canarygirl.com

May 7, 2008

Luscious Orange and Chocolate Mousse

Orange and chocolate are one of those perfect combinations…like wine and cheese, or pears and cheese, lemon and chicken…Chocolate *obviously* is fantastic on it’s own, but man, when you add that extra little zing of orange, it just elevates it to new levels.  As the site’s one year anniversary approached, I wondered what would be the perfect recipe to celebrate with?  I toyed with a drink recipe, cakes, some really decadent main…nothing really jumped out at me.  After the site crash last week (which still is not fully resolved, btw…I still have to edit a gazillion posts wraught with Â’s and gobbledy gook. :P ), I was rather uninspired…I huddled around my bowls of soup and or plates of mashed potatoes like someone was going to take them away.  What can I say…soup and mashed potatoes are comforting to the heart as well as the tummy. lol  Finally I decided that I would do a chocolate mousse.  But, I thought, it’s got to be the best damned mousse ever.  I’ve got to add some orange in there, and some booze! :lol: The last mousse recipe I tried was excellent, though a bit too involved for everyday.  This recipe, folks is easy enough for a weekday (it only takes about 10 minutes to make), and you’ll have enough to last for at least a few days of delicious desserts—more if you freeze some into mousse pops.  And!? Since this particular recipe has booze in it?  It’s alllllll for you.  The kids will have to sit this one out. (You *can* omit the Cointreau for the kids of course, and just up the water a tad, but it’s more fun this way. ;) ) This is grown up mousse.  Mom and Dad mousse.  Perfect mousse.  See?  Wanna bite?

I perused the internet to find a recipe that was simple and quick, yet used quality ingredients, and found the perfect starting point posted by Debra47 at Group Recipes.  I adapted her recipe to make the one I had in my mind.  If you like chocolate and you like oranges?  You are going to love this, guys. This is what I have left:

 

First of all, the ingredients:

Ingredients:

6 ounces (150 grams) Lindt Dark chocolate infused with orange essence and orange zest (or a high quality dark chocolate and a bit of orange essence and orange zest)
3 eggs, separated
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Cointreau or Grand Marnier
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup demerara sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:
 
Break up the chocolate bar and place in a microwave safe bowl.
Melt chocolate for about 20-30 seconds (watch this carefully, you don’t want to burn it).
Add egg yolks and beat to combine.

Add water and Cointreau and beat to combine.
Set aside.
Beat egg whites and salt on high speed until soft peaks form.

Add sugar and cinnamon and beat to combine.
Fold chocolate mixture into egg white mixture.

Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Serve with freshly whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Mousse de Chocolate y Naranja en español:

Ingredientes:

150 gramos de chocolate Lindt de Naranja
3 huevos, separados
2 cucharadas agua
2 cucharadas Cointreau o Gran Marnier
pizca de sal
6 cucharadas azúcar demerara (azúcar moreno)
1 cucharadita de canela molida

Elaboración: 

En un bol apto para el microondas, derretir el chocolate–ten cuidado a no quemarlo!
Añadir las yemas y batir hasta que estén incorporadas.
Añadir el agua y el Cointreau y mezclar bien.
Batir las claras con la sal a punto de nieve.
Añadir el azúcar y la canela y batir hasta que la mezcla esté homogénea.
Añadir el chocolate, mezclando con cuidado.
Dejar en la nevera durante varias horas, o de un día para otro.
Servir con nata montada y un pizquito de canela.

 


May 11, 2007

Chocolate Coulant (Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes)

Filed under: cake, chocolate, desserts, holiday, recipes, valentine's day — nikki @ 12:26 pm

With Valentine’s day coming up, I thought I’d share my very favoritest chocolate dessert EVER.  These turn out absolutely amazing every time, and are SO easy you wouldn’t even believe it.  One of the great things about this dessert, is that it can be made ahead and refrigerated, and then just baked while you’re having dinner…so the cake is lovely and hot and gooey and dripping with chocolatey heaven…just waiting for a scoop of your favorite ice cream….and fruit of choice to balance out the richness.  Seriously.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
4 ounces (100 grams) dark chocolate (I like Lindtt 59%)
2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks 
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour

Preparation:

Grease 4 ramekins with butter and lightly dust with cocoa (I prefer this to flour, to avoid white powdery residue).
Preheat oven to 450ºF (230ºC). 
Melt the butter and add chocolate (chopped into small pieces).
Remove from heat and set aside.
Beat together the 2 eggs plus 2 yolks and the sugar, until it’s light and thick (an electric mixer works best).
Stir the butter and chocolate until creamy and smooth.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and beat to combine. 
Quickly beat in the flour until just mixed in.
Pour into prepared ramekins (at this point, you can refrigerate the coulant (covered), just bring them back to room temp before baking).
Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake approximately 6-7 minutes (the center may not be completely set yet).
Invert ramekins onto plates and allow to sit 10 seconds before removing.
Serve with sauce of choice, ice cream, fresh fruit…be creative and have fun. :)


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