Cheeky Chocolate Mousse

Home made chocolate mousse

With a Labor Day dinner party fast approaching, I needed an easy cook, yet impressive, dessert recipe.

I followed this two part recipe for chocolate mousse from Brit chef Jamie Oliver's cookbook, "Happy Days with the Naked Chef."  As far as I know, he does wear clothes in the kitchen...I think what he's actually referring to is that his recipes are pared down and quite elementary. (There's even a whole section in the cookbook dedicated to cooking with kids.)

I loved the photo of the Cheeky Chocolate Mousse because it was accompanied by these golden Sesame Seed Toffee Snaps.  It looked scrumptious!

To save on time, I started with the Toffee Snaps: The recipe involved two ingredients (actually three if you include the 8-10tbsps of water).  You can't go wrong with this one, I thought.  Can you..?

I messed up.

When following the instructions, I was surprised by how unspecific they were.  The instructions included "carry on cooking until light golden brown."  For some reason my syrup never turned golden brown.  I kept cooking for around 5 minutes and nothing much happened.  Why couldn't the recipe state an approximate length of time to give me some indication of how long I should be standing over the pan watching my syrup change color?

I got bored so I moved on to the next stage in the recipe and waited for the sesame seeds themselves to turn deep golden brown.  They never did.

I'm still puzzled about what went wrong.

Can only say that they didn't turn out like this:

Instead I created this monstrous mess:

Hmm.

It was with some trepidation that I made the Cheeky Chocolate Mousse.  But I needn't have worried. This was a dream.

Light, fluffy and uber-chocolatey.

I switched out the Amaretto, because I didn't have any, and added a generous glug of whiskey instead, which gave the sweet mousse a nice kick.

Would highly recommend this one, although I'd agree with Jamie that it needs to be served with a cookie or something with a crunchy texture.

My next job today is to make "Grandma's Ginger Snaps." (I found a popular recipe on www.allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe sites.)  I think the peppery ginger will provide a great contrast to the mousse.

Will let you know how I get on!

Cheeky Chocolate Mousse
(Recipe says it serves four.  It fed eight comfortably and I thought the portion size was very generous!)

8oz good quality bittersweet chocolate
5 tbsps butter
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon Amaretto
2 tablespoons honey

1. In a bowl over some gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter
2. In another bowl semi-whip the cream.  You want to create soft peaks.  Don't over whip
3. In yet another bowl (yes, there's a lot of washing up involved here), whisk the eggs and the honey until air bubbles appear.
4. Gently fold the chocolate and the whipped cream into the egg and honey mixture.  Go gently.  You want to keep as much air in the mousse as possible, to ensure that it stays light and fluffy.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours,  Overnight is even better.

If you'd like to try some of Jamie's other recipes, you can buy "Happy Days with the Naked Chef" from Amazon.com. 

Tiramisu - the sexiest dessert ever!

Food at the shore just has to be e-a-s-y

I just love it when you buy a product and they run a recipe on the package itself.  It makes it so much easier to shop; scan the ingredients and grab everything you need all at the same time.

I've had packets of lady fingers in my pantry for ages, and now, having made this sexy dessert for two weekends running, just when I need to lay my hands on a box and transcribe a great recipe for Tiramisu, of course, I can't find one!

A mercy dash to the local mini market in Stone Harbor failed to turn up any packets of lady fingers either.  So I'm settling for a recipe I've used previously from the Food Network:  Giada di Laurentiis's Tiramisu.

To me, Tiramisu, is the ultimate dessert; starring chocolate, coffee and mascarpone, it's like glorified baby food, spoon after delicious spoon after spoon.

Add another - adult - dimension to your tiramisu by adding amaretto or another of your favorite liquors to the espresso soaking mixture.

Team tiramisu with seasonal soft fruit Jersey strawberries, Jersey peaches or apricots and you've got the perfect Summer dessert...

Vanilla Pudding, Rapture in a Bowl

No cook desserts?  Bon Appetit has a spread on this topic in the current issue.

