Friday 3 July 2009

Chocolate Parfait

This is a delicious parfait with a few simple ingredients. Word of warning. It contains raw eggs, so I wouldn't recommend it if you are pregnant. You can, ofcourse, use pasteurised eggs. However, if you can't get that, here are 3 steps to follow in order to minimize the risk of catching salmonella:
  1. Know your egg supplier and use only the freshest of freshest eggs.
  2. Avoid cross contamination by keeping your eggs separate in the fridge and wash your hands after touching them.
  3. Dip the eggs in boiling water for 10 seconds to eliminate bacteria on the eggs shell. Only wash the eggs that you are gong to use as all washing of eggs destroys the natural membrane that protects the chicken fetus. If the egg has the bacteria is almost always on the shell. And don't use the shells to separate the yolk and the white. Pour it into your fingers, it's much easier and will make the egg have less contact with the outer shell.
Furthermore, salmonella far less common than the media wants you to think. Only 1 egg in 20,000 has it. Most salmonella contamination cases have been when raw eggs have been badly handled, often in restaurants with bad hygiene. However, the above guidelines are in no way a guarrantee of salmonella free eggs. If you can get hold of pasteurised eggs, do it.
Ingredients:
200g quality, dark chocolate
0,5 l whipping cream
1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
3 egg yolks
100g powder sugar

First of all, break 200g of the best possible dark chocolate you can find into pieces and put it in the microwave to melt. Then whip 1/2l whipping cream with vanilla.

In a separate bowl, take the egg yolks.

Mix the eggs with powder sugar.

Whip them together using an electrical hand mixer.

Until it's light and airy.


Pour the completely melted chocolate into the egg and sugar while constantly stirring, otherwise the chocolate starts hardening or you will have lumps of chocolate in the parfait.
Pour the whipped cream into the chocolate bit by bit and stir carefully to lighten up the chocolate. Don't overmix.

Pour the parfait into small individual containers and freeze overnight.
Take out aproximately 15 min. before serving. You won't find a smoother texture in any industrial ice cream and that's a promise. I've served it with a white chocolate sauce (melted white chocolate, a bit of rum, some milk and a pinc of cayenne) and finely grated chocolate on top.

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