Luxurious Chocolate Mousse

Inspired by the wonderful Rachel Allen, this is my version of a chocolate mousse for adults. It's all about Tennessee Honey Whiskey, a little chilli and of course, death by chocolate.

I am not a big fan of sweet things, but now and again I need something to hit the spot.  This is just one of those recipes that does it for me, with compromise of course.  I love dark chocolate with 70% cocoa and my husband loves milk chocolate.  To keep the peace, I do half and half, and it is just as great.  There is something really special about chilli and chocolate, it simply works.  Don't worry, you don't taste the chilli herein, it just enhances the chocolate flavour.  If you want more heat, add some more.

For the whiskey part, you can leave it out and substitute with vanilla extract or the juice of an orange, or use a fruit flavoured liquor.  I love the taste of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey Whiskey and we often enjoy it on the rocks at the end off a great meal.  I think it is the hints of smokey honey that I really enjoy, paired with its  naturally smooth finish.

This makes 2 big champagne glasses ...


150 ml double cream
150 g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp Tennessee Honey Whiskey
2 eggs, separated
1 ml of chilli powder

Pour cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Remove from the stove and stir in the chocolate. Add egg yolks, whiskey and chilli and give it another good stir until it is silky smooth.  In a separate bowl whisk egg whites until soft peaks form.




Add 1/3 of the egg white to the chocolate mixture and fold lightly in.  Now add all the chocolate mix to the bowl with the remaining 2/3 of the egg whites. Lightly and carefully, fold together until combined.

Add to your favourite serving bowl, mug or champagne glass and chill in the fridge for two hours to set.

~ Enjoy Michelle

Peanut Butter, Coffee, Chocolate Brownies

Just in case you have not eaten enough sweet morsels over this holiday season, here is another that is just delish and something you have to try.  This recipe came about from sheer desperation. It was one of those moments when I was craving something sweetish and the pantry shelves just stared back at me with nothing ready-made on option.

It was time to get back to basics and raid the shelves for two of my favourites ... peanut butter and Nutella.  Pull a few staples from the fridge and presto ... a delish dessert baked in the oven in less than 10 minutes.

What I really like about these brownies is they are not too sweet as the peanut butter and coffee cuts through the hazelnut chocolate spread, so a really good balance.

To serve, I spread a little extra Nutella on the top of the cooled brownie and for the saucy base, I whipped up one of those instant pudding mixes - caramel to be exact.  For a little festive snow, dust some icing sugar and serve.

Peanut Butter, Coffee & Chocolate Brownies

Serves 4

60ml Nutella chocolate spread
60ml smooth peanut butter
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1.2 tsp instant coffee
5 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat to 170'C (350'F).  Add Nutella, peanut butter and egg to a bowl and mix by hand with a spatula to combine all well.

Add vanilla essence and coffee to a small ramkin and stir until the coffee has dissolved.  Add coffee liquid, flour and baking powder to the chocolate mix and stir thoroughly by hand until all is mixed well.

Add mixture to a small square oven dish, lined with baking paper.   Spread mix smooth over the top with the back of a spoon.  Bake for 11 minutes, or until a skewer removes clean and allow to cool before slicing.

Enjoy ...
~ Michelle ~

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

This is my kind of cake, not only is it delicious and moist, but it only has 3 ingredients.

Catching up on my Master Chef Australia series, food critic Matt Preston whipped up this little beast in a contestant Master Class.  I could not believe how it turned out and had to give it a try.

The results ... nothing but delicious, light and moist.  Not you're usual textured chocolate cake for the obvious reasons, no flour and all the typical ingredients - but more like a mousse.

The secret here is fold, fold and fold.  You need to keep the folding light as not to let all the air out of the eggs.  However, it needs to be folded well so all the Nutella is mixed, otherwise it will weigh and cook to the bottom of the cake.

Happy scoffing

~ Michelle ~ 

RECIPE

(serves 4 - 6)

4 eggs

240g Nutella

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 175’C

Soften Nutella over a double boiler

Beat eggs for 6 min on high in an electric mixer

Add vanilla and a ½ of Nutella to the egg and carefully fold together

Add remaining Nutella and fold, fold and fold

Make sure you take the chocolate off the bottom of the bowl and fold it in

Place in a greased baking tin

Bake for 25 min in the middle of the oven

Rum & Raisin Tiramisu

Who doesn't love #Rum & Raisin? This is an awesome twist on this #Italian favourite. It is easy and great when you need a #dessert to go along way.  Suitable for 8 adult foodies lovers. Here we go ...

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Rum & Raisin Tiramisu

3/4 cup raisins
1 cup dark rum + 2 tbsp
6 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
500g mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
24 -30 finger biscuits
Semi sweet chocolate, shaved

Place raisins and 2 tbsp rum in a dish, cover and microwave for 1 min, allow to cool
Beat egg yolks and sugar in a bowl  with an electric beater for 5 min until very thick and light yellow
Add mascarpone and mix on medium until smooth
With mixer on low add 1/2 cup rum, 1/4 cup juice, vanilla extract, seeds from bean and mix well
Pour remaining rum and orange juice into a shallow bowl
Dip one side of each biscuit and place one layer in a 9 x 11 inch oval dish
Break biscuits  and dish in liquid to fill any spaces
Sprinkle half soaked raisins evenly on top
Pour half mascarpone mix over and spread evenly
Repeat layers of dipped finger biscuits, soaked raisins and mascarpone mix
Smooth top, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight
Sprinkle with shaved chocolate or dust some cocoa powder over the top before serving

Chocolate Strawberries

Okay this is so easy ... I am in two minds whether I should even blog it or not?
Left over milk chocolate + fresh strawberries from the market = delish TV dessert.  Suitable for 2 foodies lovers.  Here we go ...

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Chocolate Strawberries

1 tub fresh strawberries
400g milk chocolate (leftovers from Christmas or Easter are just fine)

Rinse strawberries under cold water
Pat dry with kitchen towel
Sprinkle with a little castor sugar if you like
        (I use vanilla sweetner, because I have it)
Pour 2 inches of hot water in a pot
Place a glass bowl over to make a double boiler - make sure it does not touch the bottom of the pot
Add chocolate to the bowl and allow to melt
As chocolate starts to melt keep stirring until smooth
Remove from heat and dip strawberries into hot chocolate
Allow to cool on a baking rack
Keep at room temperature until ready to serve

Death-By-Chocolate in 5 min

Who doesn't love chocolate?  Who doesn't like a chocolate dessert that only takes 5 minutes in the micro and tastes delish?  I was a sceptic myself until I tried.  I was not disappointed.  Here we go ... (suitable for 2 foodie lovers)

4 tbsp cake flour
4 tbsp castor sugar
2 tbs cocoa
Pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips
2 tbsp roasted almonds, finely chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Ice-cream for serving

Lightly spray 2 cups (250ml capacity) with baking spray
Sift first 4 dry ingredients to a bowl and mix well with a spoon
Divide evenly into both cups
Add 1/2 of the egg to each cup and mix well
Add 1/2 oil and milk to each cup and mix well again
Add chocolate chips, almonds and vanilla evenly and mix again
Place in microwave and cook 3 minutes on 100% power
Piece with a skewer in the centre to make sure it is cooked (it should come out clean)
Loosen around edges and tip out
Serve with ice cream and a dusting of cocoa

Now how easy was that and did I not tell you it was DELISH?