choc-mint mousse cakes

I wanted to make my come back to the food blog something worth remembering & let me tell you I have succeeded. Both of these "cupcakes" were really really delicious but my stand out favourite was the choc-mint mousse cake so this is the recipe I am sharing. I'm a sucker for anything chocolate & minty.

Ingredients

Double chocolate mint cake

6 square after dinner mints, chopped coarsley

60g dark eating chocolate, chopped coarsley

2/3 cup (160ml) water

90g butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon, peppermint essence

1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 cup (100g) self-raising flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/3 cup (40g) almond meal

1 tablespoon cocoa powder, extra

Chocolate mousse

150g dark eating chocolate, chopped roughly

1/2 teaspoon peppermint essence

3/4 cup (180ml) thickened cream

2 eggs, seperated

2 tablespoons caster sugar

Method

1. Make chocolate mousse:

Combine chocolate, essence and half the cream in a mediun heatproof bowl over a medium saucepan of simmering water, stir until smooth. Cool mixture 5 minutes, then stir in egg yolks. Beat remaining cream in a small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat egg whites in another small bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form; add sugar gradually, beat until dissolved. Fold cream into chocolate mixture, then egg whites. Spoon mixture into a shallow baking dish. Cover, refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.

2. Preheat oven to moderately slow (170deg C/150 fan-forced). Line 6 hole texas or 12 hole standard muffin pan with paper cases.

3. Combine chocolate and the water in small saucepan; stir over low heat until smooth.

4. Beat butter, essence, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Stir in sifted flour and cocoa, almond meal, warm chocolate mixture and after dinner mints. Divide mixture among cases; smooth surface.

6. Bake large cakes about 40 minutes, small cakes about 30 minutes. turn cakes onto wire rack to cool.

7. Place a lightly greased collar of foil around each cakes. Divide firm chocolate mousse evenly among tops of cakes. Freeze cakes for about 30 minutes to help set the mousse quickly.

8. Dust mousse with extra sifted cocoa. Gently remove foil.

9. Indulge

Instead of after dinner mints I used Lindt mint chocolate & I have not looked back. Also, the other cake in the photo is a lemon cheesecake, but thats a recipe for another day.

Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding

With the cool evenings here to stay for a while my mind, & stomach, turn to warm comfort food. And nothing says comfort like Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding topped with vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding

Ingredients

60gm Butter

1/2 C Milk

1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract

3/4 C Caster sugar

1 C Self-raising flour

1 Tbs Cocoa powder

3/4 C Firmly packed brown sugar

1 Tbs Cocoa powder, extra

2 C Boiling water

Assembly

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius and grease a 1.5 litre overproof dish.
• Melt butter with the milk in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla extract and caster sugar then sifted flour and cocoa. Spread mixture into dish.
• Sift brown sugar and extra cocoa over the mixture. Gently pour the boiling water over the mixture.
• Back for about 40 minutes or until the centre is firm.

O.M.G. ........ Party in my mouth

So it would seem that the "it" dessert at the moment are French Macaroons. They're in every foodie magazine I seem to open or on just about every blog I read.

Move over cupcakes, there's a new fad in town and I'm hitching my wagon to it.

So again, using my Bookclub girls as my taste testers, I cooked up a batch of chocolate ones thanks to this months Women's Weekly magazine.

VOTE 1 for Chocolate French Macaroons ..... these guys will change your life, well probably not but your tastebuds will be forever in your debt.

How do I describe them......well, it's like taking chocolate mousse and encasing it in a hard, sugary shell (like the sugary shells that coat M&M's).......chocolate lovers paradise, PERFECTION.

These guys will impress anyone, and even better, they are so easy to make.

So give them a go, add them to your Easter menu, I know you'll thank me for it.

Chocolate French Macaroons

Ingredients

3 Egg whites, these need to be at room temperature

1/4C Caster sugar

1 1/4C Icing sugar

3/4C Almond meal

1/4C Cocoa Powder

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1/4C Cream

150gm Dark eating chocolate, finely chopped

3tbs Nutella

Assembly

• Preheat oven to 120 degrees celsius and line baking paper on oven trays
• Beat egg whites in a bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks forms. Add Caster sugar; beat until sugar dissolves. Fold in sifted icing sugar, ground almonds & sifted cocoa in two batches.
• Spoon mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain tube. Pipe 4cm rounds about 3 cm apart onto trays. Stand for 30 minutes.
• Bake macaroons for about 30mins or until they lift easily off the baking paper. Cool on trays.
• Ganache: Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat & stir in Nutella then pour over chocolate in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Stand at room temperature until spreadable.
• Sandwich macaroons with dark chocolate ganache.

