Tag: cherries

Cherry Yogurt Tart …. sometimes life can’t get simpler than a two ingredient tart filling. Happy 4th!!

“A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. ”
James Bear

Cherry Yogurt Tart

Cherry Yogurt Tart. This was a tart that swept me off my feet. It’s adapted from a recipe that keeps popping up on and off on blogs. With the flood of recipes to try, one tends to get lost and lose priority. Is it just me? Well this tart or pie {not sure which category it fell into} had been kept waiting too long. This turned out to be a tart, not a pie as most blogs call it. The Kitchn has a neat piece on Pie vs Tart …

A pie is a sweet or savory dish with a crust and a filling. The sides of a pie dish or pan are sloped. It can have a just a bottom, just a top, or both a bottom and a top crust. Pies are served straight from the dish in which they were baked.

A tart is a sweet or savory dish with shallow sides and only a bottom crust. The goal is a firm, crumbly crust. Tarts are baked in a pan with a removable bottom, or in pastry ring on top of a baking sheet so that it can be unmolded before serving.

There are several references to the recipe across the net. The origins are quite blurred. Most folk talk about the recipe being handed down from a great aunt and having got  it from a friend. The ingredients are the same. Strangely enough all it takes to make it is a pie crust or tart bottom, yogurt and condensed milk. {It’s vegetarian too. No eggs, no gelatin}

I had some yogurt draining in the fridge to make fro yo. It’s the season for frozen goodies but I had a really full freezer that day. So I thought cheesecake with summer fruit. A friend had recently reached out to me for a baked eggless cheesecake recipe. That was still playing in my head. {Hiral, this cherry yogurt tart is very close to a baked eggless cheesecake. We loved it!! I thought of you throughout.}

With muddled thoughts I figured images might inspire me, so I began googling for images … and BINGO! There it was. Just the perfect tart or pie with ingredients that I had on hand, well almost. What ‘clinched’ the deal was that I had a loose bottomed rectangular tart pan that Sous Chef had used. She really turned out a stunner.

Strange tart this. It’s a little unbelievable that you can turn out a set tart with just two basic ingredients with 10 minutes of baking. Defies logic. Yet, my recent tryst with the Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse that used two ingredients convinced me otherwise. I thought, “If that was sensational, this might well surprise too. ” 

And surprise it certainly did! Within 10 minutes of baking, it was a little firm to touch. I gently pulled it out of the oven to cool it on the rack and was scared to spill the filling. It hung on in there. ’twas a long overnight wait and once the kids were on the bus, I RACED to demold it. Looked on in amazement as it was firm.

My only concern is the biscuit base which didn’t remain very crisp. Most recipes refer to ‘tennis biscuits‘ which were new for me. Some more googling pointed towards South Africa where these biscuits are firm favourites. I think graham crackers might work a little better than the ginger nut cookies I used. So with a tart tin from Sydney {one of my favourite buys to date}, a recipe with two basic ingredients, some balsamic roasted cherries in the fridge, I put together this tart. With my sis visiting from the US, being the 4th today, I thought I’d give the yogurt tart some blue and red too. Frozen blueberries which I bought to try locally {very disappointing} and white sprinkles did the trick!!

The verdict was ‘high fives’ all around. The texture and taste of the Cherry Yogurt Tart is very close to a cheesecake, and leaves you wanting for more. {Very satisfying in Mr PABs words}.

[print_this]Recipe: Cherry Yogurt Tart 

Summary: As simple as a tart can get, this Cherry Yogurt Tart is one of the fastest and sweetest ways to a quick dessert. A make ahead tart that sets amazingly, is eggless and uses two basic ingredients for the filling, is quite magical. Adapted from Sous Chef

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes plus chilling
Ingredients:

  • 200g ginger nut cookies, crushed
  • 100g melted butter
  • 350g hung yogurt, thick
  • 150g regular yogurt
  • 1 tin condensed milk
  • 2 tsp Kirsch {optional}

Method: 

  1. Mix the melted butter and the crushed biscuits. Turn into the bottom of the prapared tin and press to form base. Chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a rectangular 4″ X 14″loose bottomed tart tin {or a 9″ round loose bottomed tart tin}
  3. Place both yogurts and condensed milk with Kirsch if using in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
  4. Pour over the chilled biscuit base and place in the oven for 10 minutes only.
  5. Take out of the oven, allow to cool. Then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight.
  6. Top with fresh fruit, balsamic cherries, or just serve as is.

