I’ve been trying out different recipes from Marco Pierre White’s White Heat cookbook. It’s a fascinating insight into what the restaurant scene was like in the late 80s / early 90s. I’ve made pig’s trotters, steak au poivre, this time I thought I’d give Marco Pierre White’s assiette of chocolate a go.

What is it? Assiette means plate or tray, so it’s simply a ‘selection of’. Marco always said, life was like an assiette of chocolates. His description of it is to call it “disgusting” and “vulgar”; the only reason he has it on the menu is to satisfy customers who demand a chocolate dessert at the end of the meal.

There’s five components: it consists of a white chocolate sorbet, a chocolate mousse, a raspberry mousse, a hot chocolate souffle and various chocolate decorations. I decided to give this a go for myself. Is it worth making?

Eh, not really. It’s a real complex dish but just to put them on the plate. I was forewarned by a chef that the sorbet recipe was challenging so I did another one that I found here which worked a treat. The mousses are good enough, and his recipe for souffle was a bit flat and dull.

It’s interesting as a challenge, but it took me 3 hours in the kitchen because of the stop-start nature of multiple desserts (make something, set in the fridge. Make something, set in the fridge). I’d rather just have a really good mousse.

marco pierre white's assiette of chocolate

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Prep Time 3 hours hrs

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

For the white chocolate sorbet

• 175 g white chocolate
• 435 ml water
• 75 g sugar
• 35 g liquid glucose
• 1 tbsp milk
• pinch salt

For the chocolate mousse

• 115 g dark chocolate
• 25 g unsalted butter melted
• 250 ml double cream
• 6 egg whites
• 25 g caster sugar

For the raspberry mousse

• 150 g fresh raspberries
• 50 ml water
• 25 g caster sugar
• 1¼ leaves gelatine
• 6 egg whites
• 250 ml double cream

For the decorations

• 115 g dark chocolate
• 50 g white chocolate

For the hot chocolate souffle

• 30 g cocoa powder
• 30 ml water
• 3 egg yolks
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• icing sugar to dust

Instructions

 

For the sorbet

• Combine the water, sugar, liquid glucose, milk and salt in a pan. Bring to the boil.
• Meanwhile break up the chocolate. Pour over the boiling syrup. Wait for 1 minute and then whisk vigorously. Churn in an ice cream machine and freeze until needed.

For the raspberry mousse

• Soak the gelatine in cold water.
• Bring the raspberries, sugar and water to the boil. Strain off the pips in a sieve and stir the gelatine into the coulis well.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, adding the sugar towards the end. Whisk the double cream to soft peaks also.
• Fold the egg whites into the coulis, followed by the cream. Pour into moulds and allow to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

For the chocolate mousse

• Melt the chocolate (I prefer the microwave).
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, adding the sugar towards the end. Whisk the double cream to soft peaks also.
• Fold the egg whites into the chocolate, followed by the cream. Pour into moulds and allow to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

For the souffle

• Preheat the oven to 180℃.
• Mix the egg yolks with cocoa and slacken with water.
• Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, adding the sugar towards the end. Fold the cocoa mix into the egg whites.
• Grease ramekins with butter and dust with sugar. Ladle in the souffle mix and bake for up to 10 minutes until well risen. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

For the decorations

• Melt the chocolates separately. On a silicone mat and/or acetate, paint on melted chocolate and allow to set in the fridge.

To serve

• Unmould the mousses and add pieces of chocolate to garnish as desired. Serve with sorbet and the souffle. A few berries with this would be nice.

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