Indian Dinner Party: Light Lemon Mousse Dessert

We’re off on a little break, so if I don’t comment on your blog right away, please know I still love reading your blog and will be back as soon as I can.
Inspiration comes from anywhere but the places I seem to be getting my inspiration are the wonderful blogs I read. Liz over at That Skinny Chick can Bake made this incredibly beautiful Lemon Cream Dessert with the Secret Recipe Club; I was immediately smitten. Plus I needed a nice light dessert for the finalé of our Indian Feast. Now we’d all like to eat like Liz and look like her, but sadly, that is not my world, so I had to take her beautiful dessert as inspiration and find a ‘lighter’ version and I found it at Serious Eats — It’s a Greek Yogurt Lemon Mousse!

It’s an easy dessert to make and the egg whites are cooked over a bain marie, as if you were making Italian Meringue! I didn’t change a thing!

Now you’ll see in the last picture that the texture was described as spray foam insulation, but tasting way better. It’s definitely a firm mousse with very good lemon flavour! I will book mark this recipe for the future!

We got these adorable little pots in Paris; yogurt came in them, the company was celebrating their anniversary and packaged their product in these gorgeous pots

You see, I wasn’t fibbing! This is one of our breakfasts in our Paris apartment

The texture was described as resembling spray foam insulation, but tasting WAY better! Thx Gordon P XO

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Low Fat, Gluten Free Strawberry Soufflé

JT has asked me to thank everyone for their lovely birthday wishes; thank you!

I have some exciting news to share with you today! I was approached by Daniel Maxian, a contributor at MyCityCuisine.org, a wiki project providing travelers with information on local cuisine in cities around the world. He said he was working on an article about Lemon Tarts and came across the recipe you have posted for the same dish.
“I think your recipe would be a great addition to the MyCityCuisine wiki resource, so I highly recommend that you have it added to the Featured Recipe section on the Lemon Viennese Tarts page.” Woohoo! I’m really pumped over this! Thank you for allowing me to share my excitement with you. Here is the link for the page.

I spotted this recipe for Strawberry Souffés with Fresh Berries on my friend Liz’s blog a couple of weeks ago (That Skinny Chick can Bake) and I knew I had to try it. It fit right into my healthy cooking and I was having a gluten intolerant friend over for brunch…perfect timing!

But I first made the ‘test’ dessert for my nephew Brian (Ceement Boy) who was over for dinner a couple of weeks ago. It was a great success and I’ll be making it again on the weekend for my gluten intolerant friend.

Now you must be wondering why I have lovingly named my nephew Ceement Boy? I’m more than certain he is wondering too, as he is one of my lurkers (one who reads the blog but never comments; that’s OK, I’m just pleased that he cares enough to read about my mundane life, thanks Brian, I mean Ceement Boy).

The story goes like this: JT and I are NYC; it’s late one evening and I’m blogging, updating or just responding to comments on my blog using my iPhone 3Gs. Ding Ding, my phone pings. Hmmm, there is a text. It’s from Brian. That’s a bit odd in in itself as we are not texting buddies. He says “Be on vacation!!! Don’t blog!” Many of you will be able to relate to this, but blogging is part of you. You just can’t stop! You are either in the act of blogging, or preparing to blog or thinking about a story to blog about. It’s innate. So Brian, it just isn’t possible, sorry. (As I’m typing this, I wonder where all the words went before blogging?)

Upon our return from the Big Apple, we had Brian over for dinner; the night before we were coordinating our timing and JT gets a text from Brian referring to me as Princess Blogalot. Hmmmm. Did someone have a few cocktails? In retaliation (yes, I can be vindictive that way) I thought I would come up with a nick-name for Brian. Brian is a structural engineer specializing in cement, hence Ceement Boy. I like to draw out the Ceeee really long. Country and western-style . Somehow I don’t even mind Princess Blogalot. Not too much, anyway.

