Chocolate rocks are not a very Thanksgivinish dessert, but Mike (who is not wedded to tradition) wanted me to make them. They were OK and simple enough to make but not anything to write home about. One problem was that the rocks were too tall, making it difficult to bite into them. Another was that I wasn't crazy about the chocolate mousse, I found it too heavy and not sweet enough. I liked the chocolate mousse from Bay Wolf much better. The rocks were also not easy to assemble - the problem was that there was too much chocolate mousse for the meringues. Still, it was a fun dessert to make.

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Chocolate Rocks

Ingredients

For the meringue

3 egg whites

2/3 cup sugar

1 tbsp. cocoa powder

melted butter

For the mousse

4 yolks

3 egg whites

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar

5 oz. semisweet chocolate, cut in chunks

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cubed

cocoa powder

Instructions

Prepare the meringues. Preheat oven to 275 F. Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and brush it with the melted butter.

Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until they form hard peaks, progressively adding 1/3 cup of sugar. Mix the cocoa powder with the rest of the sugar and fold into the egg whites. Spoon the mix into the baking sheet, forming twelve flat merengues.

Bake for an hour or until cris. Let cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the mousse

Whisk the yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar with an electric mixer until frothy and pale yellow. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate and the butter together in a bain marie, stirring constantly. Whisk until they are smooth and creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in the yolk mixture. Set aside.

Whisk the egg whites with 2 tbsp. of sugar in an electric mixer until it forms hard peaks. Fold in the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour.

Assemble the rocks. Cover each meringue base with two or three tablespoons of mousse. Dust with cocoa powder and serve.

Adapted from the recipe for Chocolate Rocks, page 192 of The Basque Kitchen.