Chocolate Devastation (Part 2)

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

MOCHA MERINGUE: Using a 9" cake circle (or cake plate) as a guide, trace a
circle on each of 3 sheets of parchment paper (cut to fit the baking
sheets) with a pencil. Turn each sheet of parchment paper over and place
with the trace mark down on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 250~.
Combine together in a sifter the confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and
cocoa. Sift onto the wax paper and set aside until needed. Heat 1" of water
in the bottom half of a double boiler over medium-high heat. Place 8 egg
whites, 3/4 cup sugar, the espresso powder, the cream of tartar, and the
salt in the top half of the double boiler. Heat the egg white mixture to a
temperature of 120~ while gently and constantly whisking, about 2-3
minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with
a balloon whip. Whisk on high until stiff but not dry, about 2 to 2 1/2
minutes. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold in
the sifted dry ingredients. Fill a pastry bag (with no tip) with about a
third of the meringue. Fill a traced circle with meringue: start in the
center and pipe a 1/2" wide spiral toward the ouside of the circle. Fill
the pastry bag again and repeat this procedure with each of the 2 remaining
circles (each circle should be filled with about a third of the original
amount of meringue.) Place the meringues in the preheated oven and bake for
1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 225~ and bake for an additional 2
hours. Cool on baking sheets for 30 minutes before handling.
THE GANACHE: Heat 2 cups heavy cream, the butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar
in a 2 1/2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When hot, stir to dissolve
the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil. Place 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate and
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate in a stainless bowl. Pour the boiling cream
over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.
Reserve 1 cup of ganache and set aside at room temperature. Pour the
remaining amount of ganache onto a baking sheet with sides and refrigerate
for 35-40 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup of the reserved room-temperature ganache
onto the center of a baked meringue (supported by a cake circle). Remove an
ice-cream disk from the freezer. Unwrap the disk and place it onto the
puddle of ganache. Press down on the ice cream disk gently but firmly (this
will spread the ganache). Fill a pastry bag fitted with a medium-sized star
tip with one-third of the chilled ganache. Pipe about 28-30 individual
vertical strips 1 1/2" long and 3/4" wide--all the way around the side of
the ice cream disk (each strip should be touching the other, and each strip
should also be wider at the base where it touches the meringue and tapered
at the crest where it rises to the top edge of the ice cream disk). Place
this section into the freezer and repeat the preceding procedure with
another meringue and ice cream disk. Place in the freezer after completion
for about 10-15 minutes. Remove a meringue and ice cream section from the
freezer. Pour 1/4 cup of room-temperature ganache onto the center of the
ice cream. Remove the second section from the freezer, and center onto the
first. Press down on the ice cream, gently but firmly, to spread the
ganache. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of room-temperature genache onto the
top ice cream disk, and onto this ganache place the remaining baked
meringue, once again pressing down gently but firmly to spread the ganache.
Place the Devastation in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes. Fill a pastry
bag fitted with a medium-sized star tip with the remaining chilled ganache.
Remove the Devastation from the freezer. Starting 1/2" inside the edge of
the top meringue, pipe a ring of about 28-30 individual strips--1 1/2" long
and 3/4" wide--all the way around the top (each strip should be touching
the other, and each strip should also be wider at the point closest to the
edge and tapered at the point closest to the center). Return the completed
Devastation to the freezer for at least 1 hour before serving. To serve,
cut the Devastation with a serrated slicer. Heat the blade of the slicer
under hot running water before making each slice. Allow the slices to come
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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