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Serves 4
Autumn has arrived and we thought a ‘sugar and spice’ inspired dessert would be a perfect treat to share with family and friends this season. Enjoy!
TASTE OF AUTUMN FACT
Milk chocolate and rhubarb are an unlikely flavour combination, but surprisingly compliment each other very well.
The rhubarb in our recipe is cooked in a poaching liquid flavoured with quatre épices, a classic French spice blend, that translated means ‘four spices’. This spice blend is considered to be the French allspice and contains ground white, black or both pepper, cloves, nutmeg and ginger, with cinnamon sometimes used in place of ginger. The spice blend is widely used in French cooking, interestingly, in both savoury and sweet dishes.
When the chocolate mousse is combined with the poached rhubarb and a little syrup made from the poaching liquid, the combination of sweet, sour and spice is delicious.
INGREDIENTS
- 1½ stems Rhubarb – remove and discard leaves.
- 500ml Water
- 50gm Caster Sugar
- ¼ tsp Quatre Épice Spice Blend
- 350ml Thickened Cream
- 350gm Milk Chocolate (good quality such as Cadbury’s) – break into small pieces.
QUATRE ÉPICE SPICE BLEND INGREDIENTS
Makes 1¼ Teaspoons
- ½ tsp Ground White Pepper
- ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
- ¼ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
METHOD
- In a mixing bowl, add the pepper, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Mix to thoroughly combine. Store in an airtight container.
- Cut the rhubarb stems into 4cm long pieces, cut each piece into 4 equally sized batons, rinse these under cold running water, then drain and set to one side.
- Over a moderate heat, add the water, sugar and quatre épice to a saucepan, bring up to the boil whilst stirring regularly to ensure the sugar has been fully dissolved.
- Add the rhubarb to the saucepan, bring the poaching liquid back up to the boil and poach the rhubarb for 30 seconds or until it is tender, but still holding its shape. Immediately remove the rhubarb from the poaching liquid gently placing it onto a clean plate, then place it into a refrigerator to assist it cooling down quickly.
- Reduce the saucepans heat and allow the poaching liquid to gently simmer for 10 minutes or until it has reduced and become syrupy, then remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature in the saucepan.
- Gently place the rhubarb into a bowl, pour over the cooled syrup, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until required.
- In a mixing bowl, add the cream, beat until soft peaks form, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until required.
- Add chocolate to a mixing bowl, place over a saucepan of gently simmering water and stir regularly until the chocolate has melted and is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat. Set to one side for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to cool slightly. Remove the cream from the refrigerator and set to one side for 5 minutes.
- Add the chocolate to the cream and very gently fold it through the cream until it has been entirely combined and a chocolate mousse has been created, then cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until required.
TO SERVE
Remove the chocolate mousse and rhubarb from the refrigerator 5 minutes before serving.
Evenly distribute the chocolate mousse between 4 x 250ml wide rimmed, bowls or glasses. Garnish the top of each mousse with 4 pieces of rhubarb and drizzle a little syrup over each portion of rhubarb before serving.
