Delectable desserts

Chocolate Mocha Mousse Cake

Serves: 8-10

Oven temperature: 180ºC (350ºF)

Equipment: 2 cake tins, 8” round, 1” deep, lined

Cake

Flour (225 g — sifted)

Baking powder (½ tsp)

Salt (a pinch)

Cocoa powder (1 tbsp)

Chocolate (60 g — grated)

Milk (2 tbsp)

Butter (170 g)

Castor sugar (170 g)

Eggs (4 — lightly beaten)

Vanilla essence (½ tsp)

Mousse

Chocolate (300 g — grated)

Brandy (4 tbsp)

Sugar (175 g)

Egg yolks (5 — lightly beaten)

Eggs (3 — lightly beaten)

Almonds (100 g — blanched, peeled, slivered and lightly toasted)

Instant coffee (1½ tbsp — dissolved in 4 tbsp boiling water)

Vanilla essence (1 tsp)

Salt (a pinch)

Decoration

Cocoa to dust cake

Cake

Preheat oven and prepare cake tins. Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder into a bowl and set aside. Place chocolate and milk in a small pan and melt chocolate over gentle heat. Remove from heat and set aside till cool. Cream butter in a bowl till soft and light. Sprinkle in sugar and whisk till light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating well between each addition, so that it is well incorporated. Fold in melted chocolate and vanilla essence. Sprinkle in flour mixture and fold in. Spoon batter into prepared cake tins. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. Test if done with a thin skewer inserted in the centre of the cake; it should come out clean. Remove cakes from oven and let them cool in the tin in a draft-free area for about five minutes. Turn out cakes and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Mousse

Place chocolate and brandy in a small pan and melt chocolate over gentle heat. Keep warm. Combine sugar with 4 tbsp water and make a syrup of long-thread consistency. (Hold the cooled syrup between thumb and forefinger and gently pull your fingers apart: long firm threads will be formed.) Combine egg yolks with eggs in a large bowl and whisk till thick (about five minutes).

Pour syrup into eggs in a thin stream, whisking all the while. Continue beating till mixture is cool (about 10 minutes). Fold in chocolate mixture, almonds, vanilla essence and salt and mix well.

Cover bowl and cool in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, till completely thick.

To assemble mousse cake

Put a spoon of mousse on a serving platter and fix cake over it. (This is to prevent the cake from slipping on the platter.) Spoon thickened mousse over cake and cover with the second cake.

Place in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours till chilled. Sprinkle with cocoa and serve.

Gateau Indira

Gateau Indira was created at a dinner party that Indira Gandhi attended at the India International Centre. I was also there and she knew that I had planned the menu. When the dessert was served she sent the head butler to ask me the name of the dish. I had no clue, but on the spur of the moment said, ‘Gateau Indira,’ and that is how Gateau Indira came into being.

Serves: 8-10

Oven temperature: 95ºC (200ºF)

Equipment: 2 baking trays, lightly brushed with oil and lined with butter paper

Meringue

Egg whites (8)

Castor sugar (450 g + 2 tbsp)

Salt (a pinch)

Lime juice (1 tsp)

Filling

Apricots (500 g — dried)

Cinnamon (1” stick)

Cloves (2-3)

Lime juice (1 tsp)

Brandy (2-3 tbsp)

Salt (a pinch)

Cream (1 cup whipped with 1 tbsp of castor sugar)

Decoration

Cream (1 cup whipped with 1 tbsp of castor sugar)

Apricots (10 — dried)

Walnuts (4-5 tbsp — finely chopped)

Meringue

Preheat oven and prepare baking trays. Draw an 8” circle on the paper on each baking tray. Place egg whites in a bowl and whisk till frothy. Add salt and lime juice or cream of tartar and continue whisking till stiff peaks form when the whisk is raised. Sprinkle in one heaped tbsp of the measured castor sugar and whisk for about 30 seconds till satiny in appearance. Fold in half the sugar with a metal spoon, then fold in remaining sugar and use immediately. Spoon meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with a medium-sized plain nozzle, and pipe meringues in concentric circles inside the circles drawn on baking tray, to form two discs.

Dust discs with two tbsp sugar. Bake in preheated oven for one hour till stiff and firm. Remove paper from the back of meringues carefully. (If paper sticks to meringue, dampen it slightly with water, wait for a few moments and peel it off.)

Filling

Stew apricots with whole spices in just enough water to cover. Drain, cool and discard spices. Remove seeds from apricots and discard. Puree apricots and press through a strainer. Stir in lime juice, brandy and salt. Fold in whipped cream. Taste and add a little sugar and some more brandy if required.

Decoration

Soak apricots in just enough water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid. Cut apricots along their natural groove, a little more than halfway around. Carefully remove stones and discard. Stew apricots in reserved soaking liquid for about five minutes. Drain and set aside.

To Serve

Spread a little filling in the centre of a serving platter and fix a meringue disc over it. Spoon filling on to meringue and cover with second meringue. Cover top and sides of meringues with cream. Pipe 10 rosettes of whipped cream around edges of meringue, using a star-shaped nozzle. Place a stewed apricot on each rosette. Press chopped walnuts into the cream on the sides of gateau and serve.

Peach Brulee

Peaches (8)

Cinnamon (1 tsp — powdered)

Cloves (1 tbsp — powdered)

Cream (400 ml)

Icing sugar (50 g)

Brown sugar (300 grams)

Blanch peaches and peel. Cut pea-ches in half and remove stones. Place peaches, cut side down, in a shallow ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with spice powders. Whip cream with icing sugar till thick. Cover peaches with cream. Sprinkle brown sugar thickly over cream. Preheat grill to high. Place dish with peaches under grill for 10-15 minutes, till top is dark and bubbly. Set aside till cool and chill for two hours before serving.

Pears In White Wine Jelly

Serves: 6-8

Castor sugar (¼ cup)

White wine (750 ml)

Gelatine (1½ tbsp dissolved in 6 tbsp water)

Lime juice (½ tsp)

Lime rind (1 tbsp — grated)

Pears (3 cups — peeled, cored and cubed)

Dissolve sugar in a cup of wine over low heat. Add dissolved gelatine and mix well.

Pour in remaining wine, lime juice and rind and mix well. Semi-set over ice or in the refrigerator. Fold occasionally with a metal spoon, so that the gelatine does not settle to the bottom. Fold in pears and continue to set. When the jelly is at setting point, spoon jelly into coupe glasses or a large bowl and chill in the refrigerator till required.

Variations

Use any combination of seasonal fruits, like cubed or sliced peaches or pears; sliced grapes or strawberries; or use any one fruit by itself. Don’t use citrus fruits, as their juices will not allow the jelly to set.

Use champagne instead of wine.

Bhicoo J. Manekshaw, a graduate of the prestigious Cordon Bleu School of Cookery, London and author of Traditional Recipes of India, Parsi Food and Customs and Feast of Love, has been associated with many haute cuisine organizations in the country.