Tag Archives: chocolate

Chocolate Cappuccino Mousses

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Ever since our daughter Catherine decided that the plural of chocolate mousse should really be mice, the name has stuck.  In our family everyone loves chocolate mice.  I make them in small glasses and if they’re not for a special occasion I put them in the fridge in a flat dish with a shower cap over the top.  Over a few days they quietly disappear.

I usually make them with dark or white chocolate, but decided to create one with a cappuccino flavour.  Nigella Lawson makes a chocolate mousse using marshmallows instead of eggs, so I used her recipe to develop one with a coffee layer on top of a dark chocolate layer.  The 250g packet of marshmallows I bought had both pink and white, so I divided them in half.  There were uneven quantities, so I had to put a few pink ones in with the white ones.  I think using mainly white ones for the coffee layer you end up with a nicer colour.

Chocolate Layer:
125g pink or white marshmallows
½ cup boiling water
75g unsalted butter
250g dark chocolate, broken into squares
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup (250ml) cream, lightly whipped
Coffee Layer:
125g white marshmallows
½ cup boiling water
2 Tbs instant coffee powder
75g unsalted butter
250g white chocolate, broken into squares
1 cup (250ml) cream, lightly whipped
To serve: whipped cream and grated or piped chocolate

Place all ingredients for chocolate layer, except the cream, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat gently, stirring until melted.  You don’t want the mixture to get too hot, so once the mixture is hot but not boiling, turn the heat off and let everything continue to melt in the residual heat.  By the time the marshmallows and chocolate has all melted the mixture should be fairly cool and beginning to thicken.  If not, wait until it is then thoroughly fold the lightly whipped cream into the mixture and divide between about 10 half-cup glasses.  They should be about two thirds full.

Dissolve coffee in the boiling water, then place all ingredients for the coffee layer, except the cream, in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat gently.  Again turn off the heat before the mixture boils and let the ingredients melt in the residual heat.  When mixture is fairly cool and thickening, thoroughly fold the lightly whipped cream into the mixture, then divide between the glasses.

Refrigerate several hours.  Serve decorated with some extra cream, whipped, or grated chocolate.  In the photo they are decorated with piped melted chocolate in the shape of a treble clef, as they were for a musical evening.

Serves about 10 or 12, depending on the size of the glass

Chocolate and Orange Gateau

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Friends hosted a New Year’s Eve party where everyone brought a plate.  I’ve heard lots of funny stories about new Australians not understanding this concept and turning up with just a plate.  Indeed my Greek teacher Michael Kazan told me that when he first arrived in Canberra from Athens and someone asked him to bring a plate, he thought to himself that if his hosts didn’t have enough plates, they probably didn’t have enough cutlery or glasses either.  So he took those as well.

As my contribution to the New Year’s party I took an Orange, Almond and Chocolate Dessert Cake – another recipe from the December edition of Delicious magazine.  I’ve renamed it Chocolate and Orange Gateau and made my own chocolate-covered orange slices rather than buying them.  My fan-forced oven is too hot at 180C for some cakes, especially ones which require longer cooking, so I set it at just under 170C which worked perfectly.

Chocolate and Orange Gateau

Chocolate-covered orange slices:
2 oranges
2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
150g dark chocolate
Cake:
2 oranges
150g dark chocolate
5 eggs
400g caster sugar
350ml sunflower or canola oil (just under 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup almond meal
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup orange liqueur
Ganache:
1 cup thickened cream
350g dark chocolate broken into squares
To serve:
Whipped cream (optional)

For the chocolate-covered orange slices, cut oranges into 1/4 inch slices, discarding the ends which have no flesh in them.  Heat sugar and water in a large frying pan, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Add orange slices, then simmer for 30-40 minutes, turning them from time to time, until the syrup thickens and disappears.  You will need to pay attention towards the end so they don’t stick or burn.  Remove orange slices with tongs to a cake cooling rack.  You can either leave them as whole slices or cut them in half.  They are best made the day before or several hours before serving so they have time to dry out a bit.  When they are dry enough, melt chocolate and dip half the orange slices into the chocolate, then leave to set on baking paper.

