French Classics Made Easy (59 page)

Use the same method when whipping cream, because the cold temperature prevents the cream from turning to butter before the cream is stiff.

RIZ A L’IMPERATRICE

The classic
riz à l’Impératrice
is a vanilla-flavored rice pudding mixed with Bavarian cream (crème anglaise, gelatin, and whipped cream) and preserved fruits and molded in a ring mold. It is served unmolded with kirsch-flavored currant jelly around it.

I have reduced by half the amount of egg yolks and heavy cream originally used. I have also eliminated the preserved fruits, which I find too sweet, and use a raspberry sauce sweetened with currant jelly in place of the jelly on its own. My choice of a cake pan instead of a ring mold is mainly for presentation. I find a wedge of the dessert looks better than a section of a ring.

SERVES 8

½ cup (100g) long-grain white rice

3 cups milk

½ cup minus 2 teaspoons (100g) sugar

1 vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 egg yolks

1 envelope unflavored gelatin softened in ¼ cup cold water

½ cup heavy cream

½ recipe Raspberry Coulis (
page 345
), sweetened with red currant jelly to taste

1.
In a small saucepan, cook the rice in 2 or more cups of boiling water for 15 minutes and drain.

2.
In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the milk, sugar, and vanilla bean (if using vanilla extract, add it in step 3) to a boil. Add the rice, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Not all of the milk will be absorbed; about 1 cup should remain. Remove the vanilla bean, if used.

3.
Remove the rice from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, softened gelatin, and vanilla extract, if using. Pour into a medium-size metal bowl and place in a larger bowl of ice and water (see “Over Ice,” facing page). Stir until cool to the touch, being sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Set aside.

4.
In another bowl, set into the ice and water, whip the cream until stiff. Fold the whipped cream into the rice mixture. Return the rice to the ice and water and continue folding until the mixture begins to set or thicken. Pour into an 8-inch round cake pan or other metal mold. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before unmolding.

5.
To unmold: Run the point of a knife around the rice mixture and dip the mold into hot water for 5 to 10 seconds. Place a chilled cake platter upside down over the cake pan. Holding the pan and platter together, invert. Remove the cake pan. If the rice does not unmold easily after one or two immersions in hot water, give both the plate and the mold a firm downward shake. (This can be done several hours before serving. Keep refrigerated.)

6.
To serve: Pour a little of the raspberry coulis around the unmolded rice and serve the remaining sauce in a pitcher or bowl. You can also serve the dessert sliced and surrounded with the sauce on individual plates.

FLOATING ISLAND
WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

[ILE FLOTTANTE CARDINALE]

Ile Flottante and
oeufs à la neige
are both desserts made from poached meringue and served with crème anglaise. In the case of
oeufs à la neige,
large egg-shaped spoonfuls of meringue are poached in simmering milk or water, while the
île flottante
meringue is molded and poached in the oven. When unmolded, the meringue becomes an island floating on the crème anglaise.

Ile flottante
often has crushed praline mixed into or layered with the meringue. I find the praline too sweet in this dessert, so I add chopped toasted almonds instead. I also use raspberry sauce to coat the surface of the floating island and have added the name
cardinale,
which is classically used to describe a dish robed in red.

The dessert can be made up to one day in advance and assembled before serving.

SERVES 6

Butter, for the soufflé mold

3 egg whites

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (90g) sugar

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

⅓ cup (40g) chopped toasted almonds

Crème Anglaise (
page 346
)

Raspberry Coulis (
page 345
)

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F with the rack in the lowest position. Lightly butter a 4-cup soufflé mold.

2.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat until very stiff, about 1 minute. Fold in the chopped toasted almonds.

3.
Pour the meringue mixture into the prepared mold and bake in a water bath (
bain-marie
) for 20 minutes, or until springy to the touch and lightly colored on top.

4.
Allow the meringue to cool in the mold. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before unmolding and serving.

5.
Present the unmolded meringue on a deep platter surrounded by crème anglaise and covered with raspberry coulis. Serve each guest a slice accompanied by a little of each sauce.

IN ADDITION

Many years ago I was asked by my friends Tim and Nina Zagat to bring a light dessert to a dinner party at which Paul Bocuse was to be the honored guest. When it was announced that the Floating Island that was about to be served was mine, I was told by my dinner partner, who was a close friend of the great chef, that I shouldn’t be upset if Monsieur Bocuse merely tasted it, for he rarely ate desserts. I was pleased when he ate not only the portion served, but asked for more.

T
HE
C
HOCOLATE
M
OUSSE:
Marvelous and Multifaceted

Since chocolate behaves much like flour when baked, it is possible to use this basic chocolate mousse recipe to make several desserts that normally contain flour. For example, baked in a cake pan it makes Chocolate Mousse Cake (
page 246
). If you bake it in a jelly-roll pan, you have a chocolate roll (see
page 251
). Baked in a soufflé mold, it is Chocolate Soufflé (
page 266
). For a delicious Fallen Chocolate Soufflé (
page 267
), the mousse is baked in a soufflé mold in a water bath (
bain-marie
). You can also make a wonderfully simple variation of the chocolate mousse by freezing it and serving it in slices (see Chocolate Marquise,
page 293
).

