Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (41 page)

Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, for two minutes. Do not let it get too hot or cook too long.

Remove from the heat. Stir in the melted chocolate and the softened gelatin. Beat with a wire whisk, electric mixer, or egg beater until smooth. If the mixture is not smooth, strain it. Then mix in the vanilla, butter, and coffee or liquor.

Partially fill a large bowl with ice and water. Set
the bowl or saucepan of filling into the bowl of ice water and stir occasionally until cool and partially thickened.

Meanwhile, whip the cream until it holds a soft shape—it should be semi-firm, not stiff.

When the chocolate mixture starts to thicken to the consistency of a heavy mayonnaise, stir it briskly with a wire whisk and then fold the whipped cream into it.

Use right away or refrigerate briefly (if it is not firm enough to hold its shape and be pressed out of a pastry bag, it must be refrigerated to stiffen it a bit).

The filling will be put into the shells with a pastry bag; if the shells are on a slippery surface they will slide away from you while you fill them. I place them, open sides up, in matched pairs on a kitchen towel.

To fill the shells, fit a 15- or 18-inch pastry bag with a #8 plain, round tube. Fold down a deep cuff on the outside of the bag. To support the bag place it in a tall narrow jar or glass and transfer the cold filling to the bag.

Unfold the top of the bag, twist it closed, and press out a heavy strip of the filling into the bottom half of each éclair. Then repeat, so you have two heavy strips of filling, mounded high, in the bottom halves.

Cover with the tops of the éclairs, pressing the tops down firmly so they stay in place—the filling should show on the sides.

Place on a tray and refrigerate while you prepare the glaze.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE FOR ÉCLAIRS

2½ ounces (2½ squares) unsweetened chocolate

½ cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons water (be very careful not to use too much—less is better than more)

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted. Uncover and stir until completely melted. Add the sugar and water and stir to mix.

Remove the top of the double boiler and place it over direct heat. Stir until it comes to a boil.

Remove from the heat and stir briskly with a small wire whisk for a few seconds until the mixture is very smooth and only slightly thickened.

This should not be thick or stiff, but it should not be so thin that it runs down the sides of the éclairs. If it is too thick, add a few drops of hot water and stir well. If it is too thin, let it cool briefly and stir well. When it is right it will spread evenly and smoothly over the tops and will stay where you put it. Use the glaze immediately while it is still warm.

Hold an éclair in your left hand. With your right hand use a teaspoon to pick up a rounded spoonful of the glaze, place it on the éclair and spread it with the back of the spoon. Use just enough to make a rather thin layer all over the top.

If the glaze thickens while you are working with it, replace it over warm water, or stir in a few drops of warm water.

Return the glazed éclairs to the refrigerator.

Serve the same day, or chill until the glaze is dry and firm, then wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours before unwrapping. If the éclair stands too long after it has thawed the shell will lose its crispness.

NOTE
:
If the éclair shells have been frozen unfilled (they should be split before they are frozen), thaw them as follows: Place them, frozen, on a cookie sheet in a 350-degree oven for about 8 minutes to thaw and crisp. Cool on a rack.

Profiteroles

8 TO 12
Py
ORTIONS

When I was going to school (Pratt Institute) I was invited to lunch at the old Stork Club on 53rd Street in New York. Sherman Billingsley, the owner, sent profiteroles (and perfume and cigarette lighters) to our table with his compliments. Since then I have always thought of profiteroles as an elegant dessert to be served in a swank place with headwaiters and captains watching for a nod of approval.

The fact is they are one of the simplest and easiest (and most fun) things you can do for dessert. They are made ahead of time and served directly from the freezer. They are small cream puffs filled with ice cream and served with chocolate sauce.

THE PUFFS

Follow the preceding éclair recipe for cream-puff pastry (pâte à choux). When it is mixed, the directions change. Instead of a pastry bag, these are shaped with teaspoons (like drop cookies). Use a well-rounded teaspoonful of the mixture for each puff (each one should be slightly larger than a walnut in the shell), and place it neatly (try to keep them rather round and without peaks) on the aluminum foil on double cookie sheets—see preceding recipe. Use half of the pastry to make twelve mounds on one foil-lined sheet. (Cover the remaining pastry and set it aside at room temperature.)

Bake in the middle of a 425-degree oven for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30 minutes (total baking time is 45 minutes). Do not open the oven door until 5 minutes before the baking time is up. Then reach into the oven and insert a small, sharp knife into the top and/or sides of each puff in two places to allow steam to escape. Bake for the final 5 minutes.

Remove the puffs from the oven and, with your fingers, gently peel them away from the foil and place them on racks to cool.

Repeat with the remaining half of the pastry.

