“Build your life on your dreams; because dreams never have bad endings.”
M.F. Moonzajer
Dark Chocolate Kumquat Amaranth Mousse Cakes … had to be a delicious end to the year. It’s the time of the year when you feel indulgent. How much better can it get than deep dark sinful chocolate paired with bittersweet kumquats in syrup? Yes, it’s the kumquat time of the year too. My little tree is happily laden with fruit and bursting with vibrant orange colour.
Citrus is certainly a mood uplifter, the colour orange more so. The mousse is a spin off on the dark chocolate mousse I baked for a guest post at Cookaroo not so long ago. I had her in my thoughts this time as well as I reached for a bar of delicious Ghiradeli 100% dark that she had gifted me. {Please use a 72% if you like. This is REALLY DARK and we love it!}
The time had come …
Like most of my recipes, this one too just went along as I baked. Reached for a bit of this, a tad of that. Tasted for sweetness BEFORE adding the beaten egg. Yes, some honey would balance it beautifully, and add some moistness too. That because I had amaranth flour I thought I’d use as well. It would add body to the mousse!
Intense were the chocolate flavours that escaped the oven, the orange weaving a magical spell. The daughter followed her nose to the kitchen. “Chocolate! I smell chocolate“. Yes it’s the time of the year indeed when deep, dark, indulgent, sinful is good!
It’s been a good year 2013. Lots happened. For me the most significant has been my foray into wholegrains and my near complete departure from plain flour. New flours that dance in my head … amaranth, finger millet, barley with the trusted old cornmeal, buckwheat and almond meal.It’s been another year of learning from friends and the huge large hearted food community. Also another year to be able to share the goodness with readers of my blog, everything I learnt, everything that inspired me. There was so much!
Photography. Can’t thank Neel @ LFP enough for reigniting the learning process. He large heartedly ran a 30 day course that covered all the basics you would want to learn about food photography. Creative Live & Andrew Scrivani was yet another eye opener. I learnt to experiment more. Thought about reflectos, diffusers, more props, shadows, light, more light ….
Oh yes… I tried to pin more! Lots more. Pinterest is one place I can live forever. Have you been bitten by that bug yet? Find me on Pinterest, join if you like, make boards, build collections, get inspired, stay inspired. Dream some more!
Did I mention Instagram? I began my first baby steps on Instagram this year too. Little, tiny ones. I haven’t won the battle there as yet but I love it to bits. I am still struggling to get one food photo each day … and sneak in some random ones too. Fuel My Blog was sweet enough to offer me anything I liked from Instajunction.
If you like Instagram, and like taking photos and sharing them with friends, then Instajunction is for you. They offer you quirky fun prints off instagram. Not just boring stuff you can buy on the high street, but fun and exciting things that you want to carry around and show off to people all day long. It’s easy to use too!
Like this beautiful charm bracelet I got for the teen. It took us some time to figure out what to pick. They have some good stuff there! It was finally a charm bracelet. Now she’s set to show off her sweet pooch Coco, a 1990 shot of her old folks … and some more Coco!
Cool eh? So much better than just some random off the shelf unpersonalised thingamajig! They’ve got a fab range of stuff from cufflinks to charm bracelets, magnets to framed pictures, sticker books to coasters, Polaroid style cards to wall vinyls … and plenty more. Fantastic quality, speedy delivery anywhere in the world and all at sensible prices. Check it out!
Also, thank you to Google for flying me to beloved Mumbai for a fabulous day out … photography rocks!! World Photography Day & Google went hand in hand … and I absolutely LOVED being a part of it!
“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”
Frank Herbert …
Until then Stay Hungry, Stay Foodish! Have a brilliant 2014!
… catch you on the other side.
Recipe: Dark Chocolate Kumquat Amaranth Mousse Cakes
Summary: Deep, dark, CHOCOLATY, indulgent and gluten free, these Dark Chocolate Kumquat Amaranth Mousse Cakes do really please the die hard chocolate lovers. Use a semi sweet chocolate if you like instead. Serves 6
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutesIngredients:
Kumquat jam {or use 100g bitter marmalade}
10 small kumquats
50g sugar
30ml water
Dark Chocolate Kumquat Amaranth Mousse Cakes
150g dark chocolate {I used 100g 100% dark and 50g 52% couverture}
35g honey
100g butter
1 egg
30g sugar
20g amaranth flour
1/2tsp vanilla bean powder
Vanilla cream chantilly
100ml low fat cream , chilled
25g powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla bean powder
Method:
Kumquat jam
Halve the kumquatsand remove seeds.
Place all ingredients in non reactive pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the peel is soft. Cool and blend. {Reserve a few for garnish}
Dark Chocolate Kumquat Amaranth Mousse Cakes
Preheat oven to 170C. Line 6 3″ dessert rings with foil. Place on baking tray.
Place the chocolate, butter and honey in a large bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes, one minute at a time until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
Beat the egg with the 30g sugar and vanilla bean powder until fluffy and mousse like.
Fold 1 tbsp chocolate mix into beaten egg to lighten it. Fold remaining egg mix into chocolate mix. Gently fold the amaranth flour in.
Divide into desert rings and bake for 12 minutes.
Cool completely in rings and chill for 30 minutes.
Vanilla Chantilly Cream
Whip all ingredients to medium stiff peaks.
Top the cooled cakes. Garnish with candied kumquats halves.