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Delicious Walnut Meringue and Cherry Gateau … for the nut lover in you

“A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.”
Benjamin Franklin

A Walnut Meringue and Cherry Gateau seemed an unlikely combination. I bravely ventured into unknown territory with my fingers crossed. It turned out to be quite a winner. The meringues baked up prettily. They are delicate creatures and very delicious if you are a nut lover. I love the idea of nutty meringues layered with cream and paired with fruit.

That said, pairing a nutty meringue with pastry cream and fruit is never easy to slice. It doesn’t offer you ‘restaurant’ style neat slices. An ‘Eton Mess’ is closer to what lands up on the platter … but it’s a helluva tasty mess!

This Walnut Meringue and Cherry Gateau was our little ‘celebration’ for Fathers Day. I had some whites left over from the Ginger Lemon Crème Brûlée. I dreamt of revisiting macarons, but it’s been raining cats & dogs the past 2 days. Macarons are fiddly creatures, humidity just adds to their ‘fear factor’.

So I thought of pavlovas, and one thing led to another. I finally settled for a meringue cake, dacquoise type. Eventually what followed was a recipe using anything and everything I had on hand. Walnuts and cherries seemed like strange bedfellows. They proved themselves otherwise!

The recipe was inspired by this Hazelnut Meringue Gateau I found while googling. Often if I’m looking for inspiration, it’s just easier to reach for the ipad or smartphone while working in the kitchen. So when the folk at The Snugg sent me an ipad case, it made me happy! It felt ‘comforting’ to own one!!

Are you part of the growing numbers who use smartphones and tablets to look up recipes and tips whilst cooking? I certainly am.  With this in mind, The Snugg has created sturdy, good quality cases to protect expensive devices from the hazards of a busy kitchen! A wipe clean exterior makes it even more perfect for the kitchen!

What did I like about the snugg ipad case? The first thing that struck me was the good quality and the neat design. The fit is fantastic. It’s also compact, like ‘snug compact’, which might explain the name SNUGG! The case has a sturdy feel to it and is very aesthetic. I liked the classic black, though you have a choice of ten colours. Gives your beloved smartphone or ipad a ‘protected’ feeling. A ‘snugg’ feel !!

With the promise of the perfect SNUGG fit, the finest materials and high quality craftsmanship, they are the biggest seller of their kind in the USA. Since the launch of The Snugg, they have been bought by celebrities and big enterprises alike. In fact, custom branded cases have been supplied to Cadillac, GMC and even the CIA!!!! The range is vast  –  cases for smartphones, ipad, ipad mini, tablets, kindle and accessories too.

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Recipe: Walnut Meringue and Cherry Gateau

Summary: A Walnut Meringue and Cherry Gateau seemed an unlikely combination. It turned out to be quite a winner. The meringues baked up prettily. They are delicate creatures and very delicious if you are a nut lover. I love the idea of nutty meringues layered with cream and paired with fruit.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Walnut Meringues {Makes 2 X 8″ meringues}
  • 120g egg whites
  • 250 g vanilla sugar, or castor {divide 200 + 50}
  • 125g walnuts, roasted
  • 1tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp vinegar
  • Crème Patissiere {350g}
  • 120ml milk
  • 100ml low fat cream
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 20g cornstarch
  • 90g vanilla sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • Whipped cream
  • 100ml double cream, chilled
  • 10g castor sugar
  • Balsamic cherries
  • 250g fesh cherries, pitted
  • 25ml balsamic vinegar
  • 30g brown sugar

Method:

