Turns out chocolate -- that craved-for, mythological,
rapturous treat — really is approachable. Whip up
some fit-for-the-Ritz concoctions for all your Valentines.


Mr. Chocolate is hellbent on making a cake. You’d expect some reverence here, something ceremonious—chocolate is, after all, the “food of the gods”—but Phil Murray, one of the north's best-known chocolate artists, is unafraid of all things cocoa. He tempers it intrepidly. He whisks mousse without second-guessing. He tells it who’s boss.
     And with his guidance, by the end of the morning, here in his kitchen at Windows restaurant in northern Michigan, I too will lose my chocolate reservations. (Most of them, anyway.) Though uninitiated in the art of chocolate, I’ll draw a chocolate butterfly on waxed paper with a pastry tip, to be poised atop chocolate mousse Olivia, one of the renowned restaurant’s acclaimed desserts. I’ll have a chocolate raspberry mousse torte in hand, drizzled in ganache and rimmed in edible gold leaf. And I will have tasted the exquisite smoothness of truffles.
     And you know? It really wasn’t all that difficult, even though I’d never made so much as a chocolate cake from scratch. Mr. Chocolate, in addition to his years of experience, has shared one thing that most of us don’t know: You never have to throw any chocolate away. Never! All mistakes can be melted into another mellifluous treat, even if it’s just syrup for ice cream. Chocolate is that recyclable. And just knowing that is some kind of liberation.
     Chocolate—the craved-for, mythological, rapturous treat—really is approachable. Even if the end products are fit for The Ritz.
     So have no fear. Gather some fine chocolate around Mr. Chocolate's recipes—silky smooth mousse, a rich stately torte, sumptuous bite-sized truffles—and whip up some luscious food-of-the-gods concoctions for all your Valentines.


Tips from Mr. Chocolate
—Chocolate and water are enemies. Keep steam away from chocolate while tempering and melting.
—Cocoa beans, like coffee beans, differ in quality, and European firms own most of the best cocoa-growing lands in Africa, which is why Euro-chocolates taste so much better than a Hershey’s kiss.
—Higher-grade chocolate melts more evenly and gives you a full melt-in-your-mouth experience.
—Diehard chocolateers love playing with ganache—a runny glaze used as frosting or filling. Phil says to let gravity do the work. The less you touch it, the shinier it sets. Pop bubbles with a spatula and cover open spots.


RECIPES

Chocolate Mousse Olivia
Serves six

5 ounces white chocolate
6 ounces dark chocolate
6 ounces butter, cubed
6 eggs, separated

Melt both chocolates separately in double boiler. Add cubed butter to dark chocolate, stirring until blended. Remove from heat and beat in yolks. Return to heat and raise temperature to 120 degrees. Remove from heat and cool to 80 degrees. Whip egg whites until soft peaks form, then slowly fold egg whites into dark chocolate mixture. Chill.

Take melted white chocolate and stripe two sheets of 5-by-12 parchment. Cool until manageable. Fold short side over to opposite short side in order to create hollow lattice tube. Chill. Fill with mousse. Peel off parchment. Chill and serve on raspberry coulis.

Raspberry Coulis
2 pints raspberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Bring raspberries, sugar and water to boil and simmer for six minutes. Puree and strain. Chill and serve.


Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Torte
Serves ten to twelve

Chocolate Cake
9 eggs
1 1/8 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup excellent cocoa powder
3 1/2 ounces unsalted butter
2 pints fresh raspberries

Place eggs and sugar in mixing bowl. Place bowl over double boiler and stir until sugar and egg mixture becomes lukewarm. Place mixture of eggs and sugar on high speed. Whip until almost tripled in volume or until stiff peaks form, about six to eight minutes. Meantime, lightly butter a 10-inch cake pan and dust inside with flour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fold flour into batter, sifting it in. Fold in cocoa powder. After all dry ingredients are folded in, pour in remaining melted butter. Mix until just incorporated. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake 25 to thirty minutes. Cool cake. Set aside 2 pints of raspberries.

Ganache
16 ounces fine European dark bittersweet chocolate
4 1/2 ounces whole unsalted butter
5 cups cream

Chop chocolate and place in bowl with butter. Scald cream. Let rise once. Add to chocolate and butter and slowly stir with spoon until incorporated. Be careful not to produce any air bubbles. Cool to room temperature or until tepid.

Chocolate Mousse
6 ounces fine European dark bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups whole cream

Melt chocolate slowly over double boiler. If steam is coming out, the chocolate is melting too fast. Once melted, let chocolate cool slightly to the warmth of baby milk. Whip whole cream to medium peaks. Temper whipped cream into melted chocolate. Finish folding in chocolate until completely incorporated. Refrigerate and let mousse set.

Assembling the Torte
Take cake out of pan. Slice twice to get three thin circles. Place one third of chocolate mousse in center of first cake circle. With spatula, very carefully spread mousse within an inch of the cake edge. Place 1/2 pint of raspberries on top of mousse. Repeat with second cake circle. Place third cake circle on top. Spread remaining mousse all around cake. Refrigerate. Let set for 30 minutes. The ganache should still be pourable and liquid, without being too runny. Pour ganache over center of cake. Let gravity flow the ganache. Once the ganache has dripped down the sides of the cake, smooth outsides with cake spatula. The top of the cake should be smooth and shiny. Take remaining ganache and let it stiffen. Place in a star-tipped pastry bag and decorate the top of the cake. Place remaining raspberries on top of cake.


Browned Butter Truffles
Makes about eighteen one-ounce chocolates

5 ounces whole cream
5 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
5 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
3 1/2 ounces whole unsalted butter

Place chopped chocolate in a bowl. Place butter in a thick-bottomed saucepot. Start to cook slowly. In a separate pot, scald cream and pour over chocolate. Stir chocolate and scalded cream. Meanwhile, the butter should be turning a dark golden amber color and starting to have a nutty aroma. Strain browned butter through a fine sieve or china caps. Discard the browned milk solids. Stir golden browned butter into chocolate mixture until fully incorporated. Place in container and let cool. This mixture can get hard in the refrigerator and cut into shapes. Or it can be cooled at room temperature until tepid and put in a mixer at high speed to double in volume, then placed in a pastry bag to make stars or kisses.

Finishing truffles
There are numerous ways to finish and serve truffles. They can be dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in cocoa powder, powdered sugar, toasted chopped pecans, crushed walnuts or coconut. Prepared chocolate shells are available and can be filled with truffle mix. The most exquisite way to finish chocolate truffles is by dipping them in tempered chocolate.

Published in Traverse magazine

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