Since we’re all trying to watch our waistlines, this dessert was a perfect intensely flavoured ending to our delicious meal. Our in-season Ontario strawberries really popped with flavour and the aged balsamic reduction drizzled over top added that wonderful tartness that the strawberries craved. The toasted slivered almonds were for texture as the egg white souffé is light, airy, full of flavour and needed a bit of crunch.

I snapped this pic with my crappy iPhone 3Gs. When will they release the 5???? I can’t wait forever.

Please head over to Liz’s blog to see her recipe. I have altered the recipe to our taste and requirements.

Strawberry Soufflés with Fresh Berries…

Serves 4, 200 mL ramekins

Ingredients:

• Butter, to grease ramekins
• 340g fresh strawberries, divided
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 6 tbsp sugar, divided, or to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp Grand Marnier, optional
• 4 tbsp toasted almonds slices
• 4 tbsp balsamic reduction for garnish

Directions:

1. Butter four 200 mL ramekins and dust with sugar. Set aside. May be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
2. Purée half the berries with 2 tablespoons of sugar (or to taste), lemon juice and cornstarch. Pour into small sauce pan and cook on medium till puree boils and thickens. Cool completely. May be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
3. Slice remaining berries and add 1 tablespoon of sugar (or to taste) and 1 tablespoon of Grand Marnier. Mix and taste for sweetness. Set aside. May be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
4. Just before serving, pre heat oven to 400°F.
5. Beat egg whites till foamy. Slowly add in remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and whip till stiff peaks form. Slowly fold purée into egg whites, one third at a time. Divide between the four ramekins and smooth tops with offset spatula. Run finger around perimeter of each soufflé to make a slight indentation in soufflé. Slide tray of ramekins into oven and bake 14-17 minutes or till soufflés are puffed and golden.
6. Serve immediately garnished with sliced berries, toasted almonds and drizzled with balsamic reduction.

Another dark and dreary photo with my iPhone 3Gs.

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Armenian Nutmeg Cake

I saw this recipe on a few blogs because it was the daring bakers challenge (on Lorraine’s blog here and Sawsan’s blog here) and I was immediately drawn to it. I love spice cakes and combined with nuts and rose petals? I just couldn’t resist. Poor Sawsan had an issue with her cake, but I loved that she posted it anyway! It’s a very tasty cake and I will more than likely make it again.

We were having friends Rae and Monica over for dinner and they like dessert (but not rich chocolate, for some reason) so I am always on the lookout for something new to try. Lorraine topped her cake with a gorgeous combo of pistachios and edible rose petals…OMG so lovely, and she also made a light syrup to drizzle over it, which I also did. Unfortunately I did not have edible rose petals nor pistachios so I used dried cherries and mixed nuts. I also added a bit of cognac to the honey drizzle for some adult effects!

Now I must digress for a moment and talk about that jar you see in the background. It is a jar or Turkish nuts (variety) in honey. My friend Barb of Profiteroles and Ponytails gave it to me last year and I have hesitated to open it because of my previously bad behaviour (I devoured the last jar in a matter of months, just standing at the pantry and spooning copious amounts into my mouth); so I stashed it at the back and immediately forgot about it. We were out for dinner with Barb and Carol, a good friend from out East when I remembered that I had the jar in my pantry. I mentioned I was going to bake this cake and we all agreed the nuts would be exceptional on the cake as décor, texture and flavour. Carol asked how I used up my first jar: I said I stood in front of the pantry and ate it by spoonfuls until it was no longer. I don’t think she believed me, but it’s true!

