At the heart of all good food is the successful combination of the elementary tastes: sour, salt, savory, bitter, and sweet. But why does a squeeze of lemon make grilled fish taste so sweet, and a grating of Parmesan cheese make minestrone soup seem intensely savory? Once you understand how and why basic combinations work, you will instinctively begin to create delicious meals.
Chocolate Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from:
Taste
by Sybil Kapoor, Photographs by David Loftus Cookbook Heaven at
Recipelink.com
Bitter sweet sauces are widely used with creamy, sweet desserts to add that final, satisfying contrast of taste. The delicate sweet-salty nature of a cream-filled choux bun, for example, is a perfect medium to experiment with a bitter-sweet sauce, regardless of whether it is based on chocolate, coffee or caramel. However, such sauces should be used with care when accompanying sweet-sour desserts.
Servings: 6
CHOUX PASTRY:
sunflower oil for greasing
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, diced
4 small eggs, roughly beaten
CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
1 3/4 cups dark chocolate chunks
5 cup sugar
FILLING:
3 tablespoons kirsch
1 1/4 cups heavy (whipping) cream
Begin by making the choux pastry: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F Oil 2 non stick baking trays. Sift the flour and salt and set aside.
Pour 1 cups water into a small saucepan and add the diced butter. Bring to a brisk boil and, as soon as the butter has melted, take off the heat and tip in the flour. Return to a low heat and, using a wooden spoon, beat vigorously for 3 4 minutes until the mixture is smooth and glossy and leaves the side of the saucepan. Remove from the heat and continue to beat for 1-2 minutes before slowly beating in the eggs a little at a time. Make sure each bit of egg is absorbed into be dough before adding the next. Stop when the dough is smooth and glossy but stiff enough to bold its shape.
Using a spoon, drop 24 walnut-sized choux pastry bobs on to the baking sheets, making sure hat there is plenty of space between them.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until dry and crisp, then quickly pierce each one and return them to the switched off oven for a further 5 minutes, with the door open. This allows any steam to escape. Transfer to a cooling rack and leave until cold.
For the chocolate sauce: Place the chocolate pieces in a small saucepan with 1 1/4 cups water. Melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved, then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it forms a rich sauce.
For the filling: Pour the kirsch and cream into a large mixing bowl Whisk until the cream forms soft peaks Pipe into the profiteroles and arrange in an artistic pile.
When ready to serve, reheat the sauce and pour over the profiteroles.
