Chocolate Spaetzle

Ingredients

• 8 1/2 ounces creme fraiche
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
• 2 ounces, 70 percent chocolate, melted
• 1-ounce sugar
• 5 teaspoons salt, plus a pinch
• 7 ounces all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 ounces cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 ounces atomized chocolate
• Olive oil
• Macerated Strawberries
• Chocolate Meringue
• Strawberry Sorbet

Directions

Put the creme fraiche, eggs, and vanilla paste in the blender and puree. Pour the melted chocolate into the running blender. Puree until smooth and emulsified.

Sift all the dry ingredients (sugar, 5 teaspoons salt, flour, cocoa powder, atomized chocolate) together into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the center of the bowl. Stir the blended mixture into the dry ingredients. Let it rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

Press mixture through a spaetzle press.into a large pot of boiling water. Cook for 1 minute after they float. Drain. Put into a large bowl and toss with a pinch of salt and enough olive oil just to coat.

Heat up a large griddle and coat with oil. Toss the cooked spaetzle onto the hot griddle with some drained macerated strawberries. Cook until the spaetzle has crisped up a bit

Top with chocolate meringue, and strawberry sorbet.

Macerated Strawberries:

• 2 cups fresh halved strawberries
• 1/2 cup simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar heated until sugar dissolves; cool)

Toss the strawberries in the simple syrup and let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Yield: 2 to 3 servings

Chocolate Meringue:

• 4 1/2 ounces egg whites
• 4 1/2 ounces sugar
• 3/4 ounces cocoa
• 1-ounce 10X powdered sugar
• 3/4-ounce cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Whip whites and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer. Sift together cocoa and powdered sugar. Fold the dry ingredients into the meringue when it has reached full volume. Then fold in the cocoa nibs. Spread the chocolate meringue onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan, sprayed with nonstick spray, about 1/4-inch thick.

Bake for about 1 hour or until the meringue is hard and completely dried out.

Yield: 3 to 5 servings

Strawberry Sorbet:

• 1 pound strawberries, cleaned and hulled
• 1 pint water
• 1 pound granulated sugar

Heat the water and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves completely. Cool. Puree the strawberries with enough simple syrup to cover in the blender. Strain through a sieve. Stir the remaining simple syrup into the strained strawberry puree.

Spin in an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Yield: 1/2 gallon