Irish Foodies April 2011 Cookalong: Chocolate - Chocolate Bruno

If you are a regular reader you will know by now that the Irish Food Bloggers (and anyone else who fancies joining in) hold a monthly cookalong on the first Friday of every month.  We all cook a dish in our respective kitchens within a set theme and then post pictures and blog posts to Twitter and Facebook.  The evening is generally taken up with oooh's and aaaaah's and plenty of drooling as picture pop up and we admire each others efforts.  The theme for this months cookalong just had to be chocolate as Easter will fall later in the month. 

I had quite a few ideas in mind, what with me being a bit of a chocolate demon.  I wanted to bake a really yummy cake that my dad used to bake for special occasions.  He had pulled the recipe from a news paper but has lost it recently and so I had to go back to the drawing board.  On our recent trip to New York (more to come on this) Mr. Boo and I shared a dessert in the Blue Ribbon Bakery.  I remembered having had a decadent chocolate dessert there on a previous visit but couldn't quite remember what it was.  While perusing the menu the Chocolate Bruno caught my attention, there was no description to explain what it was so I enquired when our waiter returned to the table.  He explained that it "was a kind of flourless chocolate cake/mousse...."  He went on with his explanation but I don't remember anything after that.  Decision made. 

It was heavenly.  One of the best chocolate desserts I have tasted.  Ever.  As I have said on many occasions, I am a chocolate lover, Mr Boo not so much but he even managed a few spoon fulls.  A silky smooth, dense, almost buttery chocolate mousse set atop a white chocolate base with chunks of cookie.  We couldn't finish it, not even between the pair of us, as it was a very generous portion and I may have shed a tear as the leftovers were cleared from the table.  As I set my brain to thinking about a suitable offering for the chocolate cookalong on our return I decided I would try to recreate a version of the Chocolate Bruno to enjoy at home.

As I didn't have a recipe I had to go at it a little blind and hope for the best.  I was very pleased with my version and almost fell over when Mr. Boo volunteered the information that my base was nicer than the Blue Ribbon Bakery version.  He doesn't offer praise willy nilly where my baking is concerned, especially when it involves chocolate.  I was in Marks and Spencer the day before the cookalong and picked up one of their white chocolate Mountain Bars, white chocolate containing nuts and nougat (basically their version of a white Toblerone), thinking that would make a nice substitute for the white chocolate and cookie base.  These are really easy to make, they are basically a ganache with some egg & butter added for richness, but look really impressive and will certainly feature on dinner party menus in this house.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Bruno (my take on a Blue Ribbon Bakery dessert)
makes 6

100g White Chocolate Nougat Bar
285ml Double Cream
200g Plain Chocolate
2 Egg Yolks
20g Unsalted Butter

1.  Place a silicone muffin tray onto a flat baking tray (this makes it easier to transfer it to the fridge), or line 6 ramekins with clingfilm.
2.  Break up the white chocolate and place it in a heat proof bowl.  Set the bowl over a pot of simmering water to melt.

3.  Spoon the white chocolate into the bottom of the muffin tray/ramekins.  You just want a thin layer, approximately 3-5mm deep.

4.  Place the muffin tray/ramekins into the fridge and allow the chocolate to set.

5.  Place the cream into a heavy based saucepan and heat.  Remove from the heat just before it boils.
6.  Break up the plain chocolate and add to the cream.  Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

7.  Add the egg yolks and whisk in.  Allow to cool slightly.

8.  Add in the butter and stir until it has melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy.

9.  Remove the muffin tray/ramekins from the fridge and pour the chocolate mixture over the white chocolate layer.  Return to the fridge and allow to set for at least 2 hours.

10.If you have used a silicone muffin tray you might find the plain chocolate mixture smears as you turn the Bruno's out to serve.  A little trick that I tried with great success was to pop the tray into the freezer for half an hour to make the 'mousse' nice and firm (cover the top with clingfilm or foil to avoid shards of ice falling onto the mousse), turn them out of the silicone tray and place on a flat tray and return to the fridge until you are ready to serve.  If you use ramekins lined with clingfilm simply lift the Bruno out using the clingfilm and peel the clingfilm away before serving.