ffwd: top-secret chocolate mousse
I doubt this is the first time I’ve made this confession on my blog. I am not a chocoholic. I like, but am nowhere close to loving, chocolate. For French Fridays with Dorie, this week’s recipe was Top-Secret Chocolate Mousse. This was bound to make Howard, the resident chocolate fiend, happy. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever made mousse before, or at least not in many years, so I welcomed a new challenge.
What’s top secret about this recipe? According to Dorie, every French home cook knows this recipe from the back of the chocolate package. The recipe is hiding in plain view. Sort of like home-baked Toll House cookies in the U.S., maybe?
This recipe couldn’t have been easier, so no wonder it’s a go-to recipe in French homes. You melt the chocolate, you whisk in egg yolks, you beat egg whites with a tiny bit of sugar, and you fold that into the chocolate. Voila! A 4-ounce chocolate bar is just the amount for the recipe plus one square leftover to grate on top plus have a mini-snack. And, because we get super-fresh eggs from a neighbor down the street, the barely warmed eggs didn’t concern me.
I took Dorie’s tip and served the mousse in (stemless) martini glasses. As promised, they looked cute.
The recipe got the Howard seal of approval. I liked that the mousse was light and not overly chocolate-y. I opted for 62% dark chocolate, but I think it could have handled the 70% dark bar that I left on the shelf. Next time. This would be a great dessert to whip up for company. Not too much effort, but elegant taste that anyone would enjoy.
I’m looking forward to next week’s goat cheese mini puffs, much more up my alley.
We don’t post the recipes, but consider getting your own copy of the book, Dorie Greenspan’s book Around My French Table. I’m off to enjoy a weekend on Cape Cod with college friends, so won’t get a chance to catch up on the other Dorista’s posts until after the weekend. If you want to check them out, follow their links here to read all about it.
Happy Friday!
tuesdays with dorie / baking with julia: buttermilk crumb muffins
I don’t make muffins often. To be honest, I don’t really enjoy anything sweet in the morning, and, to me, muffins are just un-iced cupcakes masquerading as breakfast. Tuesdays with Dorie kicks off November with Marion Cunningham’s recipe for Buttermilk Crumb Muffins. A friend was coming over of visit on Sunday afternoon, so I decided to make a half batch of these muffins to go with our warm cups of tea.
The batter comes together easily. Fat is combined with a flour / brown sugar mixture. The recipe calls for Crisco, but I used butter instead. You could use a pastry blender or a pair of knives, but I enjoy the tactile step of using my fingers to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture transforms into sandy crumbs in just a few minutes. At this point, you set aside some of this mixture to use as streusel topping later.
Warm spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) along with some leavening are mixed into the bowl before stirring in buttermilk and egg. Now, you are ready to fill the muffin tins with batter, sprinkle with the reserved topping, and bake. It couldn’t be easier.
The muffins both looked and smelled wonderful when they came out of the oven. Unfortunately, getting them out of the pan wasn’t so easy. The flat-topped muffins had risen and partially baked onto the top of the muffin pan, just like the picture. I did neglect to oil the top of the muffin pan, just the cups, and they wouldn’t budge. In the process of trying to free the tops from the pan, every single top came off. I ended up with two-part muffins: tops and cakes. Not the most attractive treat to serve to a guest. Fortunately, good friends are forgiving. (And, I don’t think I overfilled since I got 10 muffins from a half batch that was supposed to make 14-16 muffins.)
As for flavor, these muffins tasted good. They reminded me of the buttermilk coffee cake from Margaret Fox’s Morning Food from Café Beaujolais. We especially enjoyed the tops. They reminded my friend of her grandmother’s snickerdoodle cookies, chewy and sweet. Warm from the oven, they hit the spot for our afternoon treat, but I’m not sure I’ll make these again.
If you’d like the recipe, this week’s host Alisa from Easier Than Pie shares the recipe, along with a vegan version of the muffins. To see how the other bakers made out with their muffins, you can follow their links at Tuesdays with Dorie to read all about it. The recipe can also be found in Dorie Greenspan’s baking tome, written with Julia Child, Baking with Julia.
One final note: if you are a US citizen, please take the time to vote today! I know it sounds corny, but voting is a privilege that not everyone in the world enjoys. Take the time to exercise your right to vote and to support the candidates and issues that you believe in. Everyone’s vote counts, and you could be the one to make the difference in an incredibly close race today.
A Plateful of Happiness 