  1. Walnut Meringues
  2. Preheat oven to 180C. Line the base and sides of 2 8″ loose bottomed tins with parchment.Place the walnuts and 50g sugar in processor and grind in short pulses till fine meal.
  3. Reserve in a bowl.
  4. Grind the vanilla sugar if using
  5. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks, then add the remianing sugar 1 tbsp at a time and continue to whip to stiff peaks.
  6. Fold in the vanilla extract,vinegar and ground walnut mixture gently but thoroughly.
  7. Gently divide batter between the prepared tins,
  8. Bake at 180C for 40-50 until lightly coloured and firm.
  9. Gently remove from tins and cool completely on racks.
  10. Lay the bottom layer on serving platter and top with pastry cream, followed by balsamic cherries in syrup. Top with the whipped cream {or alternatively fold the whipped cream into the crème patissiere}. Reserve some for topping if desired.
  11. Top the filling with second layer.
  12. Spread some pastry cream over the top, drizzle some leftover cherry syrup and garnish with fresh cherries.
  13. Chill for a couple of hours to moisten the meringue slightly to help slicing a little easier. Use a sharp serrated knife to slice.
  14. Crème Patissiere
  15. Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk, cream, vanilla bean and cream with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat.
  16.  Beat the eggs into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
  17. Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
  18.  Continue whisking {this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook} until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat, pass through a sieve, cover with plastic film and allow to cool. Chill until needed. can be made a day ahead {makes 350g}.
  19. Balsamic Cherries
  20. Place ingredients in a non reactive pan and simmer until the cherries release their juices and begin to get soft and hold their shape, about 4-5 minutes. {Don’t overcook or the cherries will break down and lose shape}
  21. Remove the cherries to a bowl. Place pan with the liquid on medium high heat and reduce to about a third, nice and thick. Cool.

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Cherry Frozen Yogurt … summer is for stone fruit #lovestonefruit

“I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice-cream.”
Heywood Broun

Cherry Fro Yo … you could fall in love with the colour alone. My heart skipped a beat when I started whirring the thermomix. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Deep, red, bursting with flavour. It was love at first sight! At first bite too!!

Tis the season for frozen desserts. Mangoes have been around for a bit but they aren’t at their juiciest tastiest best yet. Next came plums, and hot on their heels cherries. Cherries are what win my heart over year after year.

I think they are the best fruit of all; immense possibilities. I’ve had a good run this season already. Other than popping loads into my mouth, I’ve done a crisp and loads of balsamic cherries. They’re a great way to top a dessert, a cheesecake or even a sundae. I topped a dark chocolate mousse with some. Heaven!!

I had about 1/3rd box leftover the other day. A fro yo was dancing in my head after I spoke to the sweet Cookaroo. She was having a field day down south making chikoo ice cream and mango sorbet to beat the heat. I had to make something frozen soon!

There was yogurt hanging in the fridge for a potato salad. That was enough to get me on the frozen yogurt trip. I’ve made a Fresh Cherry Fro Yo 2 years ago, a recipe that cooked the cherries down etc. I decided to go the raw way this time. Something newer, something fresher!

How much can you go wrong with fresh luscious juicy cherries, yogurt and sugar? Throw some kirsch in and you’ll be licking the bowl clean. Just what happened to me. This recipe is headed off to a monthly challenge called  ‘Our Growing Edge‘ hosted at Bunny Eats Design, a beautiful blog penned by Genie.

Our Growing Edge is the part of us that is still learning and experimenting. It’s the part that you regularly grow and improve, be it from real passion or a conscious effort.

This monthly event aims to connect and inspire us to try new things and to compile a monthly snapshot of what food bloggers are getting up to.

Genie is a graphic designer obsessed with food and bunnies and lives in New Zealand. Her initiative above aims to connect and inspire us to try new things and to compile a monthly snapshot of what food bloggers are getting up to. This is one food experience I just had to share!

