Like many countries with a long history, Spanish desserts have been influenced by the cuisines of other cultures. Marzipan dates back to the days when Spain was ruled by the moors. It was the moors, by the way, who helped bring refined sugar to Spain. Later, the Aztecs introduced chocolate to Spain. Today, there are many custards, tarts and flans in Spain's dessert pantry, many of which rely heavily on egg yolks. Below, I've given you a couple of my favorite of Spain's dessert recipes. Of the two, my favorite is the banana rum raisin tart.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
7 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup icing sugar
1/3 cup espresso or other strong, dark roast coffee
2 Tbsp cointreau

On top of a double boiler melt chocolate on low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool until nearly at room temperature. Add olive oil to the chocolate and whisk it together until well combined.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar. Whisk until foamy. Add the coffee and cointreau and whisk until blended. Add the chocolate mixture and fold it together with a spatula.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites, a third at a time, into the chocolate just until there are no more white streaks. Transfer the mousse to a 10 inch round cake pan and refrigerate at least 8 hours, or until set.

When set, remove mousse from the fridge and serve. If you like, top the mousse with whipped cream.

BANANA RUM RAISIN TART
1 unbaked pie crust
1 large egg white, beaten
2 cups mashed ripe bananas, sprinkled with juice of half a lemon
3/4 cup raisins soaked in 1/4 cup rum
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 large egg
2 egg yolks
3/8 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
zest of 1 lemon

Heat oven to 400F.

Line a 10 inch tart or spring-form pan with the pastry. Bake blind for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and brush the pastry with some of the egg white. Lower the heat to 350F and bake 5 more minutes.

Remove from the oven and arrange bananas over the pastry, sprinkling with the raisins and almonds. Lower the oven to 325F.

Beat the whole egg, yolks, cream, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest. Pour over the fruit and return to the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until set. Serve at room temperature.

Learn more about this author, Brian Vandenbroek.
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