Dark Chocolate Terrine Dessert

Chocolate lovers alert! Enhance your holiday table with this rich and decadent dark chocolate terrine dessert. This amazingly delicious treat shaped like half-spheres and poured with caramel sauce is a great party dessert idea. What's more? It is gluten-free!

This is my first terrine dessert! Some time ago, I saw a picture of a sliced chocolate terrine online.

Then, I learned about that dessert: its origin, how to make the perfect chocolate terrine, and how to serve it.

The classic dark chocolate terrine is usually made as a terrine cake, then sliced and served with caramel or raspberry sauce.

Since I love individually-served desserts, I made some fun baking, shaping the chocolate dessert like half-spheres.

What is chocolate terrine?

Chocolate terrine (terrine au chocolate or terrine de chocolate in French) is a French flourless chocolate dessert shaped into a loaf cake. It can be made with different kinds of chocolate: dark, milk, or white.

How does it taste?

Dark chocolate terrine is a pure chocolate dessert where good quality chocolate is the key. It tastes like a flourless chocolate cake, lighter than fudge but richer than dark chocolate mousse.

Why you should try this recipe

• A terrine cake served individually makes a perfect party treat.

• This easy chocolate terrine recipe is straightforward and quick to make.

• It is one of those dark chocolate desserts made with pure dark chocolate; no cocoa powder is added.

• Chocolate terrine dessert is no-bake and gluten-free. What's else? It is absolutely delicious.

• Finally, using different silicone molds allows for customizing the dessert (I even used a bunny silicone mold to make an amazing Easter dessert).

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for exact amounts and instructions. I recommend making the recipe as written for the best results.

• Dark chocolate: Use a high-quality 70% cocoa dark chocolate: Scharffen Berger dark chocolate or Valrhona dark chocolate. Couverture dark chocolate is the best for this recipe.

• Sugar: Use granulated white sugar to make the dessert.

• Eggs: The recipe calls for large eggs. To separate the egg whites from the yolks, use an egg separator to help at this step. Then bring the eggs to room temperature.

• Whipping cream: Use whipping cream with at least 30% fat content.

• Gelatin: The recipe calls for gelatin sheets with a strength of 200 bloom.

• Meringues: Use store-bought meringues or make meringue cookies yourself. Follow the recipe for meringue mushrooms to make meringue kisses.

• Icing sugar: Make it out of granulated sugar using a coffee grinder or powdered sugar.

Recipe variations

While dark chocolate terrine is a traditional dessert, you can give your classic a creative spin.

• Milk chocolate terrine: Replace dark chocolate with white or milk chocolate.

• Chocolate terrine with speculoos: Add broken speculoos cookies to the terrine mixture and fill the mold.

• Chocolate and prune terrine: Add chopped prunes, soaked in water or alcohol of your choice, for a few hours.

• Use a classic French terrine mold - a special loaf-shaped container with a weighted press (cover) that shapes the dessert from all sides. Or replace the terrine pan with a simple loaf tin covered with aluminum foil.

How to make chocolate terrine

#1 Make a chocolate terrine

To make a chocolate terrine, melt dark chocolate cut into pieces in a bain-marie/water bath, occasionally stirring with a rubber spatula, and let it slightly cool.

Soak gelatin sheets in cold water for 5 to 10 minutes. Break the meringues into small pieces.

Separate egg whites from the yolks. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks with granulated sugar until soft peaks (photo 1).

Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with an electric mixer until firm (photo 2).

Bring whipping cream to a boil. Remove a saucepan from the heat, add the drained gelatin, and mix.

Pour this mixture over the melted chocolate and combine it with a rubber spatula (photo 3). Add pieces of broken meringues (photo 4) and gently mix.

Fold the egg yolks/sugar mixture into the cooled chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula (photo 5).

Fold the beaten egg whites carefully into the chocolate mixture (photo 6).

Pour the preparation into a silicone half-sphere mold (photo 7), smooth, fold the cling film over the top, and place it in the freezer overnight.

Extra tip: Read about how to bake with silicone molds.

#2 Make caramel sauce

The next day, to make the caramel sauce, heat icing sugar with water in a saucepan over low-medium heat to get the brown caramel.

Remove the saucepan from the heat, add the soft butter in pieces and hot whipping cream, always mixing (be careful with splashing!) Heat the mixture for a few seconds and take it off the heat (photo 8).

Serving terrine, turn it out of the mold and let thaw for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Pour the caramel sauce on top of each dessert and serve immediately.

Expert Tips

1. To eliminate concern about eating raw eggs, use pasteurized eggs. However, consuming raw eggs is not advisable for pregnant women and babies.  
2. To make the chocolate terrine shaped like a cake, double the recipe. Pour the chocolate mixture into a terrine mold (or a nonstick loaf pan) lined with a plastic film. Refrigerate the dessert overnight (do not freeze it.) On the day of serving, remove the dessert from the mold/pan, cut it into thick slices, and serve it with caramel sauce.
3. Use a hot knife to get clean thin slices.

Storage instructions

You can keep the frozen chocolate terrine dessert in the freezer for up to two months. Bring it to the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

Recipe FAQ

Love chocolate desserts? Try these next!

• French Chocolate Ganache Tart
• French Chocolate Mousse
• Royal Chocolate Cake – Trianon
• Nutella Cake Roll

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from https://gourmand.viepratique.fr/. It was originally published on April 02, 2019. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.