Ingredients
1 mint sauce:
6 tbsp green creme de menthe
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 vanilla bean -- split
1 lengthwise
1 mousse:
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream -- chilled
6 oz bittersweet chocolate --
1 finely chopped
1/4 cup clear creme do cacao
1/4 cup unsalted butter -- at room
1 temperature
1 chocolate barke:
2 oz clear hard peppermint
1 candies
12 oz bittersweet chocolate --
1 finely chopped
Directions
For sauce: Combine creme de menthe and sugar in small saucepan.
Scrap in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over medium heat
until sugar dissolves. For Mousse: Whisk yolk and 1/4 cup sugar in
small bowl to blend. Bring 1/4 cup cream to simmer in heavy small
saucepan. Gradually whisk hot creme into egg mixture. Return mixture
to same saucepan. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until custard
thickens, about 1 minute (DO NOT BOIL). Reduce heat to low. Add
chocolate, creme do cacao and butter and stir until smooth.
Pour into large bowl. Chill until cool, stirring occasionally, about
15 minutes. Beat 1/2 cup cream in small bowl to stiff peaks. Fold
cream into chocolate mixture. Cover and chill. For Chocolate Bark:
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Finely grind mints in
food processor. Place half of chocolate in top of double boiler set
over simmering water. Stir until candy thermometer registers 115
degrees. Pour onto 1 prepared sheet. Using spatual, spread chcolate
to 1/16-inch thickness over parchment. Spinkle half of ground candies
over half of chocolate. Fold parchment in half to seal candies in
chocolate. Repeat with remaining chocolate and candies. Cover and
chill 1 to 24 hours. Peel parchment off chocolate bark. Break or cut
each sheet of bark into 6 irregular pieces, reserving any small
pieces for garnish. Place 1 bark piece on plate. Spread scant 1/3
cup mousse over bark. Place another bark piece atop mousse. Spread
scant 1/3 cup mousse over. Top with another bark piece.
Place dollop of mousse atop chocolate and top with any smaller bark
pieces, standing pieces upright. Repeat with remaining bark and
mousse. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover; chill. ) Garnish with
fresh mint leaves. Serve napoleons with mint sauce. My note: The
picture of this recipe shows the napoleons sitting atop the mint
sauce which has been carefully spooned in swirls on to the plate.
Recipe By : Shane Gorringe, The Grill Room, Windsor Court Hotel
Servings: 4 servings
Chocolate Mint Napoleon Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Chocolate; Dessert
The History of Recipes
We are able to track the history of written recipes way back into antiquity, in fact as far back into recorded history as early Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. However, sadly, these early records were just primitive hieroglyphic recipes for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are some tablets in the Sumerian language which show the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel blissful and exhilarated. As we move into The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a number of documents showing how to cook the recipes prepared by the Romans. In his scrolls, he describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and desserts, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius also informs us how the Romans used a good variety of aromatic flavours, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks like bay, fennel and asafoetida. As we move on, there were a couple of books which appeared in the fourteenth century : a recipe book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Surprisingly, these have no connection with the indian curry that is served today, but rather descriptions of the types of food eaten by the rich and wealthy people of that time. Later, in the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought us many new foods and herbs from middle-east cuisine, including spices like parsley, basil and rosemary. These new herbs and spices prompted an explosion in books on cookery, the majority of which still exist in academic collections. During the following few hundred years, the rich and powerful families of Wesstern Europe strove to lay on the most extravagent meals, and because of this the best chefs and their collection of recipes were highly sought after. Nevertheless, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cookery and cookery books really came of age. Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collecting, trying out, and publishing recipes to help cooks of their time. By the advent of the 20th century, cookery books were starting to become popular mostly as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having increased free time and being a little richer. |
We hope you enjoy this Chocolate Mint Napoleon recipe.
