Saveur on White Chocolate and Trifle Recipe

I was going through my piles of magazines the other day and was delighted to read Ben Mims article on White Chocolate in Saveur. I found it online and thought I'd share.

With it's strong caramel notes, I recently used Guittard Chocolate to construct a delicate white chocolate mousse in holiday inspired trifle. See my oh-so easy recipe below.


Dark Chocolate Peppermint Trifle Cups

A holiday twist on a traditional layered English dessert this version is transformed with peppermint candy and served in festive dessert cups. With alternating layers of milk-chocolate pudding and white-chocolate, vanilla bean mousse, this trifle’s heart is a chocolate wine soaked cake. To ease holiday cooking projects, we’ve substituted a hand made cake for bakery purchased. Feel free to make components like pudding and mousse the day before you assemble your cups. Serve with ChocolatRouge cream wine.
Click read more below for the recipe.




Ingredients

For The Chocolate Cake:
Use your favorite bakery chocolate sponge or chocolate pound cake cut into pieces that fit neatly into cups.

For The Syrup:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup chocolate wine, such as ChocolatRouge

For The Mousse:
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
12 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1-teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup coarsely chopped peppermint starlight mints or candy canes

For The Pudding
8 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
2 cups heavy cream
3 large egg yolks, room temperature

For Serving
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
¼-cup confectioners' sugar
¼-cup coarsely chopped peppermint candies or candy canes
                 
Directions
1.            Make the syrup: Bring sugar and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add chocolate wine and cook for about 5 more minutes or until syrup consistency. Let sit.
2.            Make the mousse: Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Bring 1-cup cream just to a boil in a small saucepan. Place white chocolate in a food processor; with machine running, pour in hot cream in a slow, steady stream, and process until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl set in ice-water bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to hold ribbons on surface, about 15 minutes. Whip remaining 1 1/2 cups cream and fold into chocolate mixture, then add in vanilla paste and candies. Cover and refrigerate until thickened and almost firm, about 4 hours.
3.            Make the pudding: Put chocolate into a large bowl; set aside. Bring cream almost to a boil in a small saucepan. Whisk yolks in a separate, medium bowl. Pour hot cream in a slow, steady stream, into yolks while whisking. Pour mixture back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 1 minute. Pour through a fine sieve into chocolate; whisk well until smooth. Set bowl in ice-water bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to hold ribbons on surface, about 15 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.
4.            To assemble: Spread one-third of the mousse into the bottom of 6 small cups that are 2 inches in diameter. Top mousse with cake and spoon on syrup. Top with pudding, then another layer of mousse. Place remaining cake on top; spoon with remaining syrup. Top with remaining pudding, then mousse. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, whip cream with sugar. Top trifle cups with the whipped cream, and sprinkle each