It’s like ruby jewels decorating the cake

Recipe adapted from these lovely and talented ladies: Lorraine’s blog Not Quite Nigella and Sawsan, Chef in Diguise

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (240 ml) milk
• 1 tsp baking soda (bi carb of soda)
• 2 cups all-purpose (unbleached) flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 3/4 cup butter, cubed, chilled
• 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
• 1/4 cup Turkish nuts with honey (or just 1/4 cup nuts and 1/4 cup honey)
• 2 tbsp cognac (you can also use rosewater instead, however I find the flavour a little too strong, plus I prefer booze )

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 340°F. Line a 10 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper on the base and sides. In a cup mix the baking soda and milk and set aside. In a large food processor add the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and butter and process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Place half of the above mixture in the base of the pan patting it down with fingers to make a base and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg and nutmeg for 2 minutes until fluffy and pale. Add the vanilla and the milk and soda mixture and whisk until combined. Then add the remaining half of the flour and butter mixture and mix until smooth (you can still use the whisk for this as it is quite liquidy still). Pour on top of the base crumbs and then sprinkle the walnuts on top (my walnuts baked right into the cake, they actually fell into the centre, so I will suggest you fold the walnuts into the cake. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean – many have found that while the top looks cooked, the batter is runny underneath so try the skewer in several places.
3. When cake is ready, remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan (thank you Sawsan for your experience). While doing this, heat nuts and honey mixture gently and add the cognac. Pour the nut and honey mixture over the top of the cake allowing the honey to soak into the cake. Sprinkle the chopped dried cherries over the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The walnuts fell into the batter during baking, so I suggest folding them in.

I used the loaf pan because I knew I wanted a certain sized cube as a small portion. I dressed each portion individually for my dinner party. I froze the remainder of the cake.

The jar has the nuts layered in a beautiful pattern.

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New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cherry Pie Topping

To finalize Super Bowl Food Frenzy, I deliver to you the piece de resistance: New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cherry Pie Topping.

Would you like extra cherry sauce with your slice?

I made a cheese cake which was supposed to be representative of the NY Giants, New York Style Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cherry Pie Topping. The recipe originated from my very old and battered Fanny Farmer Cookbook which was given to me as a wedding gift by one of the wives of a guy that worked in John’s Father’s factory. I used to make it all the time, but now it’s reserved for very special occasions (mainly because it is quite rich and fattening). I’ve lightened it up quite a bit from the original, but you can use the full fat versions should you please. This is a baked cheesecake and therefore not as creamy as an unbaked cheesecake, but that’s exactly what I love about it.

Crust Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (or any type of cookie, your choice)
• 2 tbsp ground almonds
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa, sifted

Crust Directions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients above well and press into a 7″ spring form pan. Set aside.

Cheese Cake Ingredients:

1. 2 small eggs separated
2. 200 g low fat cream cheese
3. 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
4. 1/4 cup sugar
5. 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
6. 1 tbsp flour
7. 1/4 tsp salt
8. 1 tsp vanilla

Cheese Cake Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 325°F / 165°C.
2. Beat the egg yolks until thick and pale.
3. Add the yogurt, sugar, sifted cocoa, flour, salt, sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth. Set aside.
5. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, add 1 tbsp sugar gradually, until it is stiff and shiny (as if you were making a meringue).
6. Fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated being careful not to deflate.
7. Bake for about 1 hour until a cake tester comes out clean.
8. Top with sour cherry pie filling topping (recipe below).

Sour Cherry Pie Filling

Ingredients:

1. 540 mL / 19 oz Pitted Sour Cherries in a jar, strained, liquid reserved
2. 2 tbsp cornstarch
3. 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Dissolve the cornstarch in a little bit of cold water.
2. Bring the reserved liquid to a boil, add sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Gently pour in the cornstarch and stir until the liquid has thickened.
4. Return cherries to the liquid and stir gently.
5. Allow to cool a bit. Gently pour over cheese cake. Save any left over sauce for extra sauce for the cheese cake.

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Gluten Free Raspberry Tart

We had a very good friend and her hubby over for brunch during the holidays; she is gluten intolerant so I like to make things she can easily enjoy, AND I don’t like to make two of everything so whatever I cook/bake has to be delicious enough that her husband can’t tell the difference ! My good blogger friends Kristy and Mike at Our Family Food Adventures made a raspberry tart the other day, and it looked absolutely wonderful, so I went about the internet to find a gluten free pie pastry. I made a few alterations in the filling recipe to make it gluten free and a smaller tart size. Sadly the GF crust recipe I used was not the best so I won’t list the recipe, but I used this one, cutting it in half for the smaller tart pan!

