Chocolate Mousse and Valentine's

 I have been submerged in chocolate for the last two and a half weeks, and while it is a delicious and satisfying treat, it is time to step back. But, before I do, I want to leave you with a delicious and amazing chocolate recipe.
I was reading my Bon Appetit magazine when I came across Andrew Knowlton's recipe for chocolate mousse. Well, I guess it's Julia Child's recipe. As a quick side note I would like to say I am very glad he cut his hair and shaved his beard. I admit I was surprised to see a handsome face under all that hair, as it has been my assumption that men hide their faces with hair when they don't like what they look like or have unsightly, small lips. A habit that I am sure women would take advantage of if it wasn't socially unacceptable for us to have facial hair.
Back to the mousse. I work late every Thursday, and would be unable to spend the entire day cooking a fantastic meal for my husband for Valentine's, which I would regularly do. I decided that in spite of the opposition I would still make a special Valentine's dinner for us and I would make as much of it as I could ahead of time.
Enter Chocolate Mousse.
I am a fan of chocolate. I am a fan of custard. I am a fan of the delicious union of custard and beaten egg whites, hence, mousse. So you can see the natural attraction I had to this recipe, with the addition of the fact that the entire thing is made in advance and stored in the fridge. Most of the ingredients I had readily available. Win.

You make the custard, allow it to cool, fold in beaten egg whites and whipped cream. And if I hear you say, "That sounds like a lot of work." I will have to choke you because it is less work than baking a cake and frosting it and nobody every complains about that.
It is amazingly delicious and rich without being overly sweet. The recipe calls for coffee, and since I love the flavor I added a bit of espresso powder for some added bitterness and coffee flavor. I'm definitely tucking this one away for dinner parties. It is the perfect dessert because it is impressive, stunning, absolutely delicious and just needs to be topped with whipped cream when you are ready to eat it.

Chocolate Mousse
(from Bon Appetit with minor alterations)

Makes 6 servings
Plan for 2 hrs chill time

3/4 cup chilled heavy cream, divided
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup strong coffee, room temp
dash of salt
3/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder
3 Tbsp. sugar, divided
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, or 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 large egg whites

Beat 1/2 cup cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Cover and chill.
Combine egg yolks, coffee, espresso powder, salt and 2 Tbsp. of the sugar in a large metal bowl. Set over a saucepan with 1 inch of gently simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly for about one minute, until the mixture has doubled in volume and looks lighter.
Remove the bowl from the pan and add the chocolate, whisking until melted. Let stand until room temperature, whisking occasionally.
In another bowl whisk egg whites with the whisk attachment of a hand mixer until foamy. Add the 1 Tbsp. remaining sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Using a spatula, fold egg whites into chocolate in two additions. Fold whipped cream in.
Divide mousse among six ramekins, cups, or parfait glasses. Chill until firm, two hours minimum.
Before serving whip remaining 1/4 cup cream and spoon onto mousse. Garnish with chocolate shavings if desired.

Happy Memorial Day

This past weekend I was asked to make some cupcakes with a patriotic theme in honor of Memorial Day. I have seen lots of different ideas, so I took a few of them, combined them and used ingredients that were available to me to make these cupcakes. They are quite good, not because of anything I did, but because they are strawberry-vanilla. Strawberry vanilla is one of those classic flavors. It reminds me of creamsicles, Italian sodas from the coffee shop where I worked, and strawberry shortcakes. I think its a wonderfully festive flavor for this day, because strawberries, Memorial Day, and barbecues are synonymous with the arrival of summer-there is something inside of all of us that says summer is truly here!
Maybe this recipe wasn't here for your Memorial Day celebration, but they would be great for 4th of July, Veterans Day, or Columbus Day, for that matter. Anytime you decide to make them I am sure they will be well received.

I made my own frosting, which really was a cinch, and tastes great, but if you are in a rush, by all means, buy some frosting. I also think they would look adorable if they were decorated with red licorice ropes and/or stars cut from some blue Airheads or something.


Patriotic Strawberry Vanilla Cupcakes


For the Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix
1 cup water
4 egg whites
1/3 cup corn oil
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup strawberry jam
1 teaspoon red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, water, egg whites, corn oil, sour cream, vanilla, and salt and blend until smooth. Place in prepared cupcake liners. Microwave jam for 30 seconds. Add food coloring and mix well. Place about ¾ teaspoon of the strawberry mixture onto the center of each cupcake. Use a butter knife to gently fold the strawberry mixture into the cupcakes, being careful not to overmix. Bake for 16-21 minutes.

Frosting:

1 cup shortening
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
4 cups powdered sugar

3 to 4 tablespoon milk

 
I dyed the blue frosting using a sky blue and a bit of violet. The red I achieved by adding A LOT of Christmas red, and cocoa powder.