‘Heartachingly’, 300g of cherries made just a small quantity of frozen yogurt. It’s ironical that when you make a small teeny amount of anything, it comes out amazingly good! This must have been the best fro yo I’ve made. Best on all counts – colour, taste, depth of flavour, burst of fruit. YUM!!

I can see loads of this beautiful fro yo through summer. Maybe a cherry buttermilk sorbet too. Also loads of red splashes all over the kitchen, tiles and all, while pitting these juicy berries. Beware of the red drips, murderous red! Years of pitting have ensured I wear an apron. The black apron tells no tales! The tiles can be scrubbed clean!

You can make fro yo pops too. I’ve done a plum version of  fro yo in an ‘eggless desserts’ feature I did for BBC Good Food this month. It’s the Plum Fro Yo {picture above} and is quite as delectable as the cherry fro yo. The collage below has the different desserts I created and shot for them. The magazine is on the shelves now. A digital version is available 

[print_this]Recipe: Fresh Cherry Frozen Yogurt

Summary:Refreshing and addictive, this is a great summer dessert or ‘coolant’! Low on calories and high on taste, this cherry frozen yogurt will leave you asking for more … and more! 
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:

  • 300g hung yogurt {drained overnight}
  • 300gms fresh cherries {pitted}
  • 25g brown sugar
  • 100g vanilla sugar {or more as required}
  • 15ml kirsch

Method:

  1. Thermomix
  2. Pit the cherries and toss in brown sugar. Freeze until hard, about 2 hours.
  3. Freeze the yogurt as well, chopping up after about an hour.
  4. Place all ingredients in bowl of TM, and process at Speed 7 going up to speed 10 for a minute.
  5. Open scrape down sides, and repeat until you get a smooth blend.
  6. Taste and adjust sweetness if required.
  7. Serve immediately else place in a freezer safe bowl and freeze.
  8. Ice Cream Maker
  9. Pit the cherries and toss in brown sugar. Freeze until firm and chilled, about an hour or two.
  10. Place all ingredients in bowl of processor and blend until smooth.
  11. Transfer to ice cream maker and set according to manufacturer instructions.

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Swedish Prinsesstårta Cupcakes … Daring Bakers serve up royally delicious cakes!

“Cake is happiness! If you know the way of the cake, you know the way of happiness! If you have a cake in front of you, you should not look any further for joy!”
C. JoyBell C.

Swedish Prinsesstårta Cupcakes … the best BEST cake we’ve eaten of late. Perfect balance of flavours, moist, flavourful, addictive good, non chocolate … PERFECT! It’s been a while since I enjoyed a Daring Bakers challenge so immensely. Everything was good about it. I have to admit that I veered off the basic recipe … but need to blame the treacherous North Indian summer for that!!

Come May and I got a very excited call from local DB Ruchira. “Guess what the challenge is? A Princess Cake! Wheee… I love it!” I was equally thrilled. A Princess cake is junior teens most favourite cake of all time. Years ago I did a recipe testing for Helene of Tartlette which included a Bavarian cream. That was a princess cake of sorts.

To date, it’s been the best ever cake for the kidlet. He repeatedly tells me how good ‘that Bavarian cream‘ was! Talk about love for food and good taste. Everything Helene does has the midas touch. The months challenge was partly inspired by her recipe.

Korena of Korena in the Kitchen was our May Daring Bakers’ host and she delighted us with this beautiful Swedish Prinsesstårta!

A little research revealed that the original recipe was created in the 1930s by a Swedish home economics teacher named Jenny Åkerström, who taught the three Swedish princesses of the time. She published a series of four cookbooks called “The Princess Cookbooks” and in one of the editions, there was a recipe for “Grön Tårta” (green cake). One story is that this later became known as “princess cake” (prinsesstårta) because the three princesses are said to have loved it so much. 

Another story is that Ms. Åkerström actually created three very elaborate “princess cake” recipes – a different one for each princess – and that the current version is a simplified combination of all three. That explains the princess connection, but the reason for the cake being green still seems to be a mystery. 

