Kevin Lee Jacobs

Gardening, Recipes & Home Décor Tips

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Gardening
    • Annuals
    • Bulbs
    • Forcing
    • Groundcovers
    • Herbs
    • Houseplants
    • Pests
    • Perennials
    • Vegetables
      • Tomatoes
    • Preserving the Harvest
      • Soil
    • Winter-Sowing
    • What To Do When
  • Household
    • Decorating
    • Flower Arranging
    • Good Ideas
    • Etc.
    • House Tour
    • Christmas
  • Shop
  • Ask Kevin
    • Ask Kevin Forum
    • Tips
    • Email Kevin
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • Pinterest

Chocolate Malakoff

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | January 13, 2019 1 Comment

Last updated on February 17th, 2019

Orange liqueur-dipped cookies surrounding a soft mound of chocolate and almond flavored mousse? YES, PLEASE. Here’s the video and printable recipe for this Chocolate Malakoff:

Thanks for watching! And now, a few notes to note:

“Malakoff” is a Russian name. From what I’ve read, Chocolate Malakoff and its cousin Charlotte Malakoff both originated in the Russian court, back when French chefs were employed by the royal family.

You could “healthify” this dessert, just a little, by omitting the cookies. The mousse is delicious all on its own.

A charlotte mold is useful for all kinds of savory souffles and sweet desserts. I purchased my French-made, 8-cup mold from this online source.

xKevin

Here’s the printable:

Print
Chocolate Malakoff

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Yield: enough for 8 servings

A molded French dessert of cookies and chocolate-almond mousse. Elegant to serve, and devilishly-delicious to eat.

Ingredients

    For the fortress:
  • 1/3 cup orange liqueur
  • 2/3 cup water
  • Approximately 24 Lady Fingers or Margherite cookies (see note below)
  • For the mousse:
  • 1 generous cup (about 6 ounces) slivered almonds
  • 1 cup super-fine sugar
  • 2 sticks (one cup) butter, softened to room temperature
  • 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted in 1/4 cup strong, hot coffee
  • 1/3 cup orange liqueur
  • 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

  1. Preliminary work -- Place a cut out round of wax paper in the bottom of an 8-cup capacity charlotte mold.
  2. Making the fortress -- Pour the orange liqueur and water into a pie plate. Briefly dip the cookies in the liquid, and then let them drain on a wire rack. Line the charlotte mold with the dipped and drained cookies, making sure their flat side faces the wall of the mold. Reserve leftover cookies.
  3. Making the mousse -- Put the almonds and sugar in a food processor, and process until a fine powder is achieved -- about 1 minute. Then add the butter and process until the mixture turns pale and fluffy. Add the melted chocolate mixture, the liqueur, and the almond extract, and process until thoroughly combined -- 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Beat the cream to soft peaks, and then fold the cream into the chocolate-almond mixture to create the mousse.
  4. Assembling and chilling the dessert -- Scoop 1/3 of the mousse into the cookie-lined mold. Place 2 of the reserved cookies on top of the mousse. Continue layering the mousse and cookies, ending with a layer of mousse. Smooth the top with an offset spatula, then cover with a sheet of wax paper. Top with a plate and heavy can (or some other weighty object). Chill for 6 hours or overnight.
  5. Serving -- Unmold the dessert, and decorate the top with confectioners sugar, cocoa powder, or piped, stiffly-beaten cream.

Although Lady Finger cookies are traditional for this dessert, I think Margherite cookies (sold by Stella d'Oro in the United States) hold up better against the soft mousse. They are also less likely to break when the dessert is unmolded.

3.1
https://www.agardenforthehouse.com/chocolate-malakoff/
Copyright 2015 by Kevin Lee Jacobs

Cheese Soufflé (GF)
Chuck Roast in the Instant Pot

Comments

  1. 1

    Dianne says

    January 16, 2019 at 11:00 pm

    Hi Kevin,
    Although I really don’t need to have my mind on desserts, (post-holiday resolutions) this does look very tempting!
    A suggestion: Since you’re doing French foods this month, how about doing a video on your Creme Brulee?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get my new cookbook!

Buy The Book

RETURN TO TOP
COPYRIGHT© 2009–2023 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | KEVIN LEE JACOBS