When all the puffs are baked and cooled, use a serrated knife to cut the top third off each. With your fingers pick any soft, undercooked dough out of the centers. Be sure to keep each top with its own bottom in order to be able to match them up neatly when they are filled.

THE ICE-CREAM FILLING

One pint of ice cream will fill about 9 puffs. You should have 3 pints to fill 24 puffs, although you might not use it all. Use any flavor you like, or an assortment (vanilla is traditional). The ice cream must not be so hard that it cracks the puffs, nor so soft it runs. Use a spoon or a very small ice-cream scoop; I have a tiny one that measures only 1½ inches in diameter and works very well. (I have seen them in specialty kitchen shops and in wholesale restaurant supply stores.) Work right next to the freezer; as you fill a puff, place it directly in the freezer on a tray. Fill the bottom half of each puff, mounding it moderately high. Replace the top, pressing it gently onto the ice cream. A bit of ice cream should show around the middle.

Freeze the puffs until the ice cream is hard. Then package in any airtight container, or simply cover the tray airtight with aluminum foil.

THE STORK CLUB’S PROFITEROLE SAUCE

A few years after my first profiteroles at The Stork Club, I started making silver stork pins and cuff links for Mr. Billingsley to include in his generous balloon-night giveaways. Then I was in and out of the place frequently, usually in the mornings before it was open for business. One day the chef let me shape the cream puffs (there it was done with a pastry bag) and let me watch him make the sauce, which could not be easier.

6 ounces semisweet chocolate

1 ounce (1 square) unsweetened chocolate

2 cups water

½ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Coarsely cut up both chocolates and place them in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir until completely melted and smooth.

Meanwhile, place the sugar and water in a 6- to 8-cup saucepan over high heat. Stir with a wooden spatula until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil. Let boil without stirring for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat, stir in the melted chocolates, return to the heat, and bring to a low boil. Adjust the heat so it simmers and let simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

This may be served warm or at room temperature. (The Stork Club served it warm.) It may be reheated over hot water.

Serve the profiteroles on individual flat dessert plates or shallow soup plates, two or three to a portion, with sauce poured over and around them. Eat with a knife and fork.

These amounts will yield 2 cups of sauce, enough for 24 puffs.

Chocolate Profiteroles

These are made with chocolate cream-puff pastry (chocolate pâte à choux). This bakes to a rich chocolate color and may be used for any recipe that uses pâte à choux.

CHOCOLATE CREAM-PUFF PASTRY(CHOCOLATE PâTE à CHOUX)

Follow the recipe for Cream-Puff Pastry (see page 167) with the following changes: Finely chop 1 ounce (1 square) of semisweet chocolate. Add it to the saucepan along with the butter and melt it with the butter in the boiling water. Reduce the amount of flour to 1 cup minus 3 tablespoons.

Now follow the recipe for Profiteroles (see page 170).

Just before serving these dark chocolate profiteroles, sprinkle the tops with confectioners sugar through a fine strainer. Serve with any chocolate sauce. (When I taught this recipe in demonstrations that I gave around the country, I used the World’s Best Hot Fudge Sauce [see page 258] and everyone raved.)

French Fudge Squares

16
S
QUARES OR 32
S
MALL
B
ARS

So rich, dark, dense, moist, these are more like fudge candy than like cake. With a divine, shiny dark chocolate glaze. The mixture is baked in a square pan and, before serving, is cut into small squares. (The ingredients are similar to Brownies with additional chocolate—the technique is a bit different.)

Don’t decide to make this for tonight; the cake should stand to mellow before it is served. Bake it a day or two before serving, or way before and freeze it. But the glaze should be put on early in the day for serving that night; it takes only a few minutes to make the glaze.

8 ounces (8 squares) unsweetened chocolate

4 eggs (graded large, extra-large, or jumbo), separated

½ pound (2 sticks) sweet butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square cake pan as follows: Invert the pan, tear off a 12-inch square of aluminum foil and center it over the inverted pan, fold down the sides and corners, remove the foil and turn the pan right side up. Place the foil in the pan. In order not to tear it, use a pot holder or a folded towel and, pressing gently with the pot holder or towel, smooth the foil into place. Lightly butter the bottom and sides, using soft or melted butter and a pastry brush or crumpled wax paper. Set aside.

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on low heat. Cover until partially melted, then uncover and stir occasionally until completely melted. Remove the top of the double boiler and set aside, uncovered, to cool slightly.

In the small bowl of an electric mixer beat the yolks until they are pale lemon-colored. Set aside.

Place the butter in the large bowl of the electric mixer. You can use the same beaters without washing them to cream the butter. Add 1¾ cups (reserve ¼ cup) of the sugar and beat well. Add the egg yolks and beat to mix, then add the chocolate and beat to mix again. On low speed gradually add the flour and beat, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula, and beating only until thoroughly incorporated. Remove from the mixer.