Chocolate Brûlée

Chocolate Brûlée with Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Ganache Truffle and Hazelnut Florentine

Chocolate Brûlée with Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Ganache Truffle and Hazelnut Florentine

Ever wondered how the most elaborate, picture-perfect desserts at luxurious restaurants are made? Well, Chef Jessica Sullivan has shared one of her coveted recipes for this sumptuous chocolate feast of a dessert. ‘Stolen’ with permission, this recipe gives you all you need to create an unforgettable treat for your family or friends straight from your own kitchen. Jessica Sullivan is the Pastry Chef at Boulevard Restaurant, San Francisco. At Boulevard, Chef / Owner Nancy Oakes’s desire is to fulfill her dream of giving patrons a ‘truly sensuous experience’. The menu is cooked 'a la minute' for each diner - "When you order a chicken, we actually cook it to order for you over the open fire in our wood-burning oven. There are no shortcuts. Even our pastries and cookies are made in small batches so they have a home-baked quality. We all feel a reverence for the food we use... we choose diver scallops rather than dredged, and fruits and vegetables straight from the farm or the farmer's market. In our kitchen, we all share San Francisco's love and commitment to good food," says Oakes.

About the chef: for the last five years, Jessica Sullivan has been the Pastry Chef at Boulevard Restaurant, working closely with Chef / Owner Nancy Oakes to create award winning desserts. Inspired by the bounty of seasonal organic ingredients available to her in the Bay Area, and drawing from her roots in Montana and experiences in Portland, Oregon, Chef Sullivan’s desserts tempt the palate with contrasts of texture and temperature, and with combinations that playfully awaken the inner child. Jessica also donates her time and energies with local nonprofits with which she has a personal connection - Meals on Wheels, Project Open Hand and Girl’s Inc. 
When asked if she has a big sweet tooth, she says, “Not really, but I do like a little something sweet in the afternoon.”

Boulevard Restaurant 
One Mission St, 
San Francisco, CA 94105
415 543 6084

Chocolate Brûlée with Flourless Chocolate Cake, Praline Ganache Truffle and Hazelnut Florentine is served at Boulevard for $11.

This recipe makes 4 restaurant servings.

Chocolate Brûlée Ingredients: 
2 cups cream
1 tablespoon Valrhona Cocoa Powder
1 tablespoon whole milk
6 tablespoons sugar
½ cup egg yolks (6-7 yolks)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt

Flourless Cake Ingredients:
13 ¼ oz Araguani Valrhona Chocolate
3 ¼ oz butter
2 ¼ oz egg yolks (2-3 yolks)
13 oz egg whites
4 ½ oz sugar
Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:
2 ½ oz 64% Valrhona Chocolate
1 oz Jivara Lactee 30% Valrhona Chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup Valrhona Hazelnut Praline Paste

Chcocolate Glaze Ingredients:
3 oz butter
1 ½ teaspoons corn syrup or glucose
¼ cup water
4 oz 61% Extra Bitter Valrhona Chocolate
Caramelized Tuile Ingredients:
½ cup brown sugar
3 oz butter 
6 tablespoons corn syrup
½ cup cake flour, sifted
½ teaspoon salt
Garnish:
¼ cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
You will also need 4 6-oz ramekins, baking spray and parchment paper

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for the Chocolate Brûlée:
Bring the cream to a boil in a medium sized pot.
Melt the chocolate (using a double boiler or a bowl over a simmering pot of water) and set aside.
Heat the milk and mix with the cocoa powder to emulsify and create a paste, add the chocolate.
Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt and add to the chocolate mixture by tempering the hot milk (adding a small amount at a time) while whisking constantly.
Strain into a container and chill. This base can be made one day ahead.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Pour the base evenly into 4 6-oz ramekins – this size keeps the brûlée shallow, allowing additional room for more treats on top!
Place in a roasting pan or other deep pan and pour enough water in the pan around the ramekins to cover halfway up the side of them.
Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes – making sure to rotate the ramekins after 10 minutes. When they are ready they will have the slightest uniform jiggle in texture and a shiny surface.
Transfer to a sheet tray and let them cool for ½ an hour before wrapping with plastic wrap and cooling in the refrigerator for 4 – 24 hours.

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for the Flourless Chocolate Cake:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter and chocolate together.
With a KitchenAid or hand mixer whip the yolks until they have doubled in volume and are very light in color.
Fold the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the whipped yolks and set aside for a short time.
Immediately whip the whites and sugar into stiff peaks.
Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture and pour into a sprayed and parchment lined 13 x 9 brownie pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes; until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool, wrap in plastic and place in freezer until ready to cut. When ready, use a warm knife or cookie cutter of your choice.

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for the Chocolate Praline Ganache:
In a bowl combine the chocolate, salt and praline paste.
Bring the cream to a boil and pour into the bowl.
Stir once and cover with plastic, letting it sit for 2 minutes. Remove the plastic and mix well with a rubber spatula.
Pour into a bowl and let sit for at least 4 hours.

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for the Chocolate Glaze:
Heat the butter, syrup and water in a medium saucepan.
Turn of the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until it is melted. 
Cool before glazing.

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for the Caramelized Tuile:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the sugar, butter and corn syrup over a medium heat until the sugars are dissolved.
Remove from heat and add the flour and salt and mix well, pour into a container to cool before baking.
Using a Silpat or sprayed parchment, drop 4 tablespoons of the tuile batter on to a sheet tray, giving an inch in diameter for each one to spread.
Bake for about 5 minutes in a convection oven and 10 minutes in a regular oven, until the batter has started to stop bubbling.
Let cool for a few seconds, until they have started to set and then quickly wrap around a wooden spoon handle. 
Dip one side of the tuile into the glaze.

Steal This Recipe® Step by Step Instructions for Plating:
Allow each component of the recipe to come to room temperature.
On top of each Chocolate Brûlée place one piece of Flourless Chocolate Cake, one tablespoonful of the Chocolate Praline Ganache, and one Caramelized Tuile and drizzle the cake and Ganache with Chocolate Glaze.