The pastry in our little tester up front turned out a very hard and leathery, I would probably suggest a bit more butter in the pastry or a different recipe!

Do you like my tart server? Why yes, it is a shoe, thank you for noticing!

The raspberries were a little tart, so adjust your sugar accordingly

Raspberry Filling Ingredients:

• 3 c raspberries (I used frozen)
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1/3 c tapioca starch
• 2 tbsp non-fat Greek Yogurt
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Raspberry Filling Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Defrost the raspberries.
3. Sprinkle with the 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup tapioca starch, mix well.
4. Add the Greek yogurt and mix. Set aside.
5. Combine the 1 tbsp sugar with the cinnamon.
6. Rub the butter on the bottom of the tart pastry until it is completely used up. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
7. Pour the raspberry filling into the tart pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden and the filling has set.
8. Allow to cool. Serve cold or at room temperature.

I added a heap of fresh raspberries on the day I served it

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Dessert #2: Fig & Sesame Tart with Orange Cardamom Cream

I’ve been reading up on Moroccan blogs; one such blog mentioned that a Moroccan host can take up to a week to prepare a meal for her honoured guests! I started Monday… does that count?

Onto dessert #2 for my little trio for Saturday night’s Moroccan themed dinner party. I found this one on Epicurious, and just liked the way it sounded but I did verify that this dessert does exist in Moroccan cuisine. I cut this recipe in half but list the full ingredients below, and it made five mini tarts, perfect! (ok, three are for the dinner party – I don’t eat dessert- and one was the taster for JT to make sure it was yummy and it sure was!!! the larger round one is for my friend (and boss) because she gives me a ride home most evenings (believe it or not, we live across the street from each other…we are indeed good friends!)

Moroccan Fig & Sesame Tart with Orange Cardamom Cream

Fig and Sesame Tart

Ingredients for pastry:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted

For filling:

• 9 ounces dried Turkish figs, stemmed and finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 tablespoon orange-flower water (preferably Mymouné) I googled orange water substitutions and found that you can use an orange liqueur like Triple Sec.

For cardamom orange cream:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons mild honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh orange zest
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• Accompaniment: fresh orange sections

Directions, pastry dough:

1. Pulse together flour, confectioners sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined.
2. Add butter and process until mixture resembles fine meal.
3. Add 3 yolks (reserving the fourth for egg wash) and process until it forms a smooth dough, 2 to 3 minutes. (Don’t worry about overworking dough.)
4. Transfer dough to a work surface and gather into a ball, then divide into 3 equal pieces. Form one third of dough into a small disk, then form remaining dough into a larger disk. Chill disks, each wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make filling while dough chills:

1. Simmer figs, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Stir in sesame seeds (3 tablespoons) and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat and stir in orange-flower water, then transfer filling to a bowl.
4.  Cool filling to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Assemble and bake tart:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place flan ring in center.
2. Roll out larger disk of dough into an 11-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. (If dough is too firm to roll out, let stand at room temperature 5 minutes.)
3. Fit dough into flan ring, pressing dough up side of ring (dough is very tender and tears easily; patch as needed; they will blend in during baking), then trim dough flush with top of ring. Spoon filling into crust and spread evenly.
4. Roll out remaining disk of dough into a 9-inch round on lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin. Gently lay round over filling, then roll rolling pin over top to trim. Patch if necessary.
5. Beat together remaining yolk and cream (1 tablespoon) in a cup with a fork and brush some of egg wash over top crust, then chill until egg wash appears darker and is slightly tacky, about 3 minutes. Brush with second coat of egg wash and chill again. Lightly score top with back of a small knife to make a decorative pattern and sprinkle with sesame seeds (1 teaspoon).
6. Bake tart until top is golden, 30 to 35 minutes (I found 40-45 minutes did the trick).
7. Transfer tart on baking sheet to a rack and cool 10 minutes, then slide tart off parchment onto rack to cool. Gently remove ring.

