Chocolate Filo Purses with Late-Harvest Sémillon Sabayon
Filo pastry became a staple in our kitchen in the 1980s and has been there ever since. Once you feel confident with it, you'll appreciate its versatility. The key is to keep a damp cloth over the filo you aren't working with. You can't leave it sitting uncovered for more than a couple of minutes or it starts to dry out and crumble. For other sexy, impressive variations, serve them with a berry coulis, crème fraîche or ice cream instead of the sabayon.
Ingredients
24, 7-inch square sheets of filo pastry
1 cup melted sweet butter
8 tbsp sugar
8 oz semi-sweet Belgian chocolate, roughly chunked
Late-harvest Sémillon Sabayon:
11 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup late-harvest Sémillon
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
Directions
To make the Chocolate Filo Purses:
On a flat, dry surface, lay out one square of filo pastry and brush lightly with melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar, cover with another layer of filo and repeat butter and sugar. Cover with a third layer of filo. Place approximately 1 1/2 oz of chocolate in the centre of the filo. Gather up the filo like a little purse and pinch together just above the chocolate. Brush with butter and sprinkle with a little more sugar. Keep refrigerated until ready to bake.
Repeat this procedure until you have 8 filo purses. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until the filo is golden brown. Serve warm with sabayon, fruit coulis, sorbet or crème fraîche.
To make Late-Harvest Sémillon Sabayon:
Beat the egg yolks, sugar, salt and late-harvest Sémillon together in the top of a double boiler, whisking constantly until the mixture is all one colour, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, place the top of the double boiler in a larger bowl of ice and water and continue whisking until cool. Fold in cream.
Serves 8