I got to the challenge very very late. It was the 25th already. And the weather? Hot as hot can be, threatening to get worse by the minute! It was 46C at 6pm day before. Fry the eggs on the sidewalk hot, maybe bake the poor princess there too! Plans for a Princess cake were rapidly demolished. Yet I am very nostalgic about the Daring Bakers, a journey that has been long and fruitful. I have been with them for 5 years maybe, and it’s the only baking group I have continued with. I owe them most of what I’ve learnt. The journeys been full of ultimate highs, and a few heartbreaks too; entirely memorable.

Besides, the challenge this month was not just one of being a ‘baker‘. Bakers as you know double up quite often as patisserie chefs too. A finger in every pie, and so on! It was a test of skills at many different levels. I had to make something. That came by way of these sweet Princess Cupcakes that I’ve had bookmarked for years! {I baked the cupcakes the previous evening and completed them at the crack of dawn. You can find a few grainy pictures taken in a hurry to guide you through}

The components are quite the same. There is cake, pastry cream, whipped cream, jam and marzipan. A petite version in this blistering heat which hitting 48C is much easier to handle.  I had some balsamic cherries from the two ingredient dark chocolate mousse. Cherries make life a lot more worthwhile. 

The Swedish Prinsesstårta Cupcakes turned out excellent. The cupcakes are layered about the same way as you would a Swedish Prinsesstårta. In 20 minutes, spared of a power cut, I was past stage one. Cupcakes done! While they baked, the pastry cream was stirred in the Thermomix. 7 minutes to perfect pastry cream!

I made the pastry cream a little thicker as it’s so hot. I didn’t get to the marzipan though I have made it several times in the past. It was far too hot to attempt marzipan from scratch. A special gift from my dear friend and Daring Baker Finla came to my rescue. She sent me marzipan with a truckload of stuff a few months ago. I use it very sparingly and was thrilled to have some on hand for the princess cupcakes.

This was the best part! Such fun dressing the little ones up. I did the flowers and leaves out of trimmings and it reminded me of my first and only fondant cake, the Tea Rose Fondant Cake, I made a while ago. The cupcakes were patched together on fast track as everything threatened to melt. The end result isn’t as neat as I would have liked it to be, but the marzipan was going too soft.

Thank you Korena was such a beautiful and eye opening challenge. I intend to make the original Swedish Prinsesstårta once the weather gets cooler.  Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! 

 

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Recipe: Swedish Prinsesstårta Cupcakes 

Summary: Swedish Prinsesstårta Cupcakes… the best BEST cake we’ve eaten of late. Perfect balance of flavours, moist, flavourful, addictive good, non chocolate … PERFECT! Recipe adapted from The Cookie Shop. Makes 5 cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:

  • Vanilla Cupcakes {can be made up to 2 days ahead}
  • 100g all purpose flour
  • 85g sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 50g – room temp. and cut in pieces
  • 1 egg
  • 80g milk
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • Pastry Cream {can be made 1 day ahead. Only less than half quantity needed}
  • 200ml low fat/single cream
  • 50ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 50g sugar
  • 12g cornstarch
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
  • 20g butter
  • Filling
  • 1/2  recipe pastry cream
  • 200ml low fat cream chilled
  • 1-2 tsp sugar
  • Rum syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 teaspoon rum
  • For assembling
  • 5 vanilla cupcakes
  • 1/2 cup pastry cream
  • sugar syrup
  • low fat cream, chilled
  • 1/2 cup balsamic cherries {1/2 portion chopped fine}
  • 300g marzipan approx
  • food coloring
  • confectioners sugar

Method: 

  1. Vanilla cupcakes
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line 5 cups of a muffin pan, or 5 individual muffin tins with paper liners.
  3. Place milk, egg and 1/2 scraped vanilla bean in a small bowl. Whisk to mix with fork.
  4. Place flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl of electric mixer and pulse to mix.
  5. Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture and process briefly until it resembles coarse meal {the larger pieces should be the size of peas}.
  6. With the processor on medium speed, add the milk mixture in three additions, and beat only until incorporated.
  7. Distribute the batter evenly in the prepared tins.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the cupcakes.
  8. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before proceeding with the assembling.
  9. Pastry cream
  10. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat milk and cream just until it simmers.