Make cream and serve tart:

1. While tart bakes, stir together cream, honey, zest, and cardamom in a medium bowl and chill, covered. Just before serving, beat cream mixture with an electric mixer until it holds soft peaks.
2. Serve tart, warm or at room temperature, with cream and oranges.

My tarts were very small, about 10 cm x 4cm and the round one was about 8cm. I plan on serving the three desserts on a long rectangular plate. My ‘Platogram” is below. I usually do this for more complex dinners so I don’t mess it up after a couple of glasses of wine!

Plating the Dessert

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Banana Chocolate Avocado Frozen Pudding

I have been looking around the net for a compelling Chocolate Avocado pudding to try. Yes, it does sound weird, but that’s what makes it too difficult to resist! Still feeling a little hesitant to serve it to guests until I found a very easy recipe, which included a banana! So tonight is the night (as Rod Stewart sings) we are having a BBQ Pizza dinner. JT is in charge of the pizza and we’ve decided on Margherita (our home made tomato and roasted red pepper jam as the base, sliced tomatoes and fresh buffalo mozzarella, with basil, of course!). It’s sweltering in Toronto, and we plan to eat outside, so I changed up the recipe a bit to make it more “ice creamy”. Since I want to serve this as more of an ice cream, I added the frozen banana and processed just before serving. This is a very rich dessert, so a small portion is key (by the way, I had a spoonful and JT had the rest of mine!). This recipe makes about 3-4 small servings.

• 1 ripe avocado, mashed
• 4+ tbsp honey, or to taste
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ripe banana, frozen
• 1/4+/- cup water or milk

1. Chop avocado coarsely and add to your immersion blender jar, add honey, cocoa powder and vanilla and process till smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides a few times with a rubber spatula. I use my immersion blender because it really makes a smooth creamy paste.
2. Refrigerate covered in the blender container.
3. Just before serving, add coarsely chopped frozen banana and process until smooth, adding the water in small amounts until the desired consistency is achieved. Serve immediately garnished with bits of coconut.

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Mexican Chocolate Paté with Caramel Drizzle

Part of the tapas dinner I recently served to nephew Brian and his gal Adrienne was the Mexican Chocolate Paté with Caramel Drizzle. I have been itching to make this rich dessert but extremely hesitant because of the volume and richness (no, I don’t want JT eating too many sweets, I’d like him around for a long, long time!). I came across the recipe in Epicurious, and of course, I altered it. Click Epicurious to see the original! Also, because Adrienne is gluten intollerant, I decided to make this sans crust, which just adds to the paté name anyway. It’s very spicy and rich, hope you enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Paté

Mexican Chocolate Paté

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2.5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/8 cup (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, room temperature
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cayenne if you’re daring, if not, just do a 1/2!
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted.
2. Add butter, 1 piece at a time; whisk until smooth.
3. Whisk in vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
4. Allow to cool a bit.
5. Line a very small (10cm x 5cm) loaf pan with plastic wrap. Make sure you press the wrap into the corners well.
6. Pour filling into pan. Chill until filling begins to set, about 15 to 20 minutes, but overnight is best.
7. To serve, remove from pan and carefully peel away the plastic wrap.
8. Slice into 1 cm slices and carefully place on a large plate (I paired this portion of the dessert with two other chocolaty desserts to make a trio, but you don’t have to)
9. Drizzle caramel sauce over (you can also add whipped cream and berries if you wish).
10. Enjoy!

Caramel Sauce (originall from Christine Cushing, and I only altered the directions!)

