Some very nice chocolate mousse that I put into white chocolate bowls. The bowls were enough hassle/not nice enough that I don’t think they’re worth recreating, but the mousse is a keeper!
Ingredients:
- 5 ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped – you want between 60-65% chocolate – I used 4 oz Baker’s semi-sweet (56%) and 1 oz Baker’s unsweetened to get in the right ballpark
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, cold; divided
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon espresso powder, optional – I did finally give in and buy some, so now I can stop skipping chocolate recipes that call for it even though I hate coffee
Place your finely chopped chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. I did find that a few larger chunks didn’t melt later, so do really chop that stuff to tiny bits! Place a fine mesh sieve over the chocolate, and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, whisk the yolks together. Add the sugar and salt and whisk again.
Whisk in 1/2 cup of the cream until fully incorporated.
Place over medium heat and cook, while whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees.
Pour the egg/cream mixture through the sieve into the chocolate, and discard anything solid left in the sieve. Add the vanilla and espresso powder and whisk together the chocolate, then let cool to room temperature, 20-30 minutes, stirring once in a while.
When the chocolate mixture is most of the way cooled, beat the remaining 3/4 cup cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beating until stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture by hand to lighten.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the remaining whipped cream in just until mixed/no white streaks remain.
Transfer to a nice bowl or small ramekins, cover, and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.
Serve with whipped cream, sprinkles, in chocolate bowls, or however else you like!
Chocolate Mousse
From the King Arthur Baking Company.
- 5 ounces semisweet chocolate or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped – you want between 60-65% chocolate
- 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon table salt
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, cold; divided
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
Place your finely chopped chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl. Place a fine mesh sieve over the chocolate, and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, whisk the yolks together. Add the sugar and salt and whisk again, then whisk in 1/2 cup of the cream until fully incorporated. Place over medium heat and cook, while whisking constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees. Pour the egg/cream mixture through the sieve into the chocolate, and discard anything solid left in the sieve. Add the vanilla and espresso powder and whisk together the chocolate, then let cool to room temperature, 20-30 minutes, stirring once in a while.
When the chocolate mixture is most of the way cooled, beat the remaining 3/4 cup cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beating until stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture by hand to lighten, then use a rubber spatula to fold the remaining whipped cream in just until mixed/no white streaks remain.
Transfer to a nice bowl or small ramekins, cover, and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.
Serve with whipped cream, sprinkles, in chocolate bowls, or however else you like!
Ingredients:
Stir in the milk, vanilla, and salt, then add the flour.
Let cool, if necessary, so that the dough won’t melt the chocolate chips, then stir them in as well.
Divide the dough in half and press half into the pan, using a silicone spatula and/or your hands to press until it evenly covers the bottom of the pan.
Place an additional piece of parchment on top of the dough, then repeat with the other half of the cookie dough, creating two layers. Cover the pan and freeze for at least an hour. During that hour, or when ready to turn into sandwiches, let the ice cream soften slightly (place in the fridge rather than letting it melt straight to soup).
Spread the softened ice cream over the cookie dough into an even layer, and then top with the second piece of cookie dough, pressing gently to make them hold together.
Cover and freeze at least 2 hours, ideally longer.
I ended up using a whole 8 ounce bag of pretzels, give or take a few bits, and you can mix in whatever combo of chocolate/white chocolate/butterscotch/caramel chips you have to make up the 2 cups of bits. I found it worth lining 4 baking sheets with silpats/parchment, so you can keep balling dough while the first batch bakes, with how many cookies this made.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat another minute or two.
Add the flour and mix on low until just combined.
Add the chocolate chips and oats and stir in by hand.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place your crushed pretzels in a pie plate or other low-sided dish.
Bake for 9 minutes, remove from the oven and press a piece or two of candy corn into each cookie.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients:
In a mixer bowl, combine the flour and salt. Using the mixer’s dough hook on low speed, stir together, then slowly drizzle in the peanut butter mixture. Once all the peanut butter mixture is added, and the dough has begun to come together, increase the speed one notch and continue to mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, around 6 minutes.
Turn the dough out into a greased bowl, turning the dough ball to ensure that all sides of the dough are coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise somewhere warm until doubled, about an hour.
