Abby Mandel's Boule de Neige

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate


• 2 teaspoons dry instant coffee, espresso if possible


• 1 cup sugar


• ½ cup water, BOILING


• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature


• 4 eggs


• 1 tablespoon dark rum, or cognac


• 1 cup heavy cream


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 2 teaspoons Cognac, or rum or vanilla

Directions:
Boule:

Begin with an ovenproof mixing bowl with 6-8 cup capacity; it may be glass, pottery, or metal and should preferably be deep and narrow rather than wide and shallow (I use a stainless steel bowl 2.5" high with an inside diameter of 7"). To line bowl with foil, turn the bowl upside down, tear off a 12" square of foil; center it over the inverted bowl. With your hands, press down all sides all around to form the foil into a bowl shape. Then remove foil, turn bowl right side up, and place foil into bowl. Press firmly into shape (careful not to tear).

Break up the chocolate a bit; place in Cuisinart fitted with metal blade along with sugar and coffee. Turn machine on and off several times to start the processing; then let machine run until chocolate is finely chopped. With the machine running, add the boiling water through the feed tube all at once and process until the chocolate is melted. Add butter in small pieces through feed tube; process until melted. Add eggs and rum or Cognac; process about 15 seconds until well-blended. Pour into foil-lined bowl. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes.

Remove from oven; the top will be puffy with a hard, cracked crust. Let stand in bowl until cooled slightly; it will shrink more in the center forming a hollow in the center which should be eliminated. The following directions seem unusual, but follow them. A few minutes after the dessert comes out of the oven, place a piece of waxed paper on top of the bowl, touching the dessert. With your fingertips, press down on the edges of the paper to flatten the raised rim of the dessert (the crust will crack -- that's all right). Repeat several times while dessert is cooling in order to flatten the top as much as possible.

When dessert is cool, cover airtight; refrigerate overnight or freeze for several days. A few hours before serving, when you are ready to mask it with whipped cream, remove the covering. Invert onto a flat cake plate.

Neige:

You will need pastry bag with medium star tip, In chilled bowl with chilled beaters, whip the cream until it holds a soft shape; add sugar and flavoring. Continue to beat until the cream hold a definite shape. Turn into pastry bag -- cover with small rosettes, touching one another.

Traditionally a Boule de Neige is decorated with a few crystallized violets or rose petals.

NOTE: I use more heavy cream to ensure coverage.

NOTE: Can try "stabilized" whipped cream recipe.

NOTE: Freezes well.

NOTE: Can freeze covered with whipped cream rosettes -- defrost carefully in order not to mar design.








(Serves --)



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