• 3/4 cup sugar (175 ml)
• 2/3 cup whipping (35%) cream (150 ml)
• 2 tablespoons brandy (30 ml)

1. Heat sugar on high in a tall medium sized pot. When sugar melts and JUST begins to turn a darkish amber colour, remove from heat and add cream (you’ll want to do this in a sink as the caramel will bubble up quite a bit).
2. Continue to whisk and add the brandy and whisk until smooth.
3. Let cool before serving. Serve with the Mexican Chocolate Paté, above.

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Gluten Free Profiteroles

I made these for my nephew Brian’s girlfriend Adrienne who is gluten intolerant (they’ll be great for my other friend who is also gluten intolerant).

Makes about 12 five centimetre profiteroles.

Gluten Free Profiteroles

• 33 g of Gluten Free Flour
• 1/4 tsp xantham gum
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 32 mL water
• 32 mL milk
• 25 g butter
• 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Sift the flour, xantham gum, salt and sugar together 3-4 times, set aside in a handy location close to the stove.
3. Break egg into a measuring cup and whisk to combine. Set aside.
4. Prepare your hand mixer so that it is ready when needed.
5. Measure milk and water into a deep heavy bottomed pan. Cut butter into smallish chunks and add them into the milk mixture. Heat gently until all the butter has melted.
6. Increase heat on the butter milk mixture until is comes to a rolling boil.
7. Remove from heat and pour flour mixture into the milk mixture all at once. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon.
8. Return to a low heat and continue beating with the wooden spoon until the flour forms a smooth paste and has come cleanly off all the sides and bottom (should be shiny and smooth). The recipe says to avoid over cooking this paste as the buns will become heavy.
9. Remove from heat and slowly pour the egg into the mixture, beating well with the hand mixer, being careful to to make the paste too runny (the recipe indicates that the amount of egg required depends on the humidity, so add in smallish quantities). Continue to beat until shiny and stiff. The paste should firm but elastic and should be able to stand on its own when dropped by spoonfuls. This paste may be kept for a couple of hours covered with a damp cloth. Also, the recipe indicates that this paste can be frozen and used successfully (next time I will freeze excess balls individually on a cookie sheet, and bake individually as required in the future!).
10. Prepare a cookie sheet by running it under cold water, shaking excess water off, but leaving it damp. Use two baking sheet to protect the bottom of each puff from burning.
11. Place tablespoons of the mixture about 10 cm apart (the chou’s will double to triple in size).
12. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the exterior is golden – do NOT open the oven for the first 15 minutes. Chou needs to be golden otherwise they will collapse as cooling. All sides must be golden brown, if not, the inside has not finished baking and they WILL collapse!
    When done, remove from the sheet to a baking rack, piercing with a toothpick to allow steam to escape. Chou pastry may be reheated for about 10 minutes to crisp them up again.

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Bourbon Three Ways

Our most recent LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) magazine had an article on Bourbon, so naturally I was inspired to create two small chewable desserts and one liquid dessert for a tapas meal I had a couple of weeks ago with our good friends Rae and Mon.

We began with the Bourbon Triffle, then had the Bourbon Chocolate Mousse in a Chocolate cup and ended with a small shot of Bourbon. The Bourbon Mousse recipe follows. It originate from the LCBO but unfortunately it is not yet posted (when it does, I will link it). I have modified and reduced the recipe to make it more healthy and of course, a quantity reduction since I only needed a very small amount.

Chocolate Bourbon Mousse (modified for smaller quantities)

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp bourbon
• 2 oz. semi sweet chocolate
• 1/2 chup 35% cream chilled
• 1/2 egg white

1. Combine sugar and bourbon in a small saucepan and cook until sugar is dissolved (about 3 minutes). Set aside.
2. Melt chocolate, add about 1 tsp cream. Stir in bourbon sugar mixture. Allow to cool completeley, about 20 minutes.
3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. In another bowl, beat cream until firm.
4. Fold egg whites and cream into chocolate mixture.
5. Serve in chocolate cups (as shown) or in decorate glasses.
6. Freeze remainder in a small container and serve at your next party as bourbon ice cream (this was even better than the mousse!!!)

Enjoy!

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