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March 05, 2005
Eggplant Inquisition ...
... Or "No One Expects the Eggplant (in a Dessert)".
So this month's Paper Chef has some odd ingredients. Odd in that they don't immediately jump to mind as something I'd want to eat together. Eggplant, pomegranate, stale bread and chocolate. Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with that.
My first thought involved a baba ghanouj-like spread. Eggplant, chocolate and tahini (trust me, the two of those go as well as chocolate and peanut butter) spread on a stale bread crostini with pomegranate seeds for garnish. I considered a mole casserole with eggplant and chicken. But in the end, I wanted to try making a dessert with eggplant. Mostly because it's such a silly idea.
I decided I'd make a quasi-bread pudding with eggplant and a pomegranate chocolate sauce to top it off. I also wanted some pomegranate seeds for garnish, but after hitting four different markets, I found out that pomegranates are not in season, which makes them more of an odd choice.
For the pudding:
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 1.5 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1/4 loaf sourdough bread, stale
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)
- pinch of salt
- butter and sugar for pan
Heat the oven to 350° F. Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave safe container (~ 1 min at 50% power), then mix thoroughly. Slice the raw eggplant lengthwise and scoop out the meat leaving the skin behind. Pull the crust off the bread and roughly tear or chop the bread into smaller pieces. Add the eggplant, bread and sugar into a food processor and pulse for about a minute or until everything is well mixed. Add the egg and pulse until incorporated. Add chocolate/butter mix, nutmeg, vanilla, salt and rum (if using) and pulse until the liquid is a nicely homogenous.
Butter two individual serving bundt cake pans and sprinkle sugar inside. Fill to just over 3/4 way up with the batter. Place the cake pans on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 45 mins. Rotate once during baking. Once finished, place pans on a cooling rack and let sit for 15 mins. Overturn and allow to cool to room temperature.
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 4 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- pinch salt
Put the juice, chocolate, butter, sugar and salt in a pot and bring to a simmer, constantly stirring. Be careful to watch the pot lest it boil over. Reduce the liquid by half. Take off heat and stir in vanilla and heavy cream. Let cool, then place in dispensing bottle and refrigerate.
For candied eggplant:
- Six thin sliced rounds of eggplant
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Bring water and sugar to a rollicking boil and add eggplant rounds leaving them in for a minute or so. Pull eggplant out and place in a shallow container, pour the syrup over them. Let sit for an hour, then drain the eggplant and place on parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar and place in a 250° F oven until dry and crunchy.
Plate up the cakes, pour some sauce over cake and into bundt hole. Garnish with candied eggplant, whipped cream and mint. Sprinkle a little confectioner's sugar on top.
Enjoy the Inquisition.
Tasting notes are after the jump.
The texture is crumbly, wet and chewy. It has a very deep chocolate taste that's only helped along by the pomegranate infused chocolate sauce. There's a definite taste of eggplant, but it's very mild and like a weak current in the background. The whipped cream, believe it or not, adds a bit of lightness to the dessert.
It could have used a little less time in the oven. The bottom of it, which was open and on top in the oven, is drier than it should be. I love the crumbly nature of it though. The best way to describe this is like a zucchini bread, only more sweet.
The candied eggplant is surprisingly good. The caramel flavors dominate the eggplant, and the crisp exterior give just slightly to a chewy interior.
Would I make this again? Well, to be honest, eggplant is not my thing at all. I'd probably not go out of my way to make this, unless it was to impress or scare someone. But it is very tasty, nonetheless.
Posted by Samer at March 5, 2005 06:29 PM
Comments
An ingenious way to use the 4 ingredients...very impressive.
Posted by: Barbara at March 8, 2005 02:11 PM
I very much like the idea of the candied eggplant. I really liked the sweet chip I made with them, so I can imagine the candied eggplant is also rockin' :) great job!
Posted by: Sasha at March 8, 2005 02:27 PM
I thought about making a similar type of pudding, but I know mine would not have looked anywhere near as good as that! Very tempting. If I were judging, you'd have my vote.
Posted by: caryn at March 8, 2005 04:26 PM
This dessert sounds amazing. You may not decide to make it again, but maybe I will give something similar a try one day. Good job! The results have just been posted .
Posted by: sam at March 9, 2005 12:02 AM
I think you should have won--I was amazed to see eggplant in a dessert--I shall make this in honor of your creativity--I was absolutely flummoxed on this one.
Posted by: Carolyn at March 9, 2005 10:11 AM