Vacherin Food

WARM VACHERIN

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler and position a rack 8 to 9 inches below the heat.
• If the Vacherin box is stapled together, simply place it on a sheet pan. If the box is glued together, wrap a piece of aluminum foil tightly around the bottom and sides (not the top) before placing it on a sheet pan. (Yes, you will be broiling the cheese in the box.) With a small sharp knife, remove and discard the top rind of the cheese. Pour the white wine over the cheese.
• Broil the cheese for 2 to 3 minutes, watching carefully so the box doesn't catch on fire. Remove from the oven, sprinkle generously with fleur de sel and pepper, and serve immediately with toasted breads and cornichons. I put a small spoon in the cheese for people to help themselves.

BERRY VACHERIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees with two racks centered. Trace a 9-inch circle on each of 2 pieces of parchment paper. Turn over, and use each piece to line a baking sheet. Set aside.
• Place egg whites in the clean bowl (copper, if possible) of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar; beat to combine. Gradually add remaining 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until whites are very stiff and glossy. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat just until combined.
• Divide batter between the traced circles, and use an icing spatula or rubber spatula to spread evenly to the edges of the circles.
• Place baking sheets on separate racks in the oven, and bake about 3 1/2 hours, switching the upper and lower sheets every 30 minutes. When fully cooked, the meringues should be white and dried and crisp on the outside, yet soft and somewhat chewy inside; test by tapping the center lightly with a fork. Remove from oven, and let cool completely on baking sheets.
• Combine cream, remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla and 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar in a chilled metal bowl; whip until cream is stiff but soft.
• Place one meringue on a serving plate, and spread 3/4 of the whipped cream over it. Scatter half of the berries over, and place the second meringue on top. Spoon remaining cream onto the center of the meringue, and heap remaining berries on top. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar.
• Slice the vacherin with a thin sharp knife, and serve immediately with red raspberry sauce on the side.

CHOCOLATE AND VANILLA VACHERIN

Steps:

• The process of baking meringue is a cross between baking it and drying it. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.
• Prepare the meringue cake layer: Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Make a French meringue by adding the granulated sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and whip to stiff but not dry peaks, about 7 minutes. Delicately fold in the powdered sugar with a rubber spatula. It is important to fold as gently as possible to avoid deflating the meringue.
• Place the meringue in a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch plain tip. Draw 2 (8-inch) circles on a sheet of parchment paper by tracing around the outside of an 8-inch cake pan with a pen. Turn the paper over so the drawing is face down (so that the ink does not bake into the meringue) and place on a baking sheet.
• To pipe the disks, hold the pastry bag at a slight angle about 1 1/2 inches above the parchment paper. This height and angle allows the piped meringue to hold the full shape of the 3/4-inch tip. Start at the center of the circle and pipe the meringue in a spiral to the edge of the outline. (I work counter-clockwise because I am right-handed.) If the meringue breaks while you are piping it, just continue where it broke. If any air bubbles appear on the disk, go back and fill them in with the extra meringue left in the piping bag. It takes practice to get the disks perfectly round. Don't worry if yours are slightly misshapen. You can gently scrape away the imperfections after the disks are baked.
• At this time, pipe additional swirls that are about 2-inches wide and the height of your cake mold. These will be used to decorate the outside of the cake.
• Bake the meringue disks until they are firm to the touch, about 1 hour. If the meringue begins to take on color while baking, lower the oven temperature by 50 degrees F (10 C). Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place on a wire rack until the meringue disks have completely cooled. If you have the time, turn off the oven and cool the meringue on the baking sheet in the oven. This will take about 1 hour and will allow the meringue to dry completely.
• While the meringue disks are baking, prepare the ice cream.
• Prepare the ice cream and allow enough time for them to harden in the freezer.
• Have the ice bath ready before you begin. To prepare an ice bath, fill a 4-quart bowl with ice cubes. Generously sprinkle salt over the ice and add water to cover the ice. Place a clean, dry 2-quart bowl over the ice bath.
• To prepare the chocolate ice cream base: Heat the milk and chopped chocolate together in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan (this will keep the milk from burning) over medium-high heat until bubbles form around the edge of the pan. While the milk is heating, combine the sugar and egg yolks and whisk until thoroughly incorporated and thick. Temper the egg mixture by pouring about half of the hot milk into it and whisk well. Now pour the tempered egg mixture into the remaining hot milk and chocolate. Cook over medium-high heat until slightly thickened, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. The mixture has finished cooking when it is thick enough to coat the back of the spatula, about 3 to 5 minutes. Use the following method to tell if it is finished: Quickly dip the spatula into the hot mixture and hold it horizontally in front of you. With the tip of your finger, wipe a clean line down the center of the spatula. If the mixture holds and does not fill in the line, it is ready to be removed from the heat. If the line fills with liquid, the mixture must be cooked a little longer. Repeat the test every 30 seconds until ready. At no time should the mixture begin to boil. If you see bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, remove the pan from the heat and whisk the mixture thoroughly to cool it down. Once the mixture has finished cooking, pour it into a clean bowl and set aside to cool. If you want to reduce the cooling time, you can cool the chocolate ice cream base over an ice bath. When the mixture is cool, spin it according to the type of ice cream machine you are using. The ice cream is ready when it is creamy and smooth, like the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Place the ice cream in an airtight container and store in the freezer until ready to use.
• While the chocolate ice cream base is cooling, prepare the vanilla ice cream base. The technique is the same as above; heat the milk, cream, honey and vanilla bean in a nonreactive 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbles form around the edge. Before adding the vanilla bean, use a sharp paring knife to slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Separate the seeds from the skin by scraping the blade of the knife along the inside of the bean. Add the seeds and the skin to the mixture. While the milk is heating, combine the sugar and egg yolks and whisk until thoroughly incorporated and thick. Temper the egg mixture, then pour the tempered egg mixture into the hot milk and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened enough to coat the back of the spatula.
• Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into the bowl placed over the ice bath. Remove the vanilla bean. Stir the mixture occasionally to distribute the cooler parts. When completely cooled, remove the bowl from the ice bath and puree the mixture until smooth with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. Spin the ice cream in your ice cream machine and store in an airtight container in the freezer until ready to use.
• The next step is to mold the ice cream into the cake pan. Line a cake pan with parchment. You may need to slightly soften the ice cream. Make a 1 1/2?inch thick layer of the chocolate ice cream in the bottom of the cake pan. Make a 1 1/2?inch thick layer of the vanilla ice cream on top of the chocolate. Place the cake pan in the freezer and let harden. If you want to decorate the ice sculpture with ice cream balls, use an ice cream scoop to shape the remaining ice cream into ice cream balls of various sizes. Place the scoops on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer until hardened.
• Once the meringue disks are baked and the ice cream is molded, it is time to assemble the Vacherin. Remove the cake pan from the freezer. It may be necessary to dip the pan in warm water for a few seconds to unmold the ice cream. Once unmolded, place a meringue disk on top of the molded chocolate ice cream. Cover with a plate or cardboard cake circle and flip so the vanilla is now on top. Place a meringue disk on top of the vanilla and place the molded cake back in the freezer.
• To make the whipped cream: Use a sharp knife to slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Separate the seeds from the outside skin by scraping the blade of the knife along the inside of the bean. Place the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla seeds in a medium-size bowl and whip to stiff peaks with an electric mixer on medium-high speed.
• Remove the Vacherin from the freezer. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch star tip with the whipped cream and use it to decorate the top and side. Using a turntable will make this task easier. Keep the Vacherin in the freezer until ready to serve.
• It is easiest to cut the cake with a hot serrated knife. To heat the knife, dip it in a tall container filled with hot water before each cut and wipe off the excess water.

