Chocolate Kirsch Mold

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces
• 1 cup softened butter
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• finely grated rind of 1 orange
• ⅔ cup Kirsch
• 36 about 3 dozen ladyfingers
• whipped cream, to serve

Method

1. Combine the chocolate with half the butter in a small saucepan. Melt over low heat, stirring occasionally; then beat until smooth and well blended. Remove from the heat.
2. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl over hot water until thick, creamy, and pale. Beat in the chocolate mixture; then add the remaining butter in small pieces and beat vigorously until smooth. (If the mixture is lumpy, strain it through a fine sieve.) Beat in the grated orange rind and half the Kirsch.
3. Butter a 1 1/2-quart charlotte mold. Dilute the remaining Kirsch with 1/3 cup water in a shallow dish. Line the bottom of the mold with a layer of ladyfingers, dipping each one quickly in the diluted Kirsch before using it. Spoon a layer of chocolate cream over the ladyfingers. Continue to alternate layers of ladyfingers soaked in Kirsch and chocolate cream until the mold is full, ending with a layer of ladyfingers.
4. Cover the mold with foil and chill in the refrigerator overnight, or until firmly set. When ready to serve, dip the mold into very hot water for about 10 seconds only to loosen it, and carefully turn out onto a serving dish. Decorate with swirls of piped whipped cream and serve.

Notes

Serves 6-8. Chef's tip: this dish makes an ideal dessert for your next dinner party — it is extremely rich and fragrant with Kirsch. However, it must be chilled overnight so that the chocolate cream sets firmly enough to turn out.

Original card

The recipe above was transcribed from this scan of Vera’s original card.

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