We've been ruminating on sweets that don't require a long spell in a hot oven, hence the focus on cupcakes a few weeks back.  On the same topic, We keep coming back to puddings.  This vanilla version is a corker--served plain, topped with seasonal fresh fruit,  a drizzle of caramel or a swirl of melted chocolate, we're sure you're gonna loooove it.


Vanilla Heaven (serves 4-6)

3/4 cup sugar
3 TBSP corn starch
3 cups half and half (or 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups heavy cream)
2 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
1 TBSP butter

In medium saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch.  Add half and half and mix, heating over med til mixture begins to thicken.

In separate bowl, beat eggs.  Pour half of the hot pudding mixture into bowl, whisking constantly.

Then return egg mixture to pan, heat over med-low and cook another minute or two til thickened.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.  Stir to blend.  Serve warm, or place in bowl, put plastic wrap or wax paper onto surface of pudding and chill.

And we couldn't really offer you vanilla pudding without our favorite chocolate counterpart.  We love making these both, and filling a bowl with half of each--kind of the yin and yang of dessert.

Pennsylvania General Store Owner Michael Holohan Talks Chocolate

Love and chocolate are in the air.  Valentine's Day may have come and gone, but at  Reading Terminal Market, they're prepping for a giant love fest on February 25, the Valentine to the Market Gala.  We've discussed the connection between love and chocolate before--how the body responds to the chemicals in chocolate in the same way that we experience the euphoria of a love affair.  We also shared a bit about Philadelphia's illustrious chocolate making history last year. 

Michael Holahan of the PA General Store

Today's post is dedicated to one of our favorite chocolate experts, Michael Holahan, who, along with his wife Julie, owns Pennsylvania General Store. 

Michael took time out of his busy schedule to chat chocolate with us.....

PFL:  What is the best selling chocolate item in PA General Store? 

MH:  Chocolate Covered Pretzels.  And pretzels with toppings are a big seller, but personally, I think that toppings and sprinkles are unnecessary.  The perfect chocolate covered pretzel has the right proportion of pretzel to chocolate, the right mix of salty and sweet.   There's no need to add anything else.

Dark Chocolate Wilbur Buds, Michael's favorite.

PFL:  Dark or Milk?
MH:  For me, there's nothing better than a dark chocolate Wilbur Bud.  A simple piece of good dark chocolate stands on own.   Scientifically, you need less to fill up,  you are satiated more quickly with a good piece of dark chocolate.   I've been in this business for 25 years, and there has been a big increase in the popularity of dark chocolate.  Historically, certain ethnic groups and urban dwellers favored dark chocolate over milk, but milk was more popular in general.  Now we're seeing about 50-50.  Our customers in Middle America are still almost universally milk chocolate, though. 

PFL:  Any Gender Differences in Chocolate Buying Habits?
MH:  Men have no self control.  They buy supersize Asher's Peanut Butter Heaven, or other giant pieces of chocolate which really constitute several servings, but as one piece they can pretend it's for one.  Often, slim, attractive women come into the store and buy $1.00 worth of Wilbur Buds.  This gives them about 6 or 8 buds, a very sensible, modest portion.  But women have self control.   And as the chocolate seller, I'm not complaining that slim, attractive women frequent my shop.


PFL:  Best Romantic Chocolate Story?
MH:  Several years ago we had a customer who was getting married but had proposed without a ring because he couldn't afford one.  When it came time for the rehearsal dinner, he really wanted to surprise his bride with a ring.   He had us deliver the ring to the rehearsal dinner in a box of our chocolate covered strawberries.  The rehearsal dinner was held at a rowhome in South Philly with tables stretching in a long line from the kitchen through the dining room and living room.  When we got there and presented the bride with the box of chocolate covered strawberries, she opened it, found the ring, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  We were really excited to play a part in a moment like that.

PFL:  Worst Chocolate Story?


MH:  When we started the Pennsylvania General Store, Reading Terminal Market didn't have as reliable climate control as it does now.  Early on, I stored a huge box of just-delivered chocolates on the top of a walk-in refrigerator.  It was up high, and I didn't take into account the simple rule of thermodynamics that heat rises.  The chocolate bloomed--it got that dusty, ash coating that arises when the temperature rises and falls.   It still tastes fine, and the chocolate isn't really damaged when this happens, it just looks horrid.  But we didn't know about the bloom because the boxes were decoratively packaged and sealed for Valentine's day so we never opened them.  We had customers returning the stuff for the next week.  It was awful, it looked like the chocolate had died.