Hints

• Don't add 3/4C of caster sugar to your egg whites, as I did, and wonder why it's too runny. Follow the recipe.


• Nutella - my tablespoons were heaped with Nutella goodness, I don't think you could ever use too much.


• I found that there was enough Ganache for two batches of French Macaroons.


• Kept in an airtight container I found these were still good the next day.

and on the topic of love and all things sweet.....

lets talk about chocolate, and inparticular today Chocolate Torte.

Firstly,sorry about the overload of chocolate cake. You see, I wrote this post a couple of days ago and planned to post it today but my sister bet me to the punch line with her own yummy chocolate cake recipe, so I decided not to post my recipe. But I've had a little think and really, you just can't have too much chocolate or chocolate cake. So enjoy!

Otherwise known as "What-diet?-It's-my-birthday Chocolate Torte"

This week Hubby celebrated his birthday, and while age is not important, I don't mind reminding him that he is older than me.

Anyone that knows my hubby knows that he has a very dry sense of humour, loves his steak & LOVES chocolate. So each year I'm always on the hunt for just the perfect chocolate cake recipe, and this year I think I've hit the jackpot.

I found this recipe in the latest Christmas edition of the Australian Women's Weekly magazine. This light, moist cake is matched up to with a rich chocolate cream & ganache - a perfect marriage.

There are a few elements to this cake so you should allow yourself a little time to prepare it. Don't be as foolish as myself and try to make this cake between piano lessons & dinner reservations after working all day!!!

Chocolate Cake Ingredients

125gm dark chocolate, chopped
1C water
180gm butter, softened
2C brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3C self-raising flour
1/3C cocoa powder
2/3C almond meal

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius. Grease 2 20cmx30cm shallow cake pans and line the base with baking paper.



• Combine the chocolate and water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate melts. Set aside to cool slightly.



• Beat butter & sugar together until smooth & creamy. Add the eggs one at a time. Sift together the flour and cocoa; stir in the almond meal. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in warm chocolate mixture.



• Divide mixture evenly between the prepared pans & bake for 25mins or until cooked. Stand in pans for 10 minutes before turning onto cooling racks.
  

Chocolate Custard Cream

125gm butter, softened
2/3C store bought thick custard
75gm dark chocolate, melted & cooled
1tbs cocoa powder, sifted
2tbs icing sugar, sifted

• Beat the butter until as pale as possible



• Combine the custard, melted chocolate, cocoa & icing sugar



• Gradually, beat the custard mixture into the butter until well combined

Chocolate Ganache

500gm dark chocolate, chopped
300ml cream

• Combine the chocolate and cream in a large heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a saucepan or simmering water and stir until chocolate melts



• Place in refrigerator for 30 mins, stirring frequently, or until thickened to a spreadable consistency.

Assembly

• Cut the cooled chocolate cakes in half lengthways. Place one half on a serving platter. Spread with 1/3 of the chocolate custard cream. Top with another chocolate cake half. Continue layering with the remaining chocolate custard cream and chocolate cake, finishing with the chocolate cake. Cover well with plastic wrap & place in the fridge overnight.



• Spread the log with the chocolate ganche. Set aside for ganache to set before slicing and serving.

Hints

1. Chocolate Cake - I placed the chocolate & water together in a microwaveable bowl and placed it in the microwave. On high power I turned the microwave on for 45secs, then stirred the mixture. Continue this until water & chocolate are combined.



2. I placed all the chocolate cake mixture in a large rectangle cake tin, then once cooled I cut it lengthways to create the torte shape.



3. Making the chocolate cake the day before is a good hint because I didn't and found that because the cake is beautifully light it crumbled when I was trying to slice it to serve.

For the love of chocolate

Do you remember cake you had 12 years ago?

I do.

Aunty Gerry's chocolate fudge cake.

It was so good I asked her to give the recipe to me as a gift for my kitchen shower.

I've been sitting on this recipe for 10 1/2 years. Looked at it often yet never made it. Betty Crocker asks so little of me I have usually gone with her.
Aunty Gerry's Chocolate Cake with Fudge Icing