The Secret Ingredient A Chef Swears By To Make Chocolate More Flavourful (And No, It's Not Coffee)

Chocola"tea" mousseIf you love to cook, you’ll know that the strangest-sounding combinations often taste best. Chocolate (and mango chutney, apparently) stuns in chilli; baking powder can take the acidic edge out of pasta sauce; even avocado has its place in your dessert. Common culinary wisdom has it that coffee deepens and sweetens the richest, most unctuous flavours in cocoa, too. But following The Great British Bake-Off’s recent Chocolate Week, chocolatier and author of Adventures With Chocolate, Paul A. Young, said that the basis of another hot drink is key to dishes like his chocolate mousse ― tea. Why does tea make chocolate taste so much better?For his chocola”tea” mousse, Young makes a “very strong tea syrup by bringing tea leaves and water to the boil”.He then strains this and lets it infuse for five minutes before incorporating it into a sugar syrup. The chocolatier explained, “tea and chocolate make a wonderful pairing as they both have tannins in common in their tasting notes”. Tannins give foods like tea and chocolate their signature bitter tang and also appear in coffee and wine. But, just like adding a splash of milk and sugar to your tea makes it less biting, Young adds both to his recipe “to balance the flavours and aftertaste, making the pairing comforting”. For the best combination, the expert recommends using black teas, including Lapsang Souchong, Oolong or Jasmine varieties, though he likes green tea for the job too.“They’re wonderful with characterful dark chocolate with bold tastes and flavours. The tannins and bittersweet characters of dark chocolate can marry seamlessly with fine-quality black and green teas,” he said. Chocola"tea" mousseChocola”tea” mousse recipe:Paul kindly shared his recipe for chocola”tea” mousse. Here it is: Ingredients for the mousse:200g Guittard 61% Lever du Soleil chocolate180g double cream30g tea leaves150ml water100g unrefined caster sugar1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar4 medium free-range eggs (separated)Ingredients for the ganache “sugar cubes”:150g Guittard Soie Blanche white couverture chocolate20g water just off the boil35g unrefined caster sugar Instructions for the mousse:Bring the cream to a simmer, then pour over the dark chocolate. Whisk to a glossy emulsion.Whisk in the egg yolks one at a time.Make a very strong tea syrup by bringing tea leaves and water to the boil. Take off the heat, cover and allow to infuse for 5 minutes.Strain the tea through a fine sieve, squeezing the tea leaves until dry and bring the liquid to a simmer with the sugar to a soft ball stage (or 112°C).In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar on a medium speed until the egg whites are white and fluffy.With the mixer on medium, slowly drizzle in the tea syrup and keep whipping until the whites are cool and glossy. With a spatula, mix ¼ of the whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen and then carefully fold the remaining egg whites in two further additions.Spoon into teacups, levelling the top of each.Refrigerate for at least an hour. Instructions for the ganache “sugar cubes”:In a metal bowl set over a pan of very hot water, melt the white chocolate.Add the water and mix well.The ganache may split; keep mixing, and it will emulsify to a smooth pasteLine a small food container approximately. 10cmx6 cm with two layers of food wrap and spoon in the ganache. Refrigerate for two hours. Once refrigerated, lift out of the container and remove the food wrap.With a hot, wet knife, cut the ganache into cubes and carefully dust with caster sugar.Serve the mousse with a light dusting of cocoa powder and the two sugar cubes on top (or at the side of the plate).Related...I Tried A Science-Backed Ingredient To Prevent Mushy Apple Filling, And I'm Never Going BackMary Berry's 'Marry Me'-Style Chicken Has 1 Secret IngredientScrambled Eggs Come Out Fluffier If You Add 1 Simple Ingredient Chefs Swear By

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