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

[MOUSSE AU CHOCOLAT]

This simple classic is one of the most versatile recipes that I have ever taught. Not only is it a fabulous chocolate mousse, but it can also be baked to make a soufflé, a cake, a chocolate roll, or a French-style chocolate pudding (see “The Chocolate Mousse,” above).

A mousse is light and airy and can be made with beaten egg whites or whipped cream, but I make mine with egg whites alone. I find that the chocolate, butter, and egg yolks in the recipe supply all the richness needed.

A refreshing variation can be made by adding the finely grated zest of 1 orange. If you want to flavor the mousse with coffee, rum, Grand Marnier, or another liqueur, add only 1 to 2 tablespoons (to taste) just before incorporating the egg whites. If you add more you may lose the light consistency that makes this recipe so good.

SERVES 6

4 ounces (115g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

4 tablespoons (½ stick; 60g) unsalted butter

4 eggs, separated

⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar

1.
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. Stir occasionally until smooth.

2.
Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks until blended. Immediately pour the mixture into a large bowl. (The melted chocolate and butter will be hot enough to poach the egg yolks, which will lightly thicken the mixture.)

3.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.

4.
With a whisk, fold one-third of the stiffly beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining whites into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

5.
Pour the mousse into a crystal serving bowl or individual glasses and refrigerate until set, 2 hours or longer. Serve chilled.

LIME MOUSSE

[MOUSSE AU CITRON VERT]

Classic fruit mousses are made with fruit purées sweetened with sugar syrup and then folded with whipped cream, molded, and refrigerated. This version uses half whipped cream and half stiffly beaten egg whites. For lime mousse, fruit juice is used instead of a purée and gelatin is used to thicken it.

The tartness of limes varies, and I prefer this mousse on the tart side. If, when you combine the sugar syrup and the lime juice in step 4, you find it too tart, sweeten it to taste by adding confectioners’ sugar.

This wonderfully refreshing dessert can be made a day in advance. Refrigerate until served.

SERVES 8 TO 10

8 to 10 limes

1 cup (220g) granulated sugar

½ cup water

1½ envelopes unflavored gelatin softened in ½ cup cold water

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg whites

Confectioners’ sugar

1.
Remove the zest from one of the limes to make 10 to 12 lime zest knots for garnish (see “How to Make Zest Knots,” facing page). Cover the knots with plastic wrap.

2.
Squeeze the limes to obtain 1 cup of juice.

3.
In a small saucepan, bring ½ cup of the granulated sugar and the water to a boil, making sure the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the softened gelatin to dissolve it.

4.
Add the gelatin-sugar mixture to the lime juice and place in a metal bowl set into a larger bowl filled halfway with ice and a little water (see “Over Ice,”
page 272
). Stir the juice until it is cool (see “Cool to the Touch,”
page 350
), about 1 minute. Remove from the ice and set aside.

5.
In a medium-size bowl set into the ice and water, beat the cream until stiff, about 1 minute. Set aside.

6.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and beat until stiff peaks form, about 1 minute.

7.
Refresh the ice-and-water mixture by pouring off excess water and adding more ice to return it to its original proportions. Place the juice mixture over the ice and water and stir with a metal spoon, being sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, until it is very cold and the consistency of heavy cream, 4 to 5 minutes.

8.
Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then three-quarters of the whipped cream. Follow this with the remaining egg whites. The mixture should be smooth and have the consistency of sour cream. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. (This can be done up to 1 day before serving.)

9.
To decorate the mousse: Whisk a little confectioners’ sugar into the remaining whipped cream to sweeten to taste. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3 16-inch (#1) starred tube with the whipped cream and pipe rosettes over the top of the mousse. Place one lime zest knot in the center of each rosette.

H
OW TO
M
AKE
Z
EST
K
NOTS

Any type of citrus peel—lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit—can be used to make an attractive knot for a garnish. Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips of zest from the citrus fruit with a sawing motion from top to bottom, trying to make the strips as long as possible. With a sharp paring knife, trim off the ragged edges of the strips and cut the zest into long 1 16-inch-wide “strings.” Gently tie a knot in the center of each string.

VARIATION

L
EMON
M
OUSSE

[MOUSSE AU CITRON]

Replace lime zest and juice with lemon zest and juice.

DESSERT CREPES

[CRÊPES SUCRÉES]

Dessert crêpes are made with sweetened batter. In addition to the sugar and vanilla in the recipe, other flavorings can be added to the batter to match the crêpes to the filling. A touch of freshly grated nutmeg or ground cinnamon for an apple filling, or a little grated lemon zest when filling with a lemon-flavored pastry cream, are just two examples.