We also made a big mistake our first Mothers' Day.  We made up these lovely baskets with sugar cookies, chocolates, and lavender soap--not taking into account how permeable chocolate is.  The scent of the soap seeped into the chocolate with disastrous results.  We had a bunch of calls that Monday asking why the chocolate tasted like lavender.  

I often thing of the Mark Twain quote about experience being the best education.  But sometimes the tuition is really high.  Fortunately we've managed not to repeat many mistakes....but we do make new ones from time to time!

We had a great time chatting with Michael and checking out his gorgeous array of treats.  For a great selection of chocolates and other locally produced specialties, head over to the Pennsylvania General Store.  And if you blew Valentine's Day, you'll have a great chance for redemption if you come bearing gifts from their wonderful shop.

An Orgy of Chocolate (and the Secret to Perfect Chocolate Curls)

Be warned.  You're likely to accrue calories just by reading this blog.  No apologies; we wanted to share some of our favorite chocolate desserts as everyone has chocolate on the brain at this time of year! 

The three desserts featured here are culled from this little book, which has become my dessert bible.  Called Everyday Chocolate : A Collection of Over 100 Essential Recipes, I bought this gem of a book for next to nothing last Summer from Marshalls.  You can buy your own used from Amazon for a mere 87cents - cheaper than a bar of chocolate...

Highlights to date include:

Millionaire's Shortbread - this was a heady confection of caramel, chocolate and buttery shortbread.  While it tasted delicious I vowed never to make it again - it required two cans of condensed milk and quite a lot of corn syrup so is too unhealthy to make except as an extra special treat. (It was good though.)

Lemon and Chocolate Tart.  My fellow baker, Keri, who normally refuses to eat chocolate when paired with any fruit or fruit flavoring relented on this dessert; Keri admitted that she actually quite liked the pairing.  

The end result was pretty impressive, but I struggled with the chocolate curls which seemed to melt before I could curl them.  Perhaps the curls in this case could best be described as chocolate shavings?

I thought this chocolate lemon tart was quite a 'grown-up' dessert. 

Several philly food lovers fans offered up suggestions for how to make curls properly, including a suggestion to drop the curls directly into a bowl of iced water so that they keep their shape.  Caroline Scala McMahon kindly provided a link to a helpful website describing how to get the best result.  See here for details...

We should have just asked Termini Bros how to get the perfect chocolate curls!

For me the best part of the chocolate lemon tart was the chocolate pastry crust, which worked out a treat.

Without further delay, here's the recipe for the Chocolate Crumble Pie:

I started to make this pie after I stumbled across a packaged Graham Cracker crust in my pantry. Cutting to the chase, the recipe below omits the pastry shell, because I substituted the shell for the cracker crust.  The recipe below only details the fudgy chocolate filling and the crumble topping, which again - lacking the correct ingredients in the pantry - I made do with what I had.  The toppings turned out perfectly with my substitutions.

Chocolate Filling:
5 fl oz heavy cream
5 fl oz milk
8oz semi sweet chocolate, chopped
2 eggs

Crumble Topping:
3 1/2 oz of brown sugar
3oz amaretto cookies ( we used ginger nut cookies instead)
3 oz toasted pecans (we didn't have these, so switched them out for some caramelized walnuts)
1 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa
4oz semi-sweet chocolate

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375degreesF
2. Bring cream and milk to a boil.  Turn off heat and add the chocolate broken up into small pieces.  Stir thoroughly
3. Whisk eggs.  Add to chocolate mixture and ensure mixed through.  Pour into pastry shell or cracker crust
4. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and leave to set for an hour.
5. Place all the crumble topping ingredients in a food processor and chop up into chunky pieces.  Sprinkle over the pie to decorate.

Hope you enjoyed this Chocolate Fest.  We certainly had fun researching it.