Triple Chocolate Mousse

I've posted this before, long time back but heck, it's Christmas! What's Christmas without some sweet temptations?

I made this for my little get-together a week before Christmas and I think someone's going to blame me for his/her weight gain :P

This recipe was taken off Anna Olsen's "Sugar" programme and it went onto my "die-die-must-try-to-make" list immediately. Here's the ingredient list:

Dark Chocolate layer:
6oz (~ 170g. I'd give it a bit more) Dark Chocolate (I have used Cadbury Old Gold 70% cocoa and Carrefour housebrand 74% cocoa and both are good)
1/2 teaspoon gelatin powder
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cup whipping cream

White Chocolate layer:
5oz (~ 141g) White Chocolate
1/4 teaspoon gelatin powder
1/4 milk
1/2 cup whipping cream

Milk Chocolate layer:
6oz (~ 170g) Milk Chocolate
1/4 teaspoon gelatin powder
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup whipping cream

How to:
The method for all layers are the same. You should only prepare each layer as and when you need it.

1. Stir the gelatin into the milk and let it sit for a while.
2. Melt chocolate in a bain marie (or over a pot of simmering water), stirring constantly.
3. Heat the milk till it just starts to bubble and whisk it into the melted chocolate.
4. Let the chocolate + milk mixture cool to room temperature.
5. Whisk the whipping cream into a soft peak.
6. Gently fold whipped cream into cooled chocolate mixture.
7. Pour into mould and even out. Chill till set before putting on next layer.

Chilling times:
Milk Chocolate: at least 4 hours
Dark & White Chocolate: at least 1 hour

My notes:

The quantity here for the white and milk chocolate is half of the quantity Anna Olsen's original recipe. I'm not much of a sweets person so I've decided to use less of the milk and white.

Depending on how you are serving the mousse, you can change the sequence of the layers as you wish but I find the dark/white/milk sequence tastes best (especially when you have your spoon right to the bottom and spoon out all 3 layers into your mouth at the same time... heavenly...). Just make sure that each layer is well set before you pour on the next layer (otherwise the layers may mix up together).

For ease of serving, I used individual cups but you can also make it in a big tray. Just make sure you line the tray with a plastic wrap first. To serve, put a large serving plate over the mousse, tip the whole thing over and peel off the plastic. Slice the mousse with a hot, dry knife and use a cake server to lift off.

Garnishing:
Anna Olsen used a Dacquoise Crunch (a meringue spread thin and slow-baked, then broken up into pieces). I didn't do this because of time constraint. I just might try it next week :)

Have fun!

The Fung Family 2011

Plain muffins

Tried out a plain muffin recipe from about.com and felt it a tad too salty and I can taste the baking powder in there. I shall up the sugar and butter and cut the salt and baking powder next time and perhaps use self-raising flour instead. I've added chocolate chips after pouring into the tray and they stayed on top. I would fold in the chips the next time. Anyway, here's the original recipe, just in case you are interested:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup melted shortening (I used butter instead)

This would make 6 muffins from the standard muffin tray.

Happy experimenting!

Pancakes

There's a request from Yohei for pancakes so I dug out the trusted pancake recipe that I copied from the domestic Goddess' website and made a small batch (ok for the uninitiated: She's Nigella Lawson)

I halved the recipe and made just a couple for each of us to satisfy the craving but you can still make the batter in full and put in a jug, then just pour and use as and when you need. You can probably keep it for a couple of days in the fridge but do give it a good shake / stir before you use it just so everything binds properly.

INGREDIENTS

225g plain flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

30g butter, melted and cooled

300ml milk

butter for frying

Serving Size : 11 blini-pan-sized pancakes

Mix the dry ingredients together, make a well in the middle then beat in the eggs, milk and melted butter (or you can just put them in a blender blitz, just like how Nigella would). Once well mixed, put batter into a jug for easy pouring.

Heat a griddle till hot, brush on some butter, pour your batter in. Wait till it starts to blister on the surface (the little bubbles forming on the top) and it's time to flip over.

Enjoy!

Yohei likes his with just sugar and bananas :)

Home Made Mayo

What do you do when you opened a tin of tuna, chopped up a bunch of celery and then find that you have no mayo in the house? You make your own mayo! That's exactly what I did (albeit 1 day later because I don't have any mustard at home either :P)

Well, I've finally bought the dijon mustard from the supermarket and set to work making my first batch of mayo. I've gone through the internet for home made mayo recipes and they basically use quite the same proportions but I've made a little adjustment here and there to my taste and here's what I used:

1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of dijon mustard
1 tablespoon of lemon juce
1/2 cup of oil (the suggestion's to use a light-tasting oil so it won't mar the taste of your mayo)
1 teaspoon of salt (to taste)

Setting the whisk on medium, I whisked together the egg yolk and dijon. When they are well mixed, I dribble in the oil, little by little to make sure they bind together well. As you whisk away, the mixture should look creamy and 'together'. Finally, add in the lemon juice and salt and whisk away to combine everything.

Voila! Creamy mayo, with a fresh tang. Sunshine!


And straighaway, I made myself a mini tuna mayo sub topped with green olives. Oh I added a few shakes of cayenne pepper to the tuna mayo too!

Bon Apetite!

Soup Pasta

Here's our dinner for tonight - a spiral pasta in soup. The soup base is simple - ikan bilis and the sinful prawnhead, strained when done. Then I add in carrots (Yohei loves his carrots soft) and tomatoes to the soup . When I am ready to start cooking the pasta, I put in the brocolli to make sure they are cooked through and not hard, then put in the shelled prawns. before turning off the fire Boil the pasta as per package, put them on a bowl, put the ingredients on top and ladle the soup over. Voila! Simple, fast, no added oil, salt or other seasonings. Oh but of course my bowl will have the pre-requisite cut chilli padi.

Dessert will probably be kiwis but I'm still waiting for the king to finish his food before deciding.