Chocolate Mousse

When I was a teenager, I used to make chocolate mousse very often. It had been at least 10 years since I had made some so I was a little nervous when I set off to make some a few weeks ago. I think the result was pretty good but in an effort not to "break" the eggs, I think I didn't incorporate the chocolate well enough witch resulted in some white lumps. Nothing dramatic, but it's definitely something I need to improve on next time I make it!

This recipe is from La Tartine Gourmande.

Ingredients:

- 150 g dark chocolate

- 1/2 cup (100 ml) cold heavy cream

- 10 g sugar

- 5 egg whites

Melt your chocolate using the bain-marie technique.

Heat the cream until boiling.

Add the cream to the melted chocolate and mix well. It should thicken.

Beat your egg whites firm.

Before they are fully firm, gradually add the sugar and continue to mix.

Then, very carefully, add the egg whites to the preparation, making sure not to "break" the eggs. Use a wooden spoon to describe large circular movements.

Place in individual cups or a large bowl.

Chill at least one hour before serving.

Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp is one of my favorite desserts. I have made many in the past few years. I have tried several recipes and the one I am sharing with you is a mix of all of them.

Ingredients:

- 4 or 5 apples, peeled, cored and sliced

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 3/4 Tbsp cinnamon

- 1 tsp vanilla (I forgot to include it in the picture)

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

- 6 tbsp butter at room temperature

Preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the apples, 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.

Put the apple mix into a 9 inch pie pan.

In a mixing bowl (I just use the same one, no need for more dishes!) combine the 1/3 cup sugar and the flour. Cut in the butter. You can use a pastry blender or your fingers. I usually use my fingers. It's messier but definitely more effective in my opinion.

Once it's all combined, it will be crumbly and homogeneous.

Spoon the mixture over the apples.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Serve by itself or with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

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Chocolate Ricotta Muffins.

These have officially become my favorite muffins! They are just wonderful! I first tasted one a few month ago when Maia made them and have been wanting the recipe ever since. Well Maia has now shared it with all of us so I did not wait more than one day to make them. Here's the recipe. Thank you Maia!!!

Nutty Butter Balls

I made these twice over the holidays, once for Phillip to bring to work and give to his colleagues, and once to share with Maia and Roshi (hi!), and apparently everyone loved them :-)

The recipe is from Williams-Sonoma's Cookies (love that book!)

Ingredients:

- 2 cups (8 oz/250g) pecans
- 1 cup (8oz/250g) unsalted butter at room temp
- 3/4 cup (6oz/185g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, separated
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup multicolored coarse sugar cristals

In a food processor, finely grind the pecans. Measure out 3/4 cup (3oz/90g) for the batter. Reserve the remaining ground nuts for coating the cookies. Set aside.
I do not own a food processor so I used a knife (it took forever!), but the next time I made them I realized that I could use my blender!

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the brown sugar and continue beating until the mixture is no longer gritty .

Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat on low speed or stir until well blended.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together onto a sheet of wax paper.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed or stirring with a wooden spoon until blended.

Mix or stir in the 3/4 cup (3oz/90g) ground pecans just until blended.
This is what your mix will lok like:

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F (180C). Have ready 2 baking sheets. Lightly grease the pans or line with parchment paper, or have ready about 4 dozens miniature paper muffin liners. Spread the remaining ground pecans in a shallow bowl. Lightly beat the egg white in a small bowl.

With floured hands, shape the dough into 3/4 inch (2cm) balls. Bruh the balls lightly with egg white and roll in the pecans to coat lightly.

Place each ball in a paper liner, if using. Place the cookies about 1 inch (2.5cm) apart on the prepared pans.

Bake until the bottoms are lightly browned, 25-18 minutes. Let cool slightly on the pans on wire racks. Using a wide, flexible spatula, remove the warm cookies and roll them in the sugar crystals, or sprinkle the sugar on top if in paper liners. Let cool completely on wire racks.

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Gingerbread Men.

Last week I decided to start baking holiday cookies and I did Gingerbread Men, which I had never made before. I really loved the texture and rich taste of those cookies!

This recipe is from Cookies, by Williams-Sonoma.

Ingredients:

- 1cup (8 oz/ 250 grams) unsalted butter, at room temp.
- 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ox/ 105g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (4 oz/125g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (11oz/345g) light molasses
- 1 large egg
- 5 cups (25oz/780g) all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter until fluffy and pale yellow.

Add the brown and granulated sugars and beat until the mixture no longer feels gritty.

Gradually beat in the molasses on low speed.

Add the egg and beat on low speed until the mixture is well blended.

Sift the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper. (I had to do that in several batches because there was way too much flour to be able to do it all at once!)

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed or stirring with a wooden spoon until well blended. For me, I have to say that this was really hard. As the consistency of the mixture became drier, I ended up having to use my hands to be able to blend the flour into the mixture because the wooden spoon just wasn't cutting it! I also had given up on using my hand-held mixer because it was not strong enough to be able to do the job. Maybe using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment would be the way to go?

Turn out onto a floured work surface and, with floured hands, form into a large, smooth mound.

Divide the dough into 4 equal portions, shape into disks and wrap each disk into plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Preheat oven at 400 degree F (200 C). Lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to a thickness of about 1/4 inch (6 mm).

Using gingerbread cookie cutters, cut out figures.

Use an offset spatula to transfer t the prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining dough portions, then gather up the scraps, reroll them, and cut out additional cookies. If the scraps of dough have become sticky, refrigerate for 10 min before rerolling.

Bake the gingerbread figures until lightly browned on the bottom, about 6 minutes. Let sit on th sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy dressing up the cooled gingerbread cookies with icing, sugars, and other decorations!

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