ENTREMETS AUX TROIS CHOCOLATS--meringue with three chocolates

   Need a dessert that is easy, delicious, fun to make, and French?  That would be Entremets Aux Trois Chocolats; a baked meringue disc layered with milk, white and dark chocolates.

                            ENTREMETS AUX TROIS CHOCOLATS
                             from Auberge Des Peupliers, Quebec Canada

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 pound fine-quality milk chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 pound fine-quality white chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 pound fine-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 cups well-chilled heavy cream

1.  Preheat the oven to 250˚F.  Line a buttered baking sheet with parchment paper and on it, trace an 8-inch circle.
2.  In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks, then add the sugar gradually, beating, and beat the whites until they hold stiff glossy peaks.  Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip and, starting in the center of the parchment circle, pipe it in a tight spiral to fill in the circle.  Bake the meringue in the middle of the oven for approximately   1 1/2 hours, or until firm when touched.  Turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside the oven for another hour.  Take meringue from the oven, remove the meringue on the parchment from the baking sheet, let it cool, and peel off the parchment carefully.  Cut the meringue to fit in the bottom of an 8 1/2-inch springform pan and put it in the bottom.
3.  Put the 3 chocolates in separate metal bowls, melt them, 1 at a time, over a suacepan of barely simmering water, stirring until they are smooth, and let them cool to room temperature.  In another metal bowl beat 1 cup of the cream until it just holds stiff peaks, stir half of the whipped cream into the milk chocolate, and fold in the remaining whipped cream gently but thoroughly.  Spoon the milk chocolate mixture over the meringue, spreading it evenly.  Place in the refrigerator while you repeat this step with the white chocolate and then the bittersweet chocolate.  Chill the dessert, its surface covered with plastic wrap, for 6 hours.  Unmold and cut the dessert into wedges with a serrated knife.