  11. In a small bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until light and fluffy. Add cornstarch and continue whisking until smooth.

  12. Slowly pour the hot milk/cream mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk until completely smooth and free of lumps. Return the mixture to the saucepan, and place over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook for another 2 minutes, or until it thickens. Remove from heat and add the butter, whisking well to incorporate.

  13. Thermomix : Place all ingredients in bowl of TM. Pulse at speed 6 to mix for 10 seconds. Then cook at speed 4, 90 C for 9 minutes.

  14. Remove the pastry cream to a bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  15. Syrup
  16. Place water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the rum if using. Let cool completely before using or refrigerating.
  17. Marzipan
  18. Divide the marzipan into 5 portions.
  19. Mix the marzipan with the 4 different coloring and knead until the color is uniform. Leave one natural off-white. If it gets sticky, sprinkle a little confectioner’s sugar. Wrap with plastic.
  20. Assembling
  21. Cut off the domed tops of the cupcakes, and peel off thee liners.
  22. Invert cakes and cut into 3 layers.
  23. Whisk the cream and sugar until soft peaks form.
  24. Brush the layers with sugar syrup.
  25. Over removable bottoms of tartlet tins, start assembling the cupcake layers.
  26. first, a very thin layer of chopped balsamic cherries {or jam/preserve}
  27. over the jam, a teaspoon whipped cream;
  28. cake + syrup;
  29. a teaspoon of pastry cream;
  30. last layer of cake + syrup;
  31. Place a few cherries on top to help build the ‘dome’ if you like.
  32. Whip the remaining cream with the remaining pastry cream.
  33. Cover the whole cupcake with whipped pastry cream, trying to make the rounder the top you can. Refrigerate while you complete the next.
  34. Over a working surface, sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar, roll out the marzipan.
  35. Put the rolled out marzipan over the cake making sure to cover the entire cake and cardboard. When finished, some marzipan should drape onto the work surface all around the cupcake. There will be folds on the sides. To remove them lift the outside edge of the marzipan with a hand on either side of a fold and, without tearing or stretching, gently pull the marzipan out and down until the fold disappears. {It was too hot for me to attempt this}. Trim any extra marzipan and reserve for flowers etc.
  36. Stamp out flowers, leaves and stems from the trimmed marzipan and place on cupcakes.
  37. Sift a little confectioner’s sugar over the cakes and transfer to the serving dishes or cake stand.
  38. Note: These are best eaten the same day they are assembled.

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Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse {2 ingredient}… with balsamic fresh cherries

“I invented it — but it was so easy, I’m embarrassed!”
Hervé This 

Dark Chocolate Mousse. Sweet comfort. Chocolat! This turned out to be the simplest mousse ever. One with fewest ingredients too. Just two. OK three four since I added some sugar & a dash of Kirsch. This was something I had longed to make but just didn’t get there. The past few days have been a little busy, a little heartache, too much running around and no energy to bake. At 46C, baking feels a little HOT!

I craved chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate. The bookmarked folder threatens to burst with a collection that spans a few years. When I need to immerse myself in food, get away from the real world, I know I can dive into the folder. It’s a great place to get lost in.

So much inspiration, so much food for thought. Chocolate recipes are aplenty. This particular Heston Blumenthal mousse recipe inspired by Hervé This has always seemed challenging and unreal. Somewhere deep down I didn’t believe that chocolate mousse can be created with just chocolate and water. Nah!! Impossible!! 

Monsieur Hervé This, a French physical chemist with a PHD in molecular gastronomy, invented the recipe for Chocolate Chantilly, or this simple chocolate mousse. His main area of scientific research is molecular gastronomy, that is the science of culinary phenomena. Some of his discoveries include the perfect temperature for cooking an egg, and the use of an electrical field to improve the smoking of salmon. He also found that beating an egg white after adding a small amount of cold water considerably increases the amount of foam produced. 

