Dark and White Chocolate Mint Mousse Bombe

To make the mint mousse: Bring one cup of the cream to a boil over medium heat and add the mint; set aside off the heat and steep for 30 minutes.

Put 1/4 cup of cool water in a heatproof glass measuring cup and sprinkle the gelatin powder over the water. Let dissolve for 2 minutes. Microwave on high for 40 seconds; stir thoroughly and let stand 2 more minutes, until completely dissolved.

Strain the mint-infused cream into a saucepan and return just to a boil. Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale in color. When the cream comes to a boil, add a large spoonful of the hot cream to the egg mixture and whisk to temper the eggs. Whisking constantly, slowly add the cream to the egg mixture. Add the softened gelatin and whisk together until smooth. Put the white chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Strain the mixture into the white chocolate and stir with a spatula to blend. Cool to body temperature.

Whip the remaining 3 cups of cream to firm peaks. Fold one third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then gently fold into the remaining cream in two additions. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until firm enough to pipe.

To make the bittersweet mousse: Fit the mixer with a whisk attachment. Put the eggs and egg yolks in the bowl of a mixer and set to beat on medium speed until well blended. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat to 248 F (soft ball stage) without stirring. With the mixer running on medium, slowly pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl into the eggs, avoiding the beaters. Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating at medium-high speed until the mixture has beaten to soft peaks and cooled to 100 F. Rapidly whisk one-third of the whipped cream into the warm chocolate, then gently fold in the egg mixture and the remaining whipped cream. The egg mixture will not be completely combined when you add the last whipped cream, but will blend completely as the cream is folded in. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until firm enough to pipe.

Put the mousses in separate pastry bags fitted with medium plain tips. Fill 4-inch flexible hemisphere molds three-fourths of the way with the dark chocolate. Poke the tip of the white mousse pastry bag right into the center of the chocolate mouse and fill the centers with the white mint mousse. The molds should now be completely full; smooth the tops and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze at least 3 hours, or overnight.

To make the paint and finish: Melt the chocolates over barely simmering water and stir in the cocoa butter until the mixture is thin enough to use in a sprayer. Fill the sprayer with the hot chocolate paint. Unmold the bombes and place on a rack set in a tray lined with parchment, waxed paper, or plastic wrap. Spray-paint the bombes. Freeze until ready to use.

To serve: Put the chocolate sauce in a squeeze bottle. Place a 5-inch white chocolate disc off-center on a chilled serving plate and place a bombe on one side of the disc, toward the center of the plate. Place a small white chocolate wafer beside the large white chocolate disc, and place another on top of the bombe. Rest a chocolate triangle on top of the mousse, and prop a striped chocolate stick up through the triangle, resting the end on the plate. Put the chocolate sauce in a piping bag with a small tip and make 6 or 7 successively smaller dots of chocolate sauce around the plate on the side opposite the large wafer. Repeat for each plate.

White Chocolate Wafers

Cut three sheets of smooth, heavy plastic, each about 14 inches by 16 inches. Place on a smooth work surface. Place a 5-inch round cutter and a 2-inch round cutter nearby.

Grate 1/2 ounce of the dark chocolate and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining dark chocolate and melt it in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, heating the chocolate to 110 F. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir the grated chocolate into the melted chocolate, lowering the temperature. When the temperature reaches 90 F, set the pan on a heating pad set to 90 F. Using the tip of a spoon, drizzle and spatter the dark chocolate over the plastic sheets. Let cool.

Grate 6 ounces of the white chocolate and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining white chocolate and melt it in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, heating the chocolate to 110 F. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir the grated chocolate into the melted chocolate, lowering the temperature. When the temperature reaches 84 F, set the pan on a heating pad set to 84 F.

Pour one third of the chocolate on one of the plastic sheets and quickly spread it out to an even thickness, about 13 inches by 15 inches, on the plastic. Do not stir up the dark chocolate spatters. When the chocolate just loses its sheen, cut four 5-inch circles and eight 2-inch circles from the sheet of chocolate, pulling the extra chocolate away from the circles and leaving them behind on the plastic. Repeat with the remaining chocolate and other two sheets of plastic, making a total of twelve 5-inch wafers and twenty-four 2-inch wafers. Slip the plastic sheets with the wafers onto baking sheets and freeze until ready to use.

Dark Chocolate Triangles

Make a cardboard template for a triangle measuring 5 inches by 4 inches by 3 inches. Draw another triangle 1/2 inch outside lines of the first. Cut out, making the hollow template. Set aside.

Cut three sheets of smooth, heavy plastic, each about 14 by 16 inches. Place on a smooth work surface.

Grate 6 ounces of the chocolate and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining chocolate and melt it in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, heating the chocolate to 110 F. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir the grated chocolate into the melted chocolate, lowering the temperature. When the temperature reaches 90 F, set the pan on a heating pad set to 90 F.

Pour one third of the chocolate on one of the plastic sheets and quickly spread it out to an even thickness, about 13 inches by 15 inches, on the plastic. When the chocolate just loses its sheen, put the template on the sheet of chocolate and cut round the inside and outside of the template with a small, sharp knife, pulling the extra chocolate away from the triangles and leaving them behind on the plastic. You should get four triangles on the sheet. Repeat with the remaining chocolate and other two sheets of plastic, making a total of twelve triangles. Slip the plastic sheets with the triangles onto baking sheets and freeze until ready to use.

Striped Chocolate Cigarettes

Cut two sheets of smooth, heavy plastic, each about 14 by 20 inches. Place on a smooth work surface.

Grate 3 ounces of the white chocolate and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining white chocolate and melt it in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, heating the chocolate to 110 F. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir the grated white chocolate into the melted chocolate, lowering the temperature. When the temperature reaches 84 F, set the pan on a heating pad set to 84 F.

Pour half of the white chocolate on one of the plastic sheets and quickly spread it out to an even thickness, spreading it very thin and covering the whole sheet. Make it as thin as possible. Using the comb, pull straight across the chocolate in the short direction, leaving stripes behind. Do this to the whole sheet. Slip onto a baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes. Repeat with the remaining chocolate on the other sheet of plastic.

Grate 6 ounces of the dark chocolate and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining chocolate and melt it in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water, heating the chocolate to 110 F. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir the grated chocolate into the melted chocolate, lowering the temperature. When the temperature reaches 90 F, set the pan on a heating pad set to 90 F.

Take one of the sheets of striped chocolate out of the freezer. Quickly spread a layer of dark chocolate over the stripes, as thin as possible, taking care not to disturb the stripes. Watch closely; as soon as the chocolate begins to lose its sheen, cut the sheet in half crosswise. Using the wide scraper or offset spatula lengthwise, press the edge under one of the sections at the edge. Holding it at a 45-degree angle to the chocolate, press under the chocolate, letting it roll up before the scraper. When the scroll is about 1/4 inch in diameter, cut along the front edge to release the cigarette. Lift it carefully and place on the parchment-lined pan. Repeat to make 12 cigarettes. Store in the freezer until ready to use. Expect to make several “test” cigarettes for every perfect one as you learn to control the motion and rolling.