View Recipe

My Store: Store Details (change)

Double Chocolate Threat

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Adjust a rack to the lower middle third of the oven.
Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat or in the top of a double boiler over hot water. Remove from the heat; add the sugar and eggs, and mix well.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir into the chocolate mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract or scrape in the seeds from the slit vanilla bean. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan, and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the brownies are baked but not dry; the batter will have pulled away from the sides of the pan slightly. Let cool.
Remove from the pan and cut into strips wide enough to come most of the way up the sides of a 2-quart soufflé dish or charlotte mold. Cut each strip laterally through the center to make two thinner pieces. Line the bottom and sides of the dish with the brownie strips. Don't worry about piecing; it won't show.
While the brownie crust is baking, make the filling: Heat the chocolate and coffee over low heat or in the top of a double boiler over hot water until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat.
Beat the egg yolks until they are pale in color; stir them into the chocolate. Stir in the coffee liqueur; let cool.
Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, whip the 1/2 cup cream until stiff. Fold the whites and cream into the chocolate mixture and spoon into the brownie-lined dish. Wrap well and chill overnight in the refrigerator, or freeze.
To serve, let the dish return to room temperature. To remove from the pan, loosen the sides with a knife, then quickly dip the pan into hot water to loosen further. Turn out onto a serving plate.
A few hours before serving, whip the 1-1/2 cups heavy cream until fairly thick. Add the orange liqueur and continue beating until the cream is stiff. Cover the top and sides with the cream. Using a vegetable peeler, scrape bits of semisweet chocolate over the whipped cream.
As directed in Step 5, heat the chocolate and the 1/2 cup coffee, adding the 1 tbsp butter, until the chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat. Pasteurize the yolks using 3 tablespoons of the sugar and continue with Step 6. When the mixture is cool, beat the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar with the egg whites as directed in Step 7.