“Chocolate arouses as much passion among pastry chefs as it does fondness among chocolate lovers.”
Patrick Martin, Chocolate Bible
If there is one Bible you need this holiday season, it’s got to be the Le Cordon Bleu Chocolate Bible. A book that I first saw when I went to attend the LCB pastry workshop last month, amongst their other 2 publications – The LCB Cook’s Bible, and LCB Desserts. I have had the LCB Cook’s Bible for a while now, a book which is in effect a culinary bible of how to cook. It is my ready reckoner from basics like eggs, milk, cream, dairy, to more involved stuff like spatchcocking a chicken, to making the perfect omelet etc. It includes also garnishes, presentation, serving suggestions … if there is a culinary question, the answers most likely in there!
Calling all chocoholics!
Le Cordon Bleu’s Chocolate Bible has arrived, showcasing over 160 recipes of chocolate heaven. Released October 2010, the Chocolate Bible is an English translation of the highly successful Petit Larousse du Chocolat, now offering Anglophones the chance to try their hand at Le Cordon Bleu’s decadent delights. From tarts to truffles, cakes to creams, this step by step guide is a must-have for chocolate lovers.
When I saw the Chocolate Bible at the Le Cordon Blue Pastry Workshop I was invited to attend, I was enamored by it, and am delighted to review it. It’s a book that every chocolate lover must have. The English edition is published by Carroll and Brown.
A lot of my readers write in to me asking for cookbook suggestions, especially here in India, as home baking is breaking new ground. This one book is a chocolate lovers dream, a book with recipes you can recreate, and easily so. The instructions are clear and simple. It’s not an overwhelmingly overdose of chocolate in any way. It is a sweet reaffirmation of the quote “9 out of 10 people like chocolate. The 10th person always lies“. I have seen self proclaimed chocolate haters, cross over and enjoy a good chocolate dessert, testimony to the charm and temptation this quintessential ingredient holds.The Le Cordon Bleu Chocolate Bible is a simple book without complicated techniques and exotic ingredients. It works on a basic premise that good quality basic ingredients, using basic equipment can turn out a delicious and creative recipe. In the book, the LCB chefs share their knowledge and techniques through a variety of recipes which are easy to reproduce by anyone, no matter what her or his level of skill might be. It allows you to experience the charm of chocolate in all possible ways, offering something suitable for every occasion.
The book is divided into mouthwatering sections beginning with Temptingly Rich cakes, Tarts to Die For, Mouth-Watering Mousses & Creams, Iced Desserts & Sweet Drinks, Teatime Treats to Share…and ends with Delightful Mouthfuls! Each section begins with ‘The best way to – make a basic ganaché…, prepare pastry dough…, prepare a chocolate meringue…,fill éclairs…, temper chocolate etc. It’s a book worth owning and diving in to! All along, it offers valuable tips and suggestions, picture tutorials for pastry making, working with chocolate, making garnishes, chocolate shavings, praline paste …. I could go on and on.I chose to try 3 recipes from the book on Boxing Day and I managed all 3 that afternoon. Was as simple as that. It might have taken even lesser time had i not stopped to run back & forth taking pictures. Ah well…that’s part of my culinary adventures, and another reason why I love the book so. The pictures are amazing, each say a 1000 words. The recipes I tried … first the Chocolate Creme Brulee because I needed a really quick and simple dessert that night. This was just the thing, and was soon in the oven. I began to ponder about ways to use up the egg whites I had on hand. The brulee needed 4 egg yolks, and I knew the whites would find their way home one way or the other.A quick look at the index and I knew Chocolate Meringues {with a chocolate Chantilly cream & strawberries}were a great choice. We had folk coming over for dinner in a few days, and these beauties could be made and stored in an air tight box for weeks in advance! Luxury for someone like me who loves advance planning. Brulee done and cooling, in went my little nests, to be baked for an hour. I still had time on hand, so was egged on to turn more pages. Teatime was here and there was something charming about these Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Biscuits. Going by the picture, they were like cookies I had never baked before. The dough needed to be rolled and chilled for an hour, the perfect time frame for me, while the meringues baked in a low oven. Such fun juggling time slots! I was out of powdered sugar, so I took the Bibles suggestion and rolled the cookie dough cylinders in cocoa. Am glad I did because it provided great contrast and visual appeal. For me, food which looks good is very pleasing to the eye and palette; a pleasure to serve.A little note: I found that the suggested baking times for all 3 recipes fell slightly short of the actual time taken. The creme brulee was nowhere set in 20 minutes, and a quick reference to the brulee recipe in ‘INDULGE – 100 Perfect Desserts’ by Claire Clark had me cranking the oven temperature to 150C and baking the brulees for a further 15 minutes. The meringues also baked for 30 minutes longer to get them crisp dry. The cookies took 17 minutes as against the suggested 10 minutes.
I would probably put this discrepancy down to calibrated vs non calibrated ovens. Professional ovens in test kitchens and the resultant timings are often different from home ovens. Also, the oven I recently bought is one imported from the UK and its baking function works just on the lower element. As with most baking books, I always take the suggested time as a rough guideline, so all was well.On the whole, the results were delicious. The brulee was rich, chocolaty and creamy … indulgent in every way. The meringues were crisp and delicious, chocolate flavours flooding the mouth with every bite, Chantilly cream & all. My teen tester was won over. She got to taste a few little meringues that were baked independently … just perfect she said. Maybe they’ll make wonderful kisses I thought. The cookies too were wonderful, and ‘The best I’ve had in a while’ declared the lad who was soon queuing up to play tester.I liked that the cookies were different from the regular chocolate chip cookies we make all the time; a great addition to the teatime cookie platter.I’m going to share the Chocolate Creme Brulee recipe with you today.Other temptations that I have bookmarked to try in the future are Chocolate Hazelnut Square, Chocolate Cherry Cake, Darjeeling Infused Chocolate Mousse & Columbian Coffee Cream, Iced Chocolate Parfait with Orange-Basil Cream, Old Fashioned Cream Souffle, Chocolate Coffee Dessert … to name just a few!
Thank you Surit Mitra for sending me the book. The distributor for CHOCOLATE BIBLE in India is Book World Enterprises of Mumbai. The book is available for Rs 1495.
Ctc 09820034530 (Mr Satish Shah)
Chocolate Creme Brulee
From Le Cordon Bleu Chocolate Bible, pg 138{Printed with permission}
Serves 4
4 egg yolks
50g castor sugar
100ml milk {original recipe said 125ml}
150ml low fat cream {original recipe said 125ml whipping cream}
100g dark chocolate, chopped
Decoration
Caster Sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 95C/205F. Prepare 4 small baking dishes or low sided ramekins.
Combine the egg yolks and 40g of the sugar in a large bowl, beat until the mixture is cream and pale.
Heat the milk, cream and remaining castor sugar { I added a scraped vanilla bean too} until simmering. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until well cobined and smooth. Slowly stir the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks and sugar mixture. Pour the chocolate mixture into the dishes to come 3/4 up the sides.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until firm. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven grill to its maximum temperature. Sprinkle the creams evenly with the castor sugar and place under the grill until the sugar has become a dark brown topping. Let cool and serve once the topping had hardened.
Chefs Tip: To correctly caramelise or gratinee the creams, put the oven rack as close to the heat source as possible.
My Notes: I decreased the milk and increased the cream as we do not get whipping cream locally in India. Also, whenever I do egg based desserts, I like to add a scraped vanilla bean. Feel free to omit this as it is not part of the original recipe. My creams took about 40 minutes to appear firm. I served mine with some preserved burgundy cherries.
