New project for Christmas Eve Feast - pt 2

...or "I have fungi in my kitchen!"


The meringue mushrooms have turned out GREAT! I might've tried going over-the-top a little (big surprise there) with connecting the two. The recipe I was using for this particular batch just said to smear melted chocolate on the bottom of the caps with an offset spatula and stick the bottoms on. H'yeah, right....


Knowing REAL mushrooms actually have noticeable "gills" around the underside of their caps, and wanting something easier to work with than just melted chocolate, I came up with a bit of a thick ganache of semi-sweet chocolate and cream, to which I added a little hazelnut chocolate and cappuccino liqueurs. I then filled a pastry bag with a small star tip with the goods, and hollowed out the underside of each cap (fork tines were much better than a knife, which broke three caps), filled with the rippled ganache, and then inserted the stalk. (Nothing sexual sounding here - please move on!)


Oh, and because I was concerned that just solid brown gills might not be earthy enough in appearance, I actually tried having some melted white chocolate stirred into the mix, leaving streaks here and there. Worked GREAT until the first piping bag's worth firmed up and blew out the side of the bag (I hate when that happens!), so I had to re-heat all the chocolate and mix it together. Oh well - I think they look great! Oh, and an accidental bonus - all the hollowed-out meringue powder looked cool sprinkled on top of the mushrooms (which already have a dusting of cocoa).


These are mushrooms I bet even PETER would eat!

Tuesday afternoon I make the roulade - no pressure or anything!