Taillevents Chocolate Cake With Pistachio Sauce Recipes

TAILLEVENT'S CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH PISTACHIO SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the cake, melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and the butter and stir until melted. Whisk in the egg yolks. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Set aside to cool.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy. Whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining whites. Rinse 4 4-ounce heart-shaped molds or ramekins with water; do not dry. Divide the chocolate mixture among the molds. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• To make the sauce, remove as much skin as possible from the pistachios. Rinse quickly with boiling water, drain and then remove as much of the remaining skin as possible. Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse until ground. Add 1/3 cup of sugar and the egg white and process until mixture forms a paste.
• Place 3 tablespoons of the pistachio paste in a medium-size saucepan (save the rest for another use). Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another medium-size saucepan. Set aside.
• Whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until thick and light. Whisk in half the strained milk; then whisk the mixture back into the remaining milk. Cook the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; do not let the mixture come to a boil. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• To serve, spoon a pool of the sauce onto the center of each of 4 plates. Run the tip of a small knife around the inside edge of the molds. Dip them briefly in a bowl of hot water and invert them onto the plates. Serve.

PISTACHIO & MILK CHOCOLATE SQUARES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment. Whizz 125g of the pistachios, 75g of the chocolate and about half the sugar in a food processor until very finely chopped. Tip into a bowl with remaining sugar, butter, eggs, flour and milk, plus a pinch of salt, and beat. Scrape into the tin and bake for 35-45 mins until a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool.
• Melt the remaining milk chocolate, stir in the soured cream and cool until spreadable. Trim the edges off the cake, then split in half. Spread a little icing over the base, sandwich the top of sponge back on. Spread remaining icing over the top, roughly chop the remaining pistachios and scatter them over. Cut into 16 squares to serve.

CHOCOLATE-PISTACHIO TORTE

Steps:

• Make cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; line bottom with parchment or waxed paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
• In a large heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, melt butter and chocolate, stirring frequently, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove bowl from pan. Whisk in sugar and vanilla, then eggs, buttermilk, and pistachios. Fold in flour mixture just until combined.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 60 to 70 minutes. Let cool in pan 5 minutes; run a knife around edge, and invert onto a wire rack. Remove paper, and let cool completely, about 3 hours. (To store, wrap in plastic, and keep at room temperature, up to 3 days).
• Make ganache: In a small saucepan, bring cream to a simmer; remove from heat. Add chocolate, and let stand 5 minutes; whisk until smooth. Let cool until mixture falls back in ribbons when lifted with a spoon, 2 to 6 minutes.
• Set cake on a serving platter; tuck strips of parchment paper under edge of cake to prevent ganache from dripping on platter. Pour ganache onto center of cake; using a table knife, spread evenly over the top and down the sides. Let set, about 30 minutes. Remove paper from under cake; sprinkle top with pistachios.