VACHERINS

Steps:

• Beat the whites until foamy then add the sugar and continue whipping until stiff and glossy, about 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and whip very briefly just to incorporate. Spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a small (1/4-inch) plain tip and pipe onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Make a small round flat base 1/2-inch in diameter, then pipe a ring of meringue at the edge of the base and spiral up to make it two rows high. Continue making vacherins in rows on the sheet pan. Dry them out on the top of an oven that has been on, or preheat the oven to 300 degrees, then turn it off and place the vacherin meringues in it 5 minutes later. Leave them over night to dry out until crisp. Using a pastry bag, pipe whipped cream in the center and top each one with a raspberry.

VACHERIN

Steps:

• The Meringue Discs: Separate the whites from the yolks of egg, sift the flour, sift the chocolate powder. Heat the oven to 225 degrees F. Grease and dust a cookie sheet with flour. Place a plain nozzle in a piping bag.
• Make the meringues by whisking in a large bowl the whites of eggs until very stiff. Beat in the salt and water, and gradually start beating in the sugar little by little (if this is done too quickly the whites will lose their bulk and turn almost liquid). Fold in the last tablespoon of sugar. The mixture should now have a good gloss and be very "peaky". Now place the glistening white meringue mixture into the forcing bag and pipe it into two 9-inch circles (being the same diameter as the cake) on the cookie sheet and dust with the chocolate powder. The remaining mixture can then be piped into small animal shapes as decoration.
• Place the meringue mixture immediately into the preheated oven (225 degrees F.) on the middle shelf and bake for 2 1/2 hours. When ready the discs and animals should lift easily from the baking sheet and have a hollow sound when gently tapped, these can be cooled on a wire rack until required. They can also be stored in an airtight tin for several days, should you want to prepare this dessert ahead of time.
• Cream Filling: Whip the cream until stiff and divide the cream into 2 bowls.
• The almonds can be placed on a cookie sheet and broiled until golden brown and cooled. The sponge cake can now be split in 2 and the base lightly soaked with rum.
• Assembly: Place the base of the cake on a plate. Spread a little chestnut puree over this and then a good wallop of fresh cream from one bowl.
• Pop the second layer of sponge cake on top and sprinkle with rum.
• To the cream in the first bowl, add more of the chestnut puree and beat in very thoroughly. Blend together with rum. Scoop this on top of the cake.
• Take one layer of the baked cooled meringue and place this on top.
• From the second bowl, take the puree, whipped cream and spread a thick layer of this gently on top of the meringue disc.
• Lower the second round of meringue on top. To the remainder of cream, add the last of the chestnut puree and spread this over the sides of the vacherin and a thin layer over the top, using a palette knife.
• Gently press the flaked almonds over the sides. Decorate the top with meringue animals and dust with the chocolate powder.

RASPBERRY VACHERIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees F.
• Whip the egg whites until fluffy using a standing or hand held mixer. While on high speed, add 1/2 of the sugar. Slow to low speed and add the remainder of the sugar. Beat for 3 more minutes.
• Add the raspberry powder by hand and mix with a spatula. Place the mixture into a pastry bag. Place a piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Using the pastry bag, create round domes with the mixture.
• Place in the oven at for 2 1/2 hours. Keep oven on. Remove from the oven and scoop out the insides with a spoon. Place back onto baking sheet and cook again for 1 hour at 190 degrees F.
• Let cool and store in a dry place.
• For Raspberry Sauce:
• Blend 1 basket of fresh raspberries with sugar to taste. (Frozen raspberries may be substituted).