Chocolate Marquise on Meringue: Daring Bakers May 2011

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of CookCraftGrow and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

Oh, you want me to make a decadently boozey, chocolatey dessert? I don't know... doesn't sound like anything I'd like at all...

This was one delicious challenge. 

This is a recipe I could think of a hundred different variations, so I will definitely be whipping it out as an impressive dessert to fit any occasion. 

For this month I made the chocolate marquise in a loaf pan with a layer of speculoos spread in the middle. The spread is made from yummy speculoos biscuits, which are a variety of sweet Belgian biscuits that remind me of a cross between gingersnaps and graham crackers. With the chocolate, speculoos and meringue, the dessert was a play on s'mores!

You can now buy jars of speculoos spread at some specialty food stores in the US, but if you can only find the cookies this recipe at seitan is my motor is a pretty good substitute!

You can find the original recipe here or here. Here is my variation!

Chocolate Marquise
with Speculoos, Toasted Meringue and Tequila Caramel

1/2 recipe prepared Chocolate Marquise

3/4 cup speculoos spread

1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder

1/2 recipe Meringue

1/2 recipe Tequila Caramel

Crushed speculoos cookies for plating (optional)

1. Line a 9x5inch loaf pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang in order to lift the marquise out once it is frozen.

2. Pour enough of the chocolate mixture to fill up half of the prepared loaf pan. To make spreading the speculoos easier, freeze this half for about 45min - 1 hour, or until it is slightly firm to the touch. 

3. Spread the speculoos over the slightly frozen half of the marquise, leaving about a 1/4 inch border around the edge. Pour enough of the chocolate mixture to fill up the rest of the pan and smooth out the top (you may have a little excess of the chocolate mixture). Freeze until solid, about 3-4 hours, or overnight.

4. Once you are ready to plate and serve, prepare the caramel and meringue. Drizzle the caramel over the plate, then pipe or spoon your meringue where desired. Toast with a blowtorch (or a lighter if all else fails!). 

5. Remove the marquise from the freezer and cut into 1 inch slices. Working quickly, toss the slices around in the cocoa powder to coat (you may want to keep some of the slices in the freezer if you are working with the whole loaf as they will melt very quickly.) Arrange the slices on your plates and top with some crushed cookies and more caramel if desired.

6. Enjoy your super swanky s'mores dessert!