Facing Up with a Choco Mountain

This is a gourmet chocolate dessert with layers of cream, custard and chocolates. Chocolate mountains is an unforgettable and decadent dish ideal for special events or romantic occasions. While this is a simple dish to make at home, it requires delicateness and care since you will be handling delicate ingredients like eggs, cream and chocolate. For best results, use a bain-marie for melting and heating the ingredients.

Also known as a water bath, a bain-marie is a special cooking equipment that consists of two sections of chambers: the bottom and the upper section. The bottom section is for the boiling water, which touches the heat directly and the upper section is where the delicate ingredients are placed so that they only get indirect heat. You can also use an improvised version of a bain-marie if you don’t have it at home. Use a small saucepan for boiling the water and another saucepan or heatproof saucer for melting and heating the ingredients. Take care that the bottom of the saucer does not touch the boiling water, which should only be about an inch or two in height.

This delicious dessert is great for adults as well as for children of all ages. You can be very creative with the presentation so that it is all the more appealing and irresistible. For superior results, use only the best quality chocolate you can find. Pure dark chocolate is ideal for making this recipe for chocolate mountains. You also need white chocolate in this recipe.

For a memorable evening, serve chocolate mountains with Banyuls grand cru, brandy, rum or Cognac. This dessert also goes well with coffee or afternoon tea. Top the chocolate mountains with fresh fruits like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mangoes, currants, or peaches. Mint leaves make a fine garnish and a refreshing contrast to this chocolate dessert.

Ingredients

1 egg
1.8 oz. white chocolate
1.8 oz. pralines
rum, cognac or Grand Marnier
1 gelatin leaf
1.4 oz. grilled almonds
1/2 lb. Chantilly (sweetened whipped cream)
1/4 lbs. sugar
½ lb. topping chocolate
1/2 lb. cream
Genovese waffles (sponge cake dough) or pate sable
1 mint leaf
1.8 oz. sour cream
1 mango, English cream
currant sauce, mango sauce

1. To make the cream, beat the eggs over a bain-marie pan taking care that it does not curdle. Soak the gelatin in cold water and add it to the beaten egg. Add the white chocolate and praline. Add some rum and Cognac. Mix slowly with the Chantilly. Add the crushed almonds. Fill small bowls with the cream.

2. Cover the “mountains” with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Mix chocolate, sour cream, and sugar. Remove the “mountains” from the refrigerator and place each on a round Genovese waffle. Allow the chocolate topping to flow over each.

3. Place these “chocolate mountains” on a cold serving dish and decorate with white chocolate. Add the 3 different sauces in a visually creative manner. You can also add some mango slices, chocolate crisps, mint leaves, and chocolate sauce.