Chocolate Pavlovas n Mango Mascarpone Mousse - Daring Baker Challenge

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova, colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner. The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Where it was created and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but research indicates New Zealand as the source. The dessert is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both countries, and is frequently served during celebratory or holiday meals such as Christmas lunch. [Souce wikipedia]

Anna Pavlova was considered the greatest ballerina of her time and her visit to New Zealand has been described as "the chief event of 1926." It was said "She does not dance; she soars as though on wings." From this you get the sense that this is a light, airy dessert.

It was again that time of the month ,the posting date deadline of the challenge loomed thick n large, I had not gotten any preparation done.....Had read the recipe many times over on the daring bakers forum n thought, this is just too fantastical to achieve.... Like my friend Snigdha said 'I believe in signs.... signs from God'..... My sign was Nigella's show on TV, where she made the Passion Fruit Pavlova[couldn't get the video of that episode, here's another where she's making a pav] on Friday. I thought to myself, better get to this done on the weekend... Sticking to my determination, on Saturday, I made the Meringue and then went out to meet my college friends for a reunion after some 7 years of leaving college.... not that we don't meet up..... but this one had a lot more friends that the ones we would meet regularly.....
We had loads of Fun at 'Toast' in West Gate Mall, with Suryaveer singing for us our favorite songs and making the evening very lively....

On Sunday, I set about assembling the rest of the pav. The unbearable heat made this a very daunting task as I was workig with cream and eggs. The heat was making everything runny.....

Download printable .pdf file HERE
Recipe 1: Chocolate Meringue (for the chocolate Pavlova):

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
½ cup plus 1 tbsp (110 grams) white granulated sugar
¼ cup (30 grams) confectioner’s (icing) sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 200º F (95º C) degrees. Line two baking sheets with silpat or parchment and set aside.

2. Put the egg whites in a bowl and whip until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add granulated sugar about 1 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. (The whites should be firm but moist.)

3. Sift the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder over the egg whites and fold the dry ingredients into the white. (This looks like it will not happen. Fold gently and it will eventually come together.)

4. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Pipe the meringue into whatever shapes you desire. Alternatively, you could just free form your shapes and level them a bit with the back of a spoon. (Class made rounds, hearts, diamonds and an attempt at a clover was made!)

5. Bake for 2-3 hours until the meringues become dry and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe 2: Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (for the top of the Pavlova base):

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups (355 mls) heavy cream (cream with a milk fat content of between 36 and 40 percent)
grated zest of 1 average sized lemon
9 ounces (255 grams) 72% chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups (390 mls) mascarpone (don't forget we made this a few months ago - get the printable .pdf HERE)
pinch of nutmeg
2 tbsp (30 mls) Grand Marnier (or orange juice)

Directions:

1. Put ½ cup (120 mls) of the heavy cream and the lemon zest in a saucepan over medium high heat. Once warm, add the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let sit at room temperature until cool.

2. Place the mascarpone, the remaining cup of cream and nutmeg in a bowl. Whip on low for a minute until the mascarpone is loose. Add the Grand Marnier and whip on medium speed until it holds soft peaks. (DO NOT OVERBEAT AS THE MASCARPONE WILL BREAK.)

3. Mix about ¼ of the mascarpone mixture into the chocolate to lighten. Fold in the remaining mascarpone until well incorporated. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse. Again, you could just free form mousse on top of the pavlova.

Recipe 3: Mascarpone Cream (for drizzling):

Ingredients:
1 recipe crème anglaise
½ cup (120 mls) mascarpone
2 tbsp (30 mls) Sambucca (optional)
½ cup (120 mls) heavy cream

Directions:
1. Prepare the crème anglaise. Slowly whisk in the mascarpone and the Sambucca and let the mixture cool.
2. Put the cream in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until very soft peaks are formed.
3. Fold the cream into the mascarpone mixture.

Recipe 4: Crème Anglaise (a component of the Mascarpone Cream above):

Ingredients:
1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar

Directions:
1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale yellow.

2. Combine the milk, cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Take off the heat.

3. Pour about ½ cup of the hot liquid into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep from making scrambled eggs. Pour the yolk mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture and put the heat back on medium. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT OVERCOOK.

4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is thoroughly chilled, about 2 hours or overnight.

Assembly:
Pipe the mousse onto the pavlovas and drizzle with the mascarpone cream over the top. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and fresh fruit if desired.

Changes I made:
3 eggs would have been a pav[pun intended :)] bit much :) Made it with 1 egg and scaled the recipe down accordingly.
Added a pinch of 'Crean of Tartar' to the meringue mixture for the crispy texture...
Summer is the season for Kind of Fruits M-A-N-G-O..... just had to flavor the mascarpone with Mango... topped with chocolate.
Instead of making 1 thick pavlova cake... did smaller shapes, hence got this thin crispy meringue.

Verdict:
Crispy meringue... would agreed with it being called a Forgotten dessert[only during cooking] and totally Un-Forgettable dessert while eating..... very yummy :)
Mango n Chocolate together was a nice fusion of flavors...
Crispy meringue + Smooth Mango + Chocolate topping = Will surely make it again....


Thanks for the wonderful challenge Dawn.