***Bombe aux Trois Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients

BROWNIE CAKE
Stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
Unsweetened chocolate 4.00 oz
More stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
Sugar 2 cups
Eggs 3 lg
Vanilla extract 1 tsp
Salt 1/2 tsp.
Flour 1 cup
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

BROWNIE CAKE

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Equipment: a jelly-roll pan and wax paper; a saucepan for melting chocolate and butter, and another saucepan in which to set the first; an electric mixer or food processor; a flour sifter; a cake rack.
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For a jelly-roll pan about 11x17 inches.
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Butter and flour for baking pan sweeping off excess)
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*Preliminaries Preheat the oven to 350~. Butter the jelly-roll pan (so the paper will stick to it), cut a sheet of wax paper to fit in with 2 inches of overhang at each end and press into pan. Butter and flour the paper, knocking out excess flour.
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Measure out all your ingredients.
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*Melting the chocolate: Set the first stick of butter and the chocolate in their melting pan, and place in the other pan with 2 to 3 inches of water; bring near the simmer and let the chocolate and butter melt together while you continue with the next step.
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Using a mixer, cream second stick of butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one by one and the vanilla and salt. Stir in the warm melted chocolate mixture, then gradually sift and fold in the flour. Spread the batter, with a rubber spatula, evenly into the pan, and bake at once in middle level of preheated oven, setting timer for 25 minutes.
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*Baking and cooling: Bake about 25 minutes, until set but top is still spongy. A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out with a few specks of chocolate on it.
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It should be chewy when cool, and you want it to bend a little so that you can mold it into the bowl; do not let it overcook.
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Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then turn pan upside down over a cake rack and unmold the cake, gently pulling off wax paper. Cool 10 minutes more. May be baked in advance.
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When cool, cover with wax paper, reverse back into baking pan, and cover airtight; store in the refrigerator for a day or 2 or freeze.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

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1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.
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2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.
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3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)
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3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.
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4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.
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5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don’t overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.
ASSEMBLING THE BOMBE AUX TROIS CHOCOLATES

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The preceding recipes for chocolate mousse and chocolate fudge cake
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A bowl of lightly whipped cream, sweetened with confectioners sugar and flavored with vanilla.
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Semisweet chocolate 4oz
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Unsweetened chocolate 1/2 oz
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Chopped walnuts 2tbsp.
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Equipment: a chilled serving platter and, if you wish, a paper doily.
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*the template - or cut-out pattern
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Whatever you have chosen as a container for molding the dessert, you will need a pattern of cut-outs to guide you in fitting the cake into the container.
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This is the system we use for our round bowl:
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a small cake circle for the bottom of the bowl;
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7 wedges of cake to rest on the circle and touch the top of the bowl all around with a little space between each wedge, allowing mousse to peek through its encircling walls of fudge cake.
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We also have a large circle to cap the mousse, and all scraps of fudge cake go onto the center, giving the bombe a little extra sturdiness for its life out of the mold.
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*Molding the bombe:
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Before cutting the fudge cake, slice off a 1/2-inch border all around the rectangle, since the edges tend to be brittle - these cut-offs make nice little cookie bits to serve another time.
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Then cut around each pattern piece. Line the bowl with plastic wrap (for easy unmolding) and arrange the cake pieces int the bowl, pressing gently in place, best side out.
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Pile half the mousse into the bowl, cover with scraps of the cake (leftovers from cutting patterns). Fill with the remaining mousse and place the large circle on top, pressing it down to force the mousse into the bowl and around the cake.
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Cover and chill at least 6 hours or overnight. Bombe may be refrigerated for several days. It may be frozen, and thawed before serving - several hours at room temperature, or a day or more in the refrigerator.
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*Unmolding:
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Loosen the bombe from the mold by pulling up on the plastic wrap, then fold wrap down the outside of the bowl.
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Center the serving platter (with doily if you are using one) over the top of the mold and reverse the two, unmolding the bombe onto the platter.
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Melt the chocolate over hot, as described at the beginning of the mousse recipe, and pour over the top of the bombe, letting the chocolate drip lazily and unevenly down the sides.
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Top chocolate, still warm, with a sprinkling of chopped nuts.
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*Serving: Cut into wedges, like a round cake, and let each guest help herself to the whipped cream.