The recipe for Chocolate Merveilleux like at Fred's: a dessert that is all lightness and refinement!
Yum… I'm still drooling over the memory of this dessert that I made a few weeks ago. You may know it by its old name (awful!) of chocolate head, chocolate ball or mousse head. Today we talk about chocolate merveilleux (much more elegant!). It's one of my mom's favorite pastries (a fan of meringue).
So when it came time to decide what dessert to bring to my aunt's, I received some maternal pressure ^^ (I already have another request for Christmas :D). I therefore tried my hand at this simple and quick little pastry but with great flavor potential! I barely had time to take a photo before they were devoured!
This recipe is the result of lengthy research and various philosophical reflections. Several countries claim its origin (Denmark, Belgium, United Kingdom…). In all these origins we find a common base of two meringues joined by cream and covered with chocolate shavings. Sometimes the dessert is topped with a candied cherry as in Belgium or covered with melted chocolate as in Canada.
There are also versions with marshmallow. My mom particularly likes the chocolate merveilleux recipe sold in bakeries with crispy meringue topped with butter cream (I think). But today, the trend is more towards whipped cream (lighter in the mouth). This is particularly the case with Fred's Merveilleux which are praised by the gastronomic community, which is why I went with the recipe from Paprikas.
No technical difficulty, we make dry meringues on one side and solid whipped cream on the other in which we incorporate melted chocolate. When the meringues are well cold, we cut the crest and join them together in pairs with whipped cream. Then we coat the whole thing and dip it in chocolate shavings (I can confirm we get it everywhere!). But we get a bite full of refinement and lightness, perfect after a rather rich meal.
The guests loved it (and so did I even though it's not really my cup of tea at first) but still regretted the crispy side of the meringues which tend to soften when in contact with whipped cream. For the next test, I'll look for a recipe closer to what you can find in bakeries.