For the cake, place oranges in a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil then simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife.  Drain and process to a smooth puree in a food processor, then cool.  Preheat oven to 170C.  Grease and line a 24cm spring form cake pan with baking paper.  Place chocolate in a bowl over simmering water (don’t let bowl touch water) to melt, then cool a bit.

In a large mixing bowl whisk eggs, sugar and oil then gradually mix in the orange puree, almond meal and melted chocolate.  Add flour, baking powder and cocoa through a sieve and fold in thoroughly by hand. Pour into cake pan and bake for an hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Cover top loosely with foil if it’s browning too quickly.  Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto a wire rack.  Drizzle with liqueur then cool completely.

For ganache heat cream to boiling point in a saucepan, then add chocolate, turn off the heat and stir until smooth.  Allow to stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread over the cake, stirring from time to time.  Spread ganache over top and sides of cooled cake with a palette knife and decorate with chocolate-covered orange slices.  If liked serve with whipped cream.

Serves 16

Note: if you don’t have any almond meal you can make your own by blitzing some blanched almonds in the food processor.  If you don’t have any almonds you can substitute walnuts or even pine nuts.  You could substitute self-raising flour for the plain flour and baking powder.

Big Mary’s Mexican Bombe

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Our offspring are all married and running their own households.  They all love to cook and we spend a lot of time discussing recipes and things we have made.  James went to a Mexican-themed dinner party the other evening and made an impressive meringue-based dessert called Big Mary’s Mexican Bombe.  I gather everyone went back for seconds and there was none left for breakfast!

You may wonder how the Bombe got its name.  Well one of my father’s cousins from the Hill House clan in the north of England was called Big Mary, to distinguish her from Little Mary, wife of one of her brothers who was much shorter.  Big Mary gave me this recipe which has always been a winner.  The optional cream around the sides (not shown in the photo) gives the Bombe more of a gateau look and the longer you leave it in the fridge, the more the meringues will soften into a cake-like consistency.  I know the recipe seems to have a lot of sugar in it, but with a few unsweetened raspberries on the side, it just hits the spot!

Big Mary’s Mexican Bombe

4 egg whites
250g brown sugar
2 tsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tsp water
Filling:
125g caster sugar
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs water, extra
125g dark chocolate
2½ cups cream
To garnish (optional):
1½ cups cream, extra
50g praline, roughly chopped (optional)

Fresh berries to serve (optional)

Line 3 baking sheets with foil or non-stick baking paper and draw a 20 cm diameter circle on each.  Set oven to 120°C.  Whip egg whites until stiff.  Gradually beat in brown sugar and continue beating until sugar has dissolved and meringue is stiff and shiny.  Fold coffee mixture into meringue and divide amongst the foil sheets, spreading it evenly into three round discs.  Bake for 1 to 1½ hours or until crisp.  If your oven heats unevenly, swap the tins around halfway through cooking time.  A fan-forced oven helps avoid this.  Turn oven off and leave until cold.

Filling: melt chocolate and cool.  Whip cream and divide in two.  Heat sugar and water gently until dissolved.  Increase heat and cook, without stirring, swirling pan from time to time, until you have a rich caramel.  Quickly add extra cold water, being careful to protect your arm from the steam.  Swirl the pan to dissolve the caramel, then cool.

Gradually beat caramel into half the cream and fold cooled chocolate into other half.  Peel meringues from foil.  Place one on a large flat plate, flat side down.  Spread evenly with chocolate cream.  Place another meringue on top and spread with caramel cream.  Place remaining meringue on top and gently press down.  Refrigerate for several hours.

Optional garnish: An hour or two before guests arrive, whip extra cream and spread around the sides of the bombe, filling in the holes to create a smooth surface.  If liked, press roughly chopped praline into the cream.  Refrigerate until serving time.  Serve the bombe in thin slices, accompanied, if liked, by fresh berries.

Serves 12