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Chocolate Almond Midnight Cake

Source: 

The Millennium Cookbook, Eric Tucker----tweaked by Bob S.

A delicious combination of chocolate mousse, maple almond praline and raspberry sauce from San Francisco's famous Millennium Restaurant.

Ingredients: 

Cashew Crust:
79 ml1/3 c. unsalted cashews
44 ml3 T. sugar
74 ml5 T. canola
2 ml1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
240 ml1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ml1/8 tsp. salt

Chocolate Mousse:
470 ml2 c. (16 oz.) nondairy chocolate chips
24.6 oz. (2 boxes) organic firm silken tofu
180 ml3/4 c. sugar
5 ml1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ml1/8 tsp. salt

Maple Almond Praline:
59 ml1/4 c. maple syrup
240 ml1 c. slivered almonds

Raspberry Sauce:
470 ml2 c. fresh or 10 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed
59 ml1/4 c. sugar

Garnish (optional):
fresh fruit, cocoa powder, and shredded mint

Instructions: 

To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil an 8-inch round springform or false bottom pan. In a food processor, grind the cashews until they resemble fine meal. Add the sugar, oil and vanilla. Process till well combined. In a small bowl, stir the flour and salt together. Add the cashew mixture and mix into the flour, beginning with a spatula and ending with your hands. Press the crust into the prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until light brown and dry.

To make the mousse:
In a double boiler over barely simmering water, melt the chocolate chips. In a blender or food processor, combine the tofu, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Process, then add the melted chocolate and blend for 2 minutes or until very smooth.

To make the raspberry sauce:
Combine the berries and sugar in a blender or food processor and then strain through a fine-meshed sieve.

Return to your prebaked crust and lightly oil the pan above the crust. Pour the mousse mixture into the crust and bake 35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then run a paring knife around the inside of the pan. Let the cake cool to the touch and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Unmold just before serving.

To make the praline:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the maple syrup to a boil and boil one minute. Add the almonds and stir constantly until the maple syrup has completely crystallized onto the almonds and the almonds appear dry. Pour the almonds onto a baking sheet and let cool.

To serve:
Cut the cake into 12 pieces. For each serving, pool raspberry sauce on a plate and top with a slice of cake. Top with 1 T. maple-almond praline. Garnish if desired.

Notes: 

This was a hit when Bob brought it to our potluck. Due to an oversight, the praline and raspberry sauce didn't make it into the photo---whoever makes this next, please take a photo of a slice on a dessert plate with the pool of sauce and elegant topping and send it in!

Major Ingredients: 

Comments

Bob treated us to this excellent dessert again at our recent potluck. I forgot my camera but Steven gallantly supplied a photo with his cell phone---thanks, Steven!

Jerry and I celebrated our birthdays at Millennium this year. Of course I had to order the Chocolate Midnight Cake, which I remember so vividly from the time Bob made it for our potluck. It was sooo good at the restaurant, but I can't say it was any better than Bob's version. Thank you for introducing me. I also have the Millennium cookbook and have studied the recipe--it appears to be so complicated, I fear I would fall into one of the interstices and be disappointed with the results. Now that I know you made it for us a second time, I may be
inspired to try again.