Not a very long time ago, it has been Strawberryelmo’s last teen birthday. It is quite a strange feeling, because I really loved being 18 years old but we can’t change that time goes on, so I will do my best to enjoy being a teenager for one more year.
And now, enough philosophy, let’s move over to dessert. For my teeny tiny celebration I made some light and fluffy mousse au chocolat. But not the classic thing. But it had to be some more special, which is why I used kinder chocolate instead of dark one.
It surprised me how easy it was to prepare – you need only 2 ingredients!
By the way, it looks great if you serve the mousse in surprise egg shells and makes the dessert more handy, too.
100 g (3,5 oz.) kinder chocolate
3 egg whites
2 tbsp water
Break the kinder chocolate into pieces and place it in a small pot, together with the water.
Heat over a water bath until it has melted. Don’t forget to stir!
Place the egg whites in a tall dish. Blend with a mixer until they form stiff peaks (you will want it to be firm so the mousse gets all the tiny air bubbles in it).
Let the chocolate cool for a minute.
Use a whisk to stir the egg whites into the molten chocolate. Be careful not to beat down the egg whites.
Transfer the mousse to small cups or chocolate shells. Let it cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.
And then… enjoy.
I am so glad my bf got me a gorgeous ice cream maker for Christmas, because I adore ice cream.
I love frozen yoghurt.
I love sorbet.
I love soft ice cream.
Ice cream in a cone.
In a bowl.
A big melba.
Just every kind of ice cream (except mint).
It feels just right to make my own one with the machine and it is pretty easy, if you ask me.
You can just toss the ingredients together an freeze them or make a deluxe version with egg yolks (this is the kind that takes more time – but believe me that it is absolutely worth the stress).
This recipe is based on the basic ice cream recipe that I found in the gadget’s manual. It worked pretty good, I just added the molten chocolate toffee to the mass.
Chocolate Toffee Ice Cream
(makes about 750 ml/3 cups)
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp corn starch
100 g (1/2 cup – 1 tbsp) sugar
250 g (8 oz.) chocolate toffee
350 ml (1 2/3 cup) milk
150 ml (2/3 cup) heavy cream
Prepare your ice cream maker. I had to put my bowl in the freezer for 24 hours before I could get started. Be sue sou have this prepared.
Place the egg yolks, corn starch and sugar in a bowl. Whisk by hand or with a mixer until the mass thickens and turns pale (abour 90 seconds) .
Melt the unwrapped chocolate toffee in the microwave, heating it for no more than 30 seconds at a time. Stir before you place the bowl in the microwave for another 30 s. Set the dish aside.
Combine the milk and cream in a medium saucepan and heat until the liquid starts to boil. Remove from heat. Start stirring the egg yolk mass and gently incorporate the hot dairy mixture.
When you have poured in all the milk and cream, add the molten toffee and let it dissolve.
Now pour the mass back into the saucepan and heat one more time while stirring, until the mixture thickens a bit (it should not boil).
Let it cool on the counter and then place it in the fridge for at least 12 hours. (You may not put hot ingredients in the mixing bowl of the ice cream machine.)
Now turn on the mmachine and slowly pour in the prepared ice cream mixture. You should get a nice portion of chocolatey, creamy goodness.
I hope you like bounty, because if you do, you will love this bite-sized version of the coconut and chocolate bar. In fact, it is very easy to make your own bars at home and they are made in no time.
These truffles area more elegant mini version of bounty bars and might be the perfect treat for your Valentine. Just imagine to get a bunch of mini candy bars in a box, wouldn’t that be lovely?
The coconut mass is made in no time, what is more tricky is filling the chocolate hollow spheres. From this recipe, you get about 25-30 truffles, depending on how much filling you put in. Now grab your 4 ingredients and impress your Valentine.
Bounty Truffles:
160 g (5 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
80 g (3 oz.) ground coconut
30 chocolate hollow spheres
200 g (6 oz.) chocolate coating
Mix condensed milk and coconut flakes in a bowl until they form a thick mass. You might use your hands to make it more even. Now it’s time to fill the hollow spheres, which is the tricky part about those truffles. It works best if you dip your hands in cold water first, then gently press the filling into the spheres.
Melt the chocolate coating in the microwave, not heating it for longer than 30 seconds at a time, or over a water bath. Dip the truffles in the chocolate and place them on a baking sheet until the coating has hardened. You can sprinkle some coconut flakes on top for decoration.
They taste best when cold.