Honey peanut butter chocolate bombe
By Tali Simon | October 5, 2011
{Bombe} n.
A frozen dessert usually containing ice cream and formed in layers in a mold.
That’s Webster. I would have said, “An intense frozen dessert befitting a special occasion that requires good hand-eye coordination and room in the freezer. Assemble at your own risk.”
This bombe thing (which, by the way, is pronounced “bam,” much like “bomb”) is crazy. It is potchke personified. It was confusing. It was sticky. And it was delicious.
The photos in Sweet Secrets had been tempting me for months, so it seemed Rosh HaShanah was the perfect excuse to make us a bombe. I read the directions at least three times before starting, though, and I just didn’t get it. Either it was late, or the directions really were confusing. Or both.
The other thing with the bombe is that you have just one chance to get it right. In other recipes, you can always saute another onion if the first one burns. You can always add more salt if a dish lacks flavor. But when it comes to transferring a small bombe layer into a larger bombe layer, either you get it right or you’ve just wasted a lot of Rich’s whip and chocolate.
Fortunately, I did okay. Sure, the rice crispie base was too big and I had to trim the edges. And yeah, the chocolate glaze kind of melted into the bombe instead of drizzling down in a solid topping. But you should have seen the looks on the guys’ faces when we sliced into it. My husband and his friend leaned forward to catch the first glimpse of the bombe’s middle with such interest that really, it was a shame I couldn’t take a photo.
So the bombe was a pain, but it was also so much fun to share with friends. Would I make it again? Maybe…in about three years.
From Sweet Secrets
After all that talk about confusing directions, I really hope my tweaked version will be useful to some of you. Please let me know how your bombe comes out!
Ingredients
Chocolate mousse
- 2 cups heavy cream (or liquid Rich’s Whip)
- 9 oz/250 g bittersweet chocolate
Base
- 3.5 oz/100g bittersweet chocolate
- 4 Tbsp butter (or margarine)
- 3 1/4 cups rice crispies
Peanut butter and honey mousse
- 1 cup heavy cream (or liquid Rich’s Whip)
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
Chocolate glaze
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (or liquid Rich’s Whip)
- 3 oz/80 g bittersweet chocolate
Note: You will need two bowls that fit inside each other. I have a set of three stacking Pyrex bowls and used the small and medium ones for this recipe.
Directions
1. Start by making the chocolate mousse. In a saucepan, bring 1 cup of cream almost to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir to melt.
2. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. You want it to set enough so that when later combined with more cream, it will give the mixture substance.
3. Next, make the rice crispie base. Melt the chocolate and butter together, add rice crispies, and mix until well-coated. Line a round baking pan the size of the larger bowl you are using with parchment paper. Flatten the mixture to a dense circle, using the bottom of a mug to flatten. Freeze until it hardens. (By the time you need it, it should have hardened.)
4. About 3 hours into the refrigeration time for the chocolate mousse, you should begin making the peanut butter and honey mousse. Whip the cream and honey until stable but not stiff (you want soft peaks).
5. Fold peanut butter into the mixture and mix well. Transfer to the smaller of the two bowls you have chosen to use. Refrigerate no more than 1 hour.
6. When the chocolate mousse has been in the fridge for 4 hours, transfer it to a mixer bowl and add the last cup of cream. Whip until fluffy, but no longer.
7. Set aside one cup of the finished chocolate mousse. Pour the rest of it into the larger of the two bowls you have chosen to work with.
8. Still with me? Now comes the first tricky part. Fill a bowl larger than the one containing the honey peanut butter mousse with simmering water. Carefully lower the peanut butter mousse bowl into it, making sure no water enters the mousse. Hold it there for about 30 seconds so that the heat has a chance to loosen the mousse from the sides of the bowl.
9. Very carefully, slide a knife around the edge of the mousse (this helps loosen it further) and tilt the bowl. The mousse should begin sliding out. Transfer it gently into the chocolate mousse and settle it in the middle. Press down slightly.
10. Cover the top with the reserved cup of chocolate mousse. This creates a thin layer of chocolate mousse below the peanut butter mousse. It also conceals the peanut butter mousse, making the slicing at the table more exciting.
11. Carefully release the rice crispie base from its pan and place on top of the chocolate mousse. Press down slightly. Cover and freeze overnight.
12. You’ve done well. Now it’s time for the second tricky part. Using the same simmering water technique, transfer the finished bombe from the bowl to a serving platter. It will sit on the rice crispie base and resemble a dome.
13. Now for the finishing touch: In a saucepan, bring the cream almost to a boil and pour over chocolate. You know the drill — stir until completely melted.
14. Pour the glaze over the bombe. If all goes well, it should flow freely down the sides, giving it a good, strong chocolate coating. Serve straight from the freezer. And enjoy. You worked hard for this one.
- 8 comments • Desserts • Special Occasions
- Tagged as: baking • bombe • chocolate • desserts • frozen desserts • ice cream • mousse • Rosh HaShanah
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