This delightfully retro coffee and chocolate mousse with a rum caramel, orange curd and hazelnuts was inspired by an espresso martini. It's a great dinner party dessert as all the elements can be made well in advance and then assembled at the last minute. There will be more curd than you need for just this recipe.
First make the chocolate and coffee mousse. Melt the chocolates in a heatproof bowl over a pot of warm water
Warm 50ml of the cream, add the coffee and stir to dissolve
Whisk the water, egg yolks, whole eggs and sugar together. Place in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk continuously until it reaches 74°C
Fold the sabayon (egg mixture), chocolate and coffee together then allow to cool until it is lukewarm
Lightly whip the remaining cream to soft peaks and fold through the chocolate mixture
Transfer to a container and allow to cool and set in the fridge for 3–4 hours
Preheat the oven to 165°C
Place the hazelnuts on a tray and pop in the oven for 10–12 minutes until golden brown
Once toasted, set aside to cool then cut in half
Place all the ingredients for the orange curd in a pot and, over a low heat, whisk until the mix has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 82°C)
Remove the curd from the heat and transfer to a container. Cover with cling film, making sure that the film is touching the top of the mix, to stop it from forming a skin. Allow to cool then transfer to the fridge to set and chill fully
To make the rum caramel sauce, slowly melt together the water, butter and soft dark brown sugar over a medium heat. Bring to a boil, add in the cream and bring to a boil again
Take off the heat and whisk in the rum. Allow to cool then transfer to the fridge to chill
To serve, place a generous spoonful of mousse on each plate. Wet the back of a spoon with warm water and make an indentation into the mousse. Spoon the orange curd into the indentation. Drizzle the rum caramel around the mousse, finish with sprinkling of hazelnuts
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