CHOCOLATE DESSERTS: You can be very proud of yourself to serve this spectacular dessert, that tastes as good as it looks, as finale to your next dinner party.

CHOCOLATE BISCUIT WITH CHOCOLATE CREAM:

 

 

 

 

chocolate sponge cake:

    4 egg whites + 3 egg yolks

    1/3 cup cake and pastry flour                                             

    1 tbsp. cocoa powder

    2 tbsp. butter melted

chocolate Cream:

    3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate pieces              

    1 cup whipping cream

    1/8 cup warm water                                    

    1 oz. Kahlua liqueur

    1-2 tbsp. icing sugar

 

espresso syrup:

    ¼ cup sugar                                                

    ½ cup boiling water

    2 oz. espresso coffee

chocolate triangles:  4 oz. semi sweet chocolate

raspberry coulis:

    12 oz. fresh raspberries                              

    ½ cup icing sugar or to taste

    1 tsp. lemon juice

raspberries and toasted almond slices to decorate

 

 

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 13 x 8-inch jelly roll pan and line it with wax paper.

 

Sift flour with cocoa powder together twice. Beat egg whites until foamy and gradually add in 1/8 cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until stiff peaks. Beat egg yolks with the rest of sugar until light and thick. Fold egg yolk into egg whites. Sift flour mixture into egg whites and fold in carefully. Add melted butter and fold in. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until done. Cool on rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake and peel off waxed paper. Cool completely. Cut cake into 2 halves horizontally.

 

To make chocolate cream: Melt 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate in a bowl set in a pan of simmering water, add warm water into melted chocolate and mix in. Whip cream in chilled bowl until soft peaks; add melted chocolate, icing sugar to taste and liqueur. Beat until stiff. Refrigerate until needed.

 

To make chocolate triangles: Melt 4 oz. semi sweet chocolates and spread it in an even layer on a large piece of waxed paper. Cover chocolate with another piece of wax paper. Refrigerate until hard. Use kitchen shears and ruler as a guide, cut out 16 triangles, 4-inches long.  Refrigerate 8 triangles while leaving the rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes. When these triangles are softening slightly, curve them over an inverted bowl. Then return the curved triangles to the fridge.

 

To make espresso syrup: Dissolve sugar in boiling water. Add 2 tbsp. of syrup into espresso coffee and stir well.

 

To make raspberry coulis:  Process raspberries, sugar to taste and lemon juice in food processor until pureed. Strain to remove seeds. Put coulis into a plastic squeeze bottle.

 

To assemble dessert: Use a 3-inch cookie cutter to cut out 4 circles from each of  the cake halves. Brush each piece of cake with the espresso liquid. Decorate the outer edges of 4 serving plate with drops of raspberry coulis from the squeeze bottle; then arrange one circle of cake in the centre of each plate. Fill a piping bag with a ½-inch star nozzle with chocolate cream. Pipe a layer of cream over the piece of cake and top it with another cake circle. Pipe a layer of cream in a rosette pattern over the top piece of cake.

 

With chilled hands and working quickly, peel off waxed paper from chocolate triangles. Use 2 straight and 2 curve triangles alternately to decorate each serving of cake. Scatter almond slices on cake and place raspberries around plate to serve.