Recipe - Chocolate Caramel Puffs

PUFF DOUGH
One half cup All purpose flour
2 tablespoon Unsweetened cocoa powder
One half cup Water
4 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 tablespoon Granulated sugar
3 lg Eggs

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL GANACHE
8 ounce Semisweet chocolate; chopped
into 1/4inch pieces
4 ounce Unsweetened chocolate;
chopped into 1/4inch
pieces
1 One half cup Heavy cream
2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
One half cup Granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon Fresh lemon juice

Make the puffs:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a sifter combine the flour and cocoa powder. Sift onto a large piece of
waxed paper and set aside until needed.

Heat the water, 4 tablespoons butter, and 1 tablespoon sugar in a 3quart
saucepan over mediumhigh heat. When hot, stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring
to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the sifted dry ingredients. Use a
wooden spoon to stir until the mixture comes together in a balllike shape
(it should be a bit like putty at this point). Add the eggs, one at a time,
stirring energetically and thoroughly incorporating each egg before adding
another. Divide the dough in level tablespoons (approximately One half ounce per
puff) onto 2 nonstick baking sheets, 12 evenly spaced portions per sheet.
Place the baking sheets on the top and center racks of the preheated oven
and bake for 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to center halfway
through the baking time (at that time also turn each sheet 180 degrees).
Remove the puffs from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Make the Chocolate Caramel Ganache:

Place the chopped semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in a 4quart bowl and
set aside.

Heat the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons butter in a 1 One half quart saucepan
over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to keep the cream
hot, but not simmering until needed.

Combine One half cup sugar and the lemon juice in a 3quart saucepan. Stir with
a whisk to combine (the sugar will resemble moist sand). Caramelize the
sugar for 7 to 8 minutes over mediumhigh heat, stirring constantly with a
whisk to break up any lumps (the sugar will first turn clear as it
liquefies, then light brown as it caramelizes). Remove the saucepan from
the heat. Carefully pour about 1/3 of the hot cream into the caramelized
sugar. Use a whisk to stir the caramel until it stops bubbling. Add the
remaining cream and stir until smooth. Immediately pour the hot caramel
over the chopped chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes before stirring
with a whisk until very smooth. Refrigerate the ganache until just slightly
firm but not hard (if the ganache is too firm, it will be difficult to
pipe).

Using a sharp paring knife, cut each puff in half horizontally. Transfer
the chilled ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe
about 1 heaping tablespoon (approximately 1 ounce) of ganache onto the
bottom half of each puff, then place the top half of the puff onto each
portion of ganache. Serve immediately, or store in a tightly sealed plastic
container at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours.

Yield: 2 dozen 1 One half inch puffs

Notes: Recipe courtesy of Marcel Desaulniers, "Death by Chocolate" and
"Death by Chocolate Cookies"

Recipe by: Cooking Live Show #CL9064

Posted to MCRecipe Digest by "Angele and Jon Freeman"
jfreeman@comteck.com on Mar 7, 1998