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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