Johnny Iuzzinis Meringue Mushrooms Recipes

MERINGUE MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F (110 degrees C). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
• In a large glass or metal bowl, use an electric mixer to whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla. Continue whipping until the whites hold soft peaks. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar so that it does not sink to the bottom, and continue whipping until the mixture holds stiff shiny peaks.
• Place a round tip into a pastry bag, and fill the bag half way with the meringue. To pipe the mushroom caps, squeeze out round mounds of meringue onto one of the prepared cookie sheets. Pull the bag off to the side to avoid making peaks on the top. For the stems, press out a tiny bit of meringue onto the other sheet, then pull the bag straight up. They should resemble candy kisses. Do not worry about making all of the pieces exactly the same. The mushrooms will look more natural if the pieces are different sizes. Dust the mushroom caps lightly with cocoa using a small sifter or strainer.
• Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the caps are dry enough to easily remove from the cookie sheets. Set aside to cool completely. Melt the coating chocolate in a metal bowl over simmering water, or in a glass bowl in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.
• Poke a small hole in the bottom of a mushroom cap. Spread chocolate over the bottom of the cap. Dip the tip of a stem in chocolate, and press lightly into the hole. When the chocolate sets, they will hold together. Repeat with remaining pieces. Store at room temperature in a dry place or tin.

JOHNNY IUZZINI'S CHOCOLATE SOUP

Steps:

• For the Cocoa Puffs:
• Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, or melt in a double boiler. Roll the Cocoa Puffs in the chocolate, coating them completely. Lift them out with a fork, letting the excess chocolate drip off, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet to set. Store in a cool place.
• For the Chocolate Soup (makes about 4 1/2 cups):
• Put 1 cup of the milk in a small saucepan with the juniper berries. Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the juniper infuse for 25 minutes. Have the chopped chocolate ready in a heatproof bowl, and, remember, the finer you've chopped the chocolate, the better.
• Bring the milk back to a boil, then strain into a measuring cup. Add some of the remaining 3 cups milk, if needed, to make 1 cup. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate, let it sit for a moment, then whisk to melt the chocolate and make an emulsion.
• Pour in the rest of the cold milk, and froth the soup with an immersion blender. Transfer to a pitcher and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
• For the Devon Foam:
• Whisk the heavy cream and Devon cream together in a bowl until thick. Whisk in the milk, then froth with an immersion blender (add additional milk if you need to). Transfer to a pitcher and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.
• To Serve:
• Thin the chocolate soup with some cold milk if it's too thick to sip, and froth it again with an immersion blender.
• Divide the soup among sixteen small glasses (for tasting portions) or among eight coffee cups. Drop in a few of the Cocoa Puffs, then spoon on a layer of the Devon foam. Top with a few more Cocoa Puffs.

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
• Whip whites and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Sift together cocoa and powdered sugar. Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue when it has reached full volume. Then fold in the cocoa nibs. Spread the chocolate meringue onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan, sprayed with nonstick spray, about 1/4-inch thick.
• Bake for about 1 hour or until the meringue is hard and completely dried out.

MERINGUE MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Combine egg whites with cream of tartar in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in sugar, beating at high speed until mixture is very stiff and dull looking.
• Scrape meringue mixture into pastry bag. Pipe round, button shapes to make mushroom "caps". Pipe pointed "kiss" shapes about one inch tall to make "stems". Dust with cocoa. Bake two hours in 200 degree oven until crisp and completely dry. Assemble the mushrooms: Place chocolate in a small bowl. Set bowl in a skillet of barely simmering water. Immediately turn off heat and stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Spread a little melted chocolate on the flat side of each meringue mushroom "cap". Use a sharp knife to cut off and discard the pointed ends of meringue "stems". Attach stems to caps while chocolate is still soft. Set assembled mushrooms aside until the chocolate has dried and caps and stems are "glued" together. Meringue mushrooms may be made 3-4 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container.

JOHNNY IUZZINI'S CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Steps:

• Place chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Add 1/4 of the cream to the chocolate and stir with a spatula until the chocolate begins to melt. Continue adding the cream, in three batches, stirring after each addition, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface and keep at room temperature until ready to use.