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Trianon

This dessert is a cross between a tart and a pudding; a sweet shortcrust pastry is filled with flambéd apples and a homemade egg custard, topped with cold chocolate mousse. From Eric Lanlard, Glamour Puds (C4)

For the sweet pastry
250g plain flour
Pinch salt
100g icing sugar
125g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
Egg yolk
Cold water
For the chocolate mousse
6 eggs
320g dark chocolate
30g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
For the apple and custard tart
6 apples
50g unsalted butter
2 tsp of Calvados
2 eggs
200ml double cream
60g caster sugar

1. First make the pastry, sieve the flour, salt and icing sugar into a bowl. Rub in the chilled butter until your mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the egg yolk and a few tablespoons of water, one at a time, to the mixture and gently work it together until you have a ball of dough. Try not to work your pastry too much as it won’t have the desired short consistency. Wrap your pastry in cling film and put it into the fridge to rest for at least an hour.

3. Meanwhile make the mousse. Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a roomy bowl. Break the chocolate into small pieces place in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Add the butter and allow them both to gently melt, stirring occasionally.

4. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk to the soft peak stage. When the chocolate and butter have melted, leave to cool for a couple of minutes and then stir in the yolks. Cut and fold in the whites in three batches, until seamlessly combined. Pour into a 22cm mousse ring and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours.

5. By now your pastry should be chilled. Roll out on a floured surface and line a 22cm diameter flan tin with the chilled sweet pastry and cook the pastry blind for about 25 minutes at 180°C, or until golden.

6. Finally prepare the tart filling by peeling and cutting the apples into slices (about 8 slices per apple). Melt the unsalted butter in a saucepan and add the apples. Fry for about 5–7 minutes until evenly caramelised, turning them several times. Add a splash of Calvados and stand back as the alcohol flambés.

7. To make the custard, beat the eggs with the cream then add the sugar.

8. Place the slices of apple on the bottom of the cooked pastry case and cover with the egg mixture and cook for 35 minutes at 180°C. Leave to cool.

9. When ready to serve, gently slide the ring containing the mousse on top of the tart and using a hot knife remove the ring. Dust with cocoa powder and icing sugar to serve.

Trianon 2

From http://bakerina.com/bakerina/comments/pretty_on_the_inside_now_with_recipe/
"An obscene amount of chocolate and butter. Pretty much the maximum amount of goodness that can be packed into such a compact space".

The story (from Chowhound) : "There was a french lady who was, by all accounts crabby and rude and generally horrible who ran a bakery in manhattan. Her name was Collette. Lora Brody (author of many fabulous cookbooks) was scared of Collette and sent her husband to the bakery to buy the cake. He brought the cake home, and if i'm remembering right (read the book a long time ago) they ritualistically took the phone off the hook, drew the shades, and inhaled the whole thing. She bought cakes and cakes. She watched grown men cry as they ate. She needed the recipe. She made a gazillion cakes. She was desperate. She talked to her friend Maida Heatter about it. Had Maida heard of the cake, she wondered? Had Maida heard of the cake! She sent HER charming husband to flirt with Collette who angrily threw him out when she found out he was after the recipe; She camped outside the store to see what kind of chocolate was delivered in case it was the key; she sent the cake to pastry chefs in America and Europe so they could figure it out for her. She made a gazillion cakes. Lora and Maida commiserated. They brought poor Julia Child into this sordid affair. Julia tested recipes and published her own version in a magazine mentioning Lora. Lora's mom was proud and showed off at bridge parties. Collette died, and with her hope. This is where the story ended. But apparently (probrably published in her latest book which i dont have) she had a date with destiny (sorry this is so melodramatic). Her friend was at a dinner party and had the cake; The recipe was left to the hostess by her aunt who made her promise to keep it secret until she died. The aunt was Collette."

12oz (not a typo!) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
10oz (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup (7oz) granulated sugar
5 extra-large eggs, separated
pinch salt
1 cup (4oz) sifted flour

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F (Gas Mark 3) and place a rack in the center of the oven. Butter an 8-cup loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment and butter the parchment.

In the top of a double boiler, over gently simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate together. When both are melted, add the sugar and stir in with a wire whisk. Cook for 2 minutes. Whisking all the while, add the egg yolks one at a time. Remove from heat.

Beat the egg whites, together with the pinch of salt, in a mixer until they form firm but soft peaks (i.e. you don't want stiffly-beaten whites; they should still be shiny and hold a peak, but not a stiff one. If your whites start to resemble cottage cheese and won't hold a peak, you've overbeaten them and will need to start with 5 new egg whites).

Stir about 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it a bit. Pour the chocolate mixture over the egg whites and fold until everything is almost (but not completely) amalgamated. Sift the flour over the chocolate, a third at a time, and fold in. Try not to knock out too much air, but be sure that all the flour has been amalgamated.

Pour the chocolate into the loaf pan and set the pan in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes (check the cake after 30 to be sure it's not overbrowning; if it is, cover it with a piece of foil.) The cake is done when it has risen over the pan about 1 inch, and is thoroughly baked; it should not wiggle if you shake the pan gently. Turn the oven off and let the cake sit in the oven for one more hour.

Take the pan out of the oven and let the cake cool completely. Decant the cake by placing a cookie sheet over the top of the cake, carefully flipping the pans over and removing the cake pan. You may want to pass a thin knife around the pan before flipping -- this is a good idea. Peel the parchment off the cake bottom and carefully turn the cake over, for it is quite fragile. If you can, wrap it in plastic and foil and let sit for 24 hours. If you are serving right away, just be prepared for a bit of crumbliness when you slice it.