Once the dough has risen, punch down and turn out onto a clean, lightly floured surface (a silpat is great here). Use a bench knife to divide the dough in half, and each half into further halves, and repeat until the dough is divided into 64 even(ish) pieces.
Grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan well, then sprinkle a cup of mini marshmallows around inside it. Dunk each piece of dough in melted butter, then roll in sugar, and place in the bundt pan.
Once a full layer of pieces have been put in the bundt pan, sprinkle in another cup of marshmallows on top of the dough pieces, then begin layering another set of buttered/sugared dough pieces.
Mine got two full layers of dough pieces, and 3 layers of mini marshmallows, plus another scattered layer, about half coverage, of dough pieces. Cover with plastic wrap.
You can let the dough rise an additional 40-50 minutes now, until the dough has risen over the edge of the pan, or let rise ~20 minutes before refrigerating overnight, so it will be ready to cook in the morning. If refrigerating, let rise for 30 minutes in the morning before baking.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes, then cover with foil (to prevent burning) and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the top is a dark brown and the butter/sugar mixture is bubbling.
Cool for 5 minute in the pan, then turn out onto a plate. (If you want to turn out onto a wire rack, be aware there will probably be melted sugar goo coming out with it, so you’ll want a dish under the rack.)
Pour over the monkey bread. Serve still warm, either pulling apart chunk-by-chunk or slicing with a bread knife.
Ingredients:
In a small dish, microwave the chocolate chips in 30 second bursts, stirring well after each, until melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate over the graham crackers and spread to cover the crackers evenly. Set the pan aside.
In a large bowl, combine the Rice Krispies, Golden Grahams, and 2 cups of the mini marshmallows. Measure the other 9 cups of marshmallows out so they’ll be ready quickly when you need them.
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once melted, continue cooking until some brown flecks start to show in the melted butter, then reduce heat to low.
Stir in the milk powder and continue to cook a further 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until copper colored.
Turn off the heat and stir in the salt, vanilla, and 9 cups of marshmallows, stirring to combine.
Turn off the heat and remove from the burner. Add the cereal and stir until fully combined.
Refrigerate until the chocolate has set, around 90 minutes. Remove from the pan, slice, and serve, storing extras in an airtight container at room temp.
Ingredients:
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours, until 1 1/4 cups of whey have drained out. If more whey than needed is drained out, you can stir it back in.
In a small dish/measuring cup, sprinkle the gelatin over the orange juice and let sit for 5 minutes. Microwave until the mixture is bubbling around the edges to dissolve the gelatin, about 30 seconds. Stir in the zest, and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the strained yogurt, sugar, syrup, and salt. Whisk in the orange juice, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved, then cover and refrigerate until at or below 40 degrees (this took 4+ hours for my batch).
Churn according to your ice cream maker’s directions, 25-35 minutes.
Transfer to a container, and freeze at least 2 hours to firm up before serving.
Honestly you shouldn’t need much guidance on this one, but here we go:
Add a handful of cheese and a pineapple ring.
Bake, ideally in a toaster oven, for 10 minutes at 350. (In a toaster oven, you don’t need to worry about preheating for this.)
Ingredients:
While it’s going, place half of the cake crumbs in a large tupperware/bowl that you’re going to store the ice cream in. Transfer the chilled ice cream to the container, top with the remaining cake crumbs, and then fold to mix the cake into the ice cream.
Cover and freeze for several hours to firm up before serving.
Ingredients:
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Add the vanilla and egg and whisk again until evenly combined.
Add the flour mixture and stir in with a silicone spatula.
Fold in the chocolate chunks and chips.
Press the dough evenly into the greased skillet.
Bake 18-20 minutes, until the edges are golden but the middle is still soft.
Serve, either sliced in individual servings or eaten straight from the skilled, with vanilla ice cream. Leftovers (ideally not doused in melted ice cream) can be reheated in the oven the next few days, for ~10 minutes at 350.
Ingredients:
Toss the marshmallows evenly over the graham crackers, then set aside.
Pour the caramel over the marshmallows, using your silicone spatula as needed to help it get down between all the marshmallows to attach them to the graham crackers. Sprinkle the Reese’s evenly over the top and gently press into the caramel/marshmallow mixture.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour, until set, then slice and enjoy.
sparecake 