Taillevent's Chocolate Cake With Pistachio Sauce
- 4 1/2 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate
- 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, confectioners' sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1/2 cup shelled, roasted pistachios
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg white
- 2 cups milk
- 4 egg yolks
- To make the cake, melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat.
- Add 1/4 cup of sugar and the butter and stir until melted.
- Whisk in the egg yolks.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
- Set aside to cool.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff.
- Add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy.
- Whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture.
- Fold in the remaining whites.
- Rinse 4 4-ounce heart-shaped molds or ramekins with water; do not dry.
- Divide the chocolate mixture among the molds.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours.
- To make the sauce, remove as much skin as possible from the pistachios.
- Rinse quickly with boiling water, drain and then remove as much of the remaining skin as possible.
- Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse until ground.
- Add 1/3 cup of sugar and the egg white and process until mixture forms a paste.
- Place 3 tablespoons of the pistachio paste in a medium-size saucepan (save the rest for another use).
- Add the milk and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
- Remove from the heat and let steep for 5 minutes.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another medium-size saucepan.
- Set aside.
- Whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until thick and light.
- Whisk in half the strained milk; then whisk the mixture back into the remaining milk.
- Cook the sauce over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon; do not let the mixture come to a boil.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours.
- To serve, spoon a pool of the sauce onto the center of each of 4 plates.
- Run the tip of a small knife around the inside edge of the molds.
- Dip them briefly in a bowl of hot water and invert them onto the plates.
- Serve.
bittersweet chocolate, sugar, unsalted butter, eggs, pistachios, sugar, egg, milk, egg yolks
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7541 (may not work)