This is the simplest chocolate mousse. Since it uses just two ingredients, chocolate and water, use the best quality chocolate you can lay your hands on. The trick is to whip it just until it begins to thicken and hold soft peaks. Over whipping results in a grainy mousse. If it does get grainy, you can heat the mixture and begin whipping again! So forgiving!! {You can see Heston Blumenthal making this mousse here.}

This is the chemistry they didn’t teach us in school! Who would have thought that chemistry would enter by way of molecular gastronomy into our lives to make it so delicious? The dark chocolate mousse is fab on its own. Sensuous, smooth, satisfying, intense … everything good quality dark chocolate promises to be.

It’s very unlike me to leave well enough alone. Cherries are in season. While the mousse was chilling, I simmered some cherries with balsamic and sugar. This is a great way to preserve cherries. Makes for a fabulous dessert topping. Chocolate and cherries are a match made in heaven. Oh and BTW, a balsamic cherry sauce pairs beautifully with meat too. 

I use the combination every summer. Some of my favourites are Dark Chocolate Cherry Mousse Cake, Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise with Crème Chantilly & Balsamic Cherry Sauce, Nutella & Cherry Chocolate Tart, Mini Quark Vanilla Cheesecakes with Balsamic Cherry Sauce and another Dark Chocolate Mousse with Balsamic Cherry Sauce.

I thought I’d drizzle some low-fat cream over the mousse and top it with the balsamic cherry sauce. Low fat cream NEVER whips up to stiff peaks, especially during the 46C days of the Indian summer. Murphy’s law kicked in. Within seconds of whipping the low-fat cream, it thickened up like no ones business.

When you least expect it, you can see the mountain move!! For the first time in my culinary life, I needed soft flowing cream… and I got stiff peaks! Strange!! So I rearranged the layers in my head. Topped the mousse with balsamic cherries, piped some cream over it, topped the cream with dark cocoa nibs…

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Recipe: Simplest & Best Dark Chocolate Mousse

Summary: The dark chocolate mousse is fab on its own. Sensuous, smooth, satisfying, intense … everything that good quality dark chocolate promises to be. Top it with balsamic fresh cherries and take it to even more delicious levels. Mousse recipe minimally adapted from Heston Blumenthal, inspired by Hervé This.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • Dark chocolate mousse
  • 265 grams bittersweet (%70 cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped
  • 225g water
  • 15g Kirsch
  • 2 tbsp sugar, optional
  • Balsamic Cherry Sauce
  • 400g sweet fresh cherries, pitted
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Kirsch
  • Whipped cream
  • 200ml cream
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • few drops almond extract
  • cocoa nibs

Method:

  1. Dark chocolate mousse
  2. Place a large mixing bowl on top of another slightly smaller one, filled with ice and cold water (the bottom of the large bowl should touch the ice). Set aside.
  3. Put chocolate and water (also sugar and/or liquor if you’re using) in a medium-sized pan and melt the chocolate over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  4. Pour the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl sitting on top of ice and water, and start whisking with a wire whisk (or an electrical hand-held mixer) until thick. Watch the texture as you whip and make sure not to over-whip as it will make the mousse grainy. If the mousse becomes grainy (which is possible at your first try), transfer it back into the pan, reheat until half of it is melted, pour it back to the mixing bowl and whisk again briefly.
  5. Divide into serving cups and chill until set.
  6. Top with balsamic cherry sauce. Pipe whipped cream over. Sprinkle over dark cocoa nibs if desired.
  7. Balsamic Cherry Sauce
  8. Place the cherries with a splash of water in a non reactive sauce pan. Simmer for 4-5 minutes until the cherries begin to get soft. Add the remaining ingredients other that the Kirsch.
  9. Stir for 2-3 minutes over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Strain the cherries out and reserve in  a bowl. Return the syrup back to the pan and reduce until thick.
  10. Take off heat, stir in the Kirsch and pour back over cherries. Cool and then chill.
  11. Whipped cream
  12. Place cream, sugar and almond extract in a large bowl. Whip until firm peaks. Place in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
  13. Note: You can make this mousse without the liqueur. Just substitute the amount of liqueur with water, i.e. use 240ml water.

