Category Archives: French Fridays with Dorie

French Fridays with Dorie: Michel Rostang’s Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

Jan 21

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I have another true confession to make this week: I’m not that into chocolate. When it comes to chocolate, I can take it or leave it. I know some people will find that hard to imagine, but that’s the way it is.

I say this because, for French Fridays with Dorie, the recipe this week was a very chocolately cake: Michel Rostang’s Double Chocolate Mousse Cake. What a decadent cake, with a very fancy name, for an ordinary week! Fortunately, I am married to a chocoholic, who comes from a family of chocoholics so I had an enthusiastic audience.

For chocolate, I used a bar of Ghiradelli’s 60% bittersweet, which, chocoholic or not, I always have on hand. This recipe called for coffee, but I’m not really a coffee drinker. I do like espresso drinks, but I get them for a treat from Starbucks, Peets or my favorite Lexington coffee shop. So, as embarrassing as this is, I made some extra-strong instant coffee to add to the mousse mix.

Firm but still glossy?

The chocolate mixture came together easily, more easily than I expected. The part I was most unsure about was whipping the egg whites. I wasn’t sure exactly what firm but still glossy meant. I’m not sure I did it right, but whatever I did worked out.

Oops!

I did made a mistake with the springform pan rim. (By the way, the 8-inch springform pan is definitely getting a workout with the dessert recipes in this book.) I couldn’t decide whether to place it right side up or upside down. Because it was just acting as a rim, I was worried the little edge on the bottom would cause a problem later, so I used the rim upside down. Oops! The top edge, which I placed on the parchment, was slightly rounded. When I baked the bottom crust, a little bit oozed out onto the parchment paper and, eventually, burned. It wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I think I should have just used it with its usual orientation.

I didn’t plan the timing quite right. I baked the crust after dinner, but there wasn’t time for it to chill before bedtime, so the crust chilled overnight. Dorie said the mousse could be made a few hours ahead, so I worried it might deflate overnight. It survived. The next night I baked the cake with the mousse layer and we ate it warm for dessert. Then, for night #2, we had the baked and chilled version.

Howard, the chocoholic, preferred the warm version. My opinion might not matter as much, given my indifference to chocolate, but I agree with him. This cake was interesting, but so far this month, I’ve only liked, not loved the recipes. I have high hopes for next week’s Chicken B’stilla.

If you’d like to see how other bloggers fared with the Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, check out their links at French Fridays with Dorie. If you like what you see, you can buy yourself the book and join our cooking group.

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French Fridays with Dorie: Paris Mushroom Soup

Jan 7

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To me, the difference between a raw mushroom and a cooked mushroom is transformational. I don’t care for raw mushrooms. My husband Howard eats them whole, as a snack, but that has no appeal for me. I like cooked mushrooms just fine, cooked any number of ways. I like them sautéed, stuffed, sliced, roasted, as long as they’re cooked. Oh, I forgot soup. I like them in soup.

In January, for French Fridays with Dorie, we’re back to everyone making the same recipe every week. This week, the recipe is Paris Mushroom Soup, a creamless creamy mushroom soup, poured over a fresh herby mushroom salad in the bowl. As I said, I like cooked mushrooms, but not raw, so this recipe presented a bit of challenge for me. However, one of the things I like about this cooking group is the chance to take a leap of faith sometimes and learn about something new. It could be a new technique, a new ingredient, or a new flavor combination. You never know what it will be.

I waited until Friday to make this recipe and got home from work later than expected, so I wasn’t sure it would come together. However, this soup is a quick one, definitely suitable for a weeknight dinner. The soup was ready in just under an hour. While it simmered, I had enough time to wash the pots and pans, and put together the raw mushroom salad I mentioned.

I made this soup pretty much as written. I found homemade turkey stock in the freezer, so used that instead of the chicken stock. The chopping went quickly. When I have to slice a lot of mushrooms, I use the food processor. I cut them in half, load up the chute, and run them through the slicer blade. It’s fast! I usually chop onions by hand (well, with my knife), but the food processor was already in use, so I made quick work of the onions too.

Liked!

Didn't like

I liked, but did not love, the soup. I liked how creamy it was, even though there was no cream. What about the raw mushroom salad? Not so much. I did try, but I couldn’t get past those raw mushrooms. What I did like were the fresh flavors of the herbs in the salad: chives, scallions, parsley. And while I won’t put the mushroom salad in my next bowl of soup, I will garnish the bowl with the same herby flavors. That’s what I mean about learning something new with each recipe I try.

I was going to make sandwiches to go with the soup, but because of my late start, we snacked on chips and guacamole instead while I made the soup. Then, we just ate bowls of soup with some warm crusty bread. Maybe when we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, sandwiches will be on the menu.

If you want to see how the other bloggers made out with this week’s recipe, check out their links on French Fridays with Dorie.

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