Mohr im Hemd

I finally got up the nerve to try my own Mohr im Hemd. This was the dish that we always ordered if we found it on the menu. It translates as "The Moor and His Shirt" which is so politically incorrect that it isn't easy to find, even though it is a traditional Viennese dish. It is a steamed pudding, like the Christmas dessert I grew up on and it is very moist and very chocolate, though not as sweet as an American dessert. It was successful enough that Rob had me make it twice more in the same weekend.

Happily, after learning how to make it, I feel less guilty about eating the stuff. How often does that happen? Here is the recipe I used, as opposed to the top secret family recipe that I don't even have, or the recipe from my Austrian cookbook that asks for 'gratified butter':

MA's Mohr im Hemd

3 bread rolls, crusts removed and cubed

1 c milk

3/4 c unsalted butter
1/4 c sugar

8 oz best and darkest chocolate you can find

8 eggs

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c walnuts, ground

1/4 c bread crumbs

chocolate sauce

whipped cream

Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Grind walnuts in blender or food processor. Separate eggs.

Soak bread cubes in milk for a few minutes, then press out the liquid in a fine mesh sieve.

Melt chocolate over low heat. Cream butter with 1/4 c sugar. Add egg yolks, then bread paste, and finally the slightly cooled chocolate.

Whip egg whites with 1/2 c sugar until soft peaks form. Fold into egg yolk/chocolate mixture, and finally fold in the bread crumbs and walnuts.

Grease either one large tube cake pan or several ramekins with butter and dust with sugar.

Spread mixture into pan/ramekins and place into a deep baking dish. Fill baking dish with one inch of water and bake in oven for 40 minutes for ramekins or 55 minutes for the large pudding pan. (I did mine in a steamed pudding dish, which has a lid; when finished, it looked dry on top)

Let cool about 10 minutes and then turn out. Serve with chocolate sauce (the 'moor') and whipped cream (his shirt).

This dish really cries out for a good Scharffenberger chocolate, but alas, there was none to be found. So we used Ghiradelli, and as Joss shows, it was a reasonable facsimile.

It would seem that the chocaholic gene is dominant. So there is our secret recipe, and the end of Mohrquest 2009. Let us know if you try this! [food styling and photography, courtesy the Professor]