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Baking | Cherry & Plum Crisp … Happy Mothers Day #stonefruitlove #summer

“He who likes cherries soon learns to climb”
German Proverb

Cherry & Plum Crisp … could there be a simpler way to celebrate summer? It’s a wonderful way to make Mothers Day special too. I am thrilled to find stone fruit lining the shelves in the local bazaar already. The first week of May and I was pleasantly surprised {read giddily ecstatic} to find the plumpest, juiciest and sweetest of cherries here already!

“Straight from the Himalayas for you” announced the ever charming vendor, knowing pretty well I see through his charm. Knows pretty well too that I cannot resist stone fruit. Year after year we play the same game. In the end the love of stone fruit rules!

This year the crops been better. Sweeter too. Deep, red and SWEET, pitting means a blood red splattered kitchen. Coloured hands, dripping juice and the temptation to gobble up mouthfuls mark this beautiful season.

The hotter and hotter it gets, the more unbearably the mercury rises, the sweeter the fruit get.The irony of life. The good and the bad go hand in hand and all proverbs fall true. No pain without gain, lose something to get something … and life goes on!

The same rings true with being a mother too. Agony and ecstasy? I constantly turn to one of my favourite authors Erma Brombeck for comic relief. Be it for mothers or otherwise, she always has something uncannily true, something that hits a home run each time.As for mothers, there are quotes and more quotes from time immemorial. Everyone has their two penny bit about mothers. For some reason every word makes sense. It doesn’t even matter which side of the fence you’re on!

Back to our bake. Nothing much to it.Crisp, cobblers, crumbles are no rocket science.  Let your palette guide you. Throw in what you like. My recipe is really a rough guide to get you to enjoy summer and make the most of  the abundance of summer fruit.

Go the cherry plum plum way, or just do a cherry crisp. Do a mixed Gluten Free Stone Fruit Crisp, or then get bake up a yummy Stone Fruit Almond Crumble. 

Crisps are baked with the fruit mixture on the bottom with a crumb topping. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, bread crumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal. Crumble are the British version of the American Crisp.

My love of stone fruit is indescribable! Once you’ve had the thrill of a simple crisp or crumble, maybe you can do a Rustic Peach & Plum Galette, Mini Peach Cherry &  Blueberry Galettes, Chocolate Plum Clafoutis, Cornmeal Drop Biscuit Peach Cobbler. Then again you could go the no bake way and make Peach Ginger or Plum Vanilla Granita, Tropical Fruit Verrines or a Fresh Cherry Fro Yo!

Summer is for stone fruit. So much and more you can do. ENJOY!!

[print_this]Recipe: Cherry & Plum Crisp

Summary: A cherry and plum crisp that is simple and delicious. A celebration of summer!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

  • 350g sweet cherries, pitted
  • 200g plums, pitted, chopped
  • 75-100g brown sugar {depending on how sweet or sour the fruit is}
  • 50g almonds, chopped {optional}
  • Few drops almond extract
  • 10g cornflour
  • Topping
  • 25g oats
  • 50g flour
  • 30g almonds
  • 50g butter
  • Fresh cherries to serve

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place 6 ramekins on a baking sheet.
  2. Filling
  3. Place the fruit in a big non reactive/glass bowl with all ingredients and toss well to mix. Divide between 6 ramekins, pressing down gently to level out.
  4. Crisp Topping
  5. Place all ingredients except butter in bowl ofd food processor and pulse briefly in short intervals until a breadcrumb like mix is achieved.
  6. Divide the topping between the ramekins to cover the surface. Gently press into place.
  7. Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top. If the top begins to get too brown, tent with a sheet of aluminum foil.
  8. Serve warm or at room temperature. We are happy to have them chilled too!
  9. Serve with cream, vanilla ice cream and fresh fruit.

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