Monthly Archives: January 2013
The Last Decadent Dessert
What did you do for New Year’s Eve? We spent the evening with dear friends. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and libations and good company. We brought oysters and dessert. Laury made an amazing Vietnamese caramel fish with rice and Asian vegetables.
As a decadent finale to the past month of indulgent eating, I made Gianduja Mousse from Food & Wine. That’s Chocolate Hazelnut in Italian.
This super-simple dessert was both light and rich at the same time. First, Nutella and crème fraiche are mixed together with some Frangelico. Next, you whip cream until firm. Finally, the whipped cream is folded into the chocolate mixture until fully blended. The mousse is spooned into individual serving dishes, and it’s dessert! I doubled the recipe, which is supposed to serve 4, which made a total of 6 bowls of mousse.
The recipe suggested serving the mousse with chocolate wafer cookies, which inspired me to make a batch of World Peace Cookies. While I’m not a huge chocolate fan, this recipe is so good that these are, hands down, one of my favorite cookie recipes. Another slice-and-bake recipe, so they are easy too.
The gianduja mousse was a hit! It’s a company-worthy dessert that I’m adding to my repertoire. Trader Joe’s has their own spin on a chocolate spread. Theirs is cocoa-almond. I plan to try a version of this with TJ’s cocoa-almond spread with Amaretto to see how that turns out.
The mousse having been enjoyed, now it’s time for some lighter eating for a while…
Happy New Year 2013: Holiday Treats
I believe it’s the little things that make the world go round. There are many people that make my life sweeter with a daily hello, a chat, a shared cup of coffee, or a walk. It’s hard to know a way that isn’t corny for showing my appreciation for brightening my year.
As a result, it’s been my tradition for many years to deliver a package of holiday treats to these local friends during the holiday season, or at least, during the week between Christmas and New Year’s. My dearest friends are always on the list, but I also enjoy sharing with newer friends or acquaintances.
The whole process, starting with planning what I’ll make (usually a mix of old favorites and new experiments), picking out the containers, preparing the sweets, packaging everything, and ending with stopping by to drop off the edible gifts, makes me really happy.
Howard has gotten into the act as well. He’s always helped with the packaging, but a few years ago, he asked me to make similar packets of sweets to share with his colleagues at work to welcome the New Year. It’s turned into an event that we both have a lot of fun with.
Initially, I think I made the same set of offerings for both rounds, but, in recent years, I mix it up, making mostly different things. Here’s the menu we shared this holiday season.
Round 1: Local Friends
White-Chocolate Apricots
Dark Chocolate Bark with Almonds and Sea Salt
Za’atar Pecans
Pain d’Amandes
Round 2: Howard’s Colleagues
Brown Sugar Rosemary Walnuts (without the figs)
Dark Chocolate Bark with Almonds and Sea Salt
Cheese Crackers (half made with Emmenthaler and half with Manchego)
I hope 2013 is full of lots of little things to brighten your life in the year ahead! Happy New Year to you!
A Plateful of Happiness 