Marquis au Chocolat, or Chocolate Perfection on a Plate. Both names are accurate!
Today’s recipe is another from Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking Chez Moi. I’m part of a bake-a-long group, and every two weeks we try another recipe. And today’s try-out: Marquis au Chocolat!
As I type this, I’m lounging in bed with my laptop, propped up on pillows, with a cat purring beside me. Pics or it didn’t happen, you say? Stay with me, dear readers, and pictures of the feline variety you shall see! Also pictures of chocolate. Because chocolate. I mean, really, did you even need to ask?
A Marquis au Chocolat is basically a frozen mousse, and dates from around the 17th/18th century. It makes for a very fancy-pants dessert, and a very rich one too. Dorie says you can make it ahead, keep it in the freezer, and just cut off slices as you need them. Great for dinner parties, oui?
The recipe contains every high-fat and calorie ingredient you can think of, to make one decadent dessert! Butter, chocolate, egg yolks, sugar, cream…if it’s high-fat and tasty, it was included!
I had asked the DH to pick up some heavy cream, and since I thought that if I asked him to get whipped cream, he might just get me a spray can of cream-ish stuff (bleh), I told him to get the cream with the highest fat content possible. He got me table cream. Le sigh. I said, well, it’s worth a try! (By the way, you really do need whipping cream for this recipe. Makes the dish lighter and more melt-in-your-mouth-ish.)
My preciousssss!
For the chocolate, I used Callebaut bittersweet chocolate chips. Never heard of Callebaut? I hadn’t either, until an ex-boyfriend introduced me to it. But I digress!
Why just the egg yolks and not the egg whites? Not enough calories! So not included in the ingredient list. I hate waste, so I whipped up an egg-white omelet for the DH’s breakfast tomorrow, using some of the surplus of ham we have in our freezer. It smelled so good that it managed to lure the DH out of his man-cave. “Why do you always make such delicious things?” he complained. Er, complained? Yeah, we’re both trying to watch our weight, so we’re trying to cut down on the amount of sweets we eat. Which is why I halved the Marquis au Chocolat recipe.
And halving the recipe was brilliant! I used small molds as well as a loaf mold, and I definitely recommend the small molds, as they make for a beautiful presentation. I also used some crumbled toffee from a previous recipe and sprinkled that in the mold before pouring in the batter. Then I froze the whole shebang, and a hour later (which I very industriously used to wash the dishes and make lunch for tomorrow. *preens*), it was ready!
Dorie says that the slices of the Marquis au Chocolat can be served with a chocolate hard-crack sauce (also known as Magic Shell), and that’s what I decided to do. I actually had some homemade Magic Shell in the fridge from last summer, so I warmed that in the microwave and poured it over the unmolded Marquis. I sliced a fresh strawberry, placed it just so, and voila, dessert pour moi!
And then I went and snuggled up in bed with the cat, all the pillows, and savoured each bite.
The cat is very non-plussed that I did not make a pate for her while I was at it.
So good. So rich. So laden with calories. I actually couldn’t eat the last bite, it was so rich! So I recommend only serving small slices. But I definitely recommend making this! It’s a very easy recipe, with impressive results. And tasty results. (I’m big on the tasty.)
Next Post: Vanilla Rum Rice Pudding, because I had leftovers from the last BCM recipe.
I love the idea of adding crumbled toffee to the pan! And what a sweet kitty 🙂
Aw, thanks! I found the crumbled toffee seemed to almost melt when I took it out of the freezer; still delicious, though!
Oh how delicious. Love your presentation. The chocolate sauce looks yummy
Thanks! Was delicious! And the hard crack sauce added a nice texture to the dish.
Fancy pants chocolate desserts in bed-don’t let my cats get wind of that! Callebaut chocolate is a favorite of mine-as a pastry chef, it is typically found in professional kitchens and it is very nice to work with!
Isn’t it nice? The ex was trained as a chef, hence the Callebaut, I guess. And I highly recommend desserts in bed with cats! Decadent cuddles are a good thing!
Aw…we used to have a cat named Chaucer who looks pretty much just like your kitty. I miss him, he lived for 19 years. Fun to see your kitty…and your dessert idea serving them in small sizes is a good one. I made note in my book for these that I see in those small dishes, that would work well here. Used my leftover egg whites the same as you. Delicious!
Using up eggs white = great minds! And it sounds like you took good care of Chaucer — 19 years is a very good life!
I love that you topped your chocolate with chocolate! Hope kitty got a lick of the whipped cream.
Kitty did not get any cream, but did get lots of cuddles. I don’t know if she was ok with that trade-off though. 😉
I love the picture of your cat. I had a black and white cat when I was growing up. Fond memories. We loved this one too and small slices was good. I served with berries which was a nice light accompaniment.
This dish would definitely be great with berries — it’s so rich!
Love the photo of your kitty! And your gorgeous Marquis au Chocolat…looks pretty fab, too!
Thanks! I’m rather partial to them both. 🙂
The toffee is a great idea. I’d love to try the hard crack sauce. I was considering it but thought it might be too much chocolate. (Is there such a thing?)
Bite your tongue! There’s no such thing as too much chocolate! Actually, the hard crack sauce provides a nice textural difference; I’d add that again just for the pleasure of crunching it. And it melts super fast on the tongue since it’s half-fat. Mmm…fatty chocolate. *grin*
Definitely a time-to-indulge dessert and I’ll totally make it again! Bring on the cream. Love what you did with yours and cute kitty!
Adding the toffee sounds good! And I could only manage a small serving of this rich dessert myself!
Yes, so rich! So…a small slice every night, yes? *grin*
Lovely presentation. I am definitely going to try making
those minis.Perfect for Hubby when he doesn’t know what he wants for dessert.
I know, great to have in the freezer and then pull out as needed. And impressive too!
All your additions sound wonderful, can’t believe you didn’t even get a raised eyebrow from your kitty !?!
I hear the same thing at home..about the goodies I make for my blog and..well..just for fun because I like to cook and especially bake ;). I still have a large piece of this in my freezer so halving the recipe is an idea that I need to do soon, like next time 😉
Yes, the cat was not impressed. Now, if it had been made out of tuna…
And yes, baking is so much fuuuun! Also the eating. Eating is also fun.
Fun to read post, and what a wonderful way to enjoy the cake; in bed with your cat…dreamy.
Agreed, I too added the Crack Chocolate Sauce, it was a decadent topping.
cheers to you!
Mmm, toffee. Sounds so good. I halved the recipe as well. Definitely only need a small portion of this dessert. Such a lovely kitty. 🙂
I loved how easy this was to halve! Your marquise looks delicious,And your kitty is adorable!
I know, wasn’t it easy? And thanks!
I didn’t get a chance to make this one but it looks amazing…and your cat totally rocks! You should include her in more posts. 🙂
Aw, thanks so much! She’s actually a loaner cat — she stays with me when a friend travels, and she’s just left today. I miss her! I’ll try to add her in more posts when she’s back with me again. So glad she’s a hit!
toffee bits and homemade magic shell– gahh, so good! I think those make up for the table cream thing. 🙂
That’s what I’m hoping! It made for a very solid dessert, which, while delicious, just wasn’t Dorie’s version, so I’ll have to make it again with the right cream. Practically an obligation, really. Which means the calories don’t count, right?