tanginess and craziness, I decorated my plates with reduced dark balsamic vinegar...

Needless to say that I was extremely pleased by the great looks and awesome taste of this delectable dessert. The flavoring were just perfect and it presented really well too.

As no sugar nor flour are added to the batter, this subtle "Chocolate Valentino Cake" isn't too sweet or even sickly as it is the case with many rich chocolate cakes. It has a strong cocoa aroma and is fluffy, very moist and almost fudgy. The "Peanut & Tonka Ice Cream" adds a layer of scrumptiousness to this luscious treat as the delicate peanutty taste as well as the heady, haunting and unusual, yet lush and pleasant tonka flavor pairs wonderfully with that of the cake. Not to forget that the texture contrast between the creamy, crunchy ice cream and the smooth chocolate cake is just heavenly!

This challenge was highly enjoyable as it was straight-forward and not too messy, nevertheless the result was fantastic on the gustatory level as much as on the visual level. A recipe I will make again and adapt according to my cravings!

I really want to thank Wendy at "WMPE's" (USA) and Dharm at "Dad ~ Baker & Chef" (Malaysia) for having chosen that gorgeous recipe and for bringing the spirit of Valentine's Day into our plates!

~ Chocolate Valentino ~
Recipe from "Sweet Treats" by Chef Wan.

Makes one cake, using a 20x20cm (8x8 inches) brownie pan.

Ingredients:
16 Oz (1 pound/454g) Semisweet chocolate (60% cocoa), roughly chopped
1/2 Cup (1 stick) plus
2 Tbs (146 grams total) Unsalted butter
5 Large eggs (~63g), separated

Method:
1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed.
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 190° C (375° F).
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 60°C (140° F).
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Remarks:
Do not over-whip the cake or it will be dry.
If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

Serving suggestions:
Serve this cake with whipped cream or ice cream (see recipe below).

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~ Peanut And Tonka Ice Cream ~
Recipe based on a recipe from the "Ice Cream Book" by Joanna Farrow and Sara Lewis, and freely adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2009.

Ingredients:
1 Tsp Pure vanilla paste
300ml (1 1/4 Cups) Whole milk
300ml (1 1/4 Cups) Heavy Cream (35% fat)
1/4 Tsp Ground tonka bean
4 Large egg yolks
75g (6 Tbs) castor sugar
2 Tsps Cornsarch
4 Tbs Smooth peanut butter
3 Tbs Cream
1 Tbs Caramel sauce (see recipe)
3/4 Cup Salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Method:
1. Pour the milk and the cream into a heavy based saucepan, add the vanilla paste and ground tonka, and bring to the boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a bowl until the mixture is thick and foamy.
3. Gradually pour in the hot milk/cream mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a gentle hear, stirring all the time
4. When the custard is thicke and smooth, pour it back into the bowl and let cool 10 minutes.
5. Mix together the peanut butter and the 3 tbs cream. Add the peanut butter mixture and the caramel sauce to the warm custard and whisk well.
6. Cool the peanut butter custard and, then chill.
7. Put into an ice cream machine and churn the mixture until thick, about 30 minutes (see instructions on your ice cream maker).
8. Mix in the chopped peanuts and freeze for 6 hours or until firm enough to scoop.

Remarks:
Don't add the peanut butter mixture if the custard is too hot.

Serving suggestions:
Top the "Chocolate Valentino Cake" with a generous scoop of "Peanut & Tonka Ice Cream".

To see my other Daring Bakers' challenges, please click here.

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Etant donné la longueur du texte original, je n'ai malheureusement pas pu faire une traduction française de ce billet et je m'en excuse auprès de tous mes amis lecteurs et blogueurs francophones!

C'est pourquoi je vous suggère de vous rendre sur les blogs mentionnés ci-dessous. Vous y trouverez cette recette en version française.

Chez Vibi de "La Casserole Carrée" (Canada)
Chez Isa de "Les Gourmandises d'Isa" (Canada)