OMG! It's a Moose!

Recipe:  Chocolate Mousse
Video:  Link
Recipe Number:  7
Week:  1

The batter is almost as good as the finished mousse!

Okay, not a moose but the next best thing: chocolate mousse.  So I actually made chocolate mousse a few days ago but just did not have a chance to sit down and write-up this blog post.  Oh well, it is happening now.  I have to say, this is an extremely easy recipe to follow and do and the end result is so tasty and wonderful, it is a great dessert to make and serve to guests.  And when you say you made mousse, they will just not believe it!  Go watch Titli's video and read her recipe so you know what I am talking about!

All you need to make for four servings

So first things first, get the butter and the chocolate melting on the stove, using the bowl over a pot of simmering water trick.  This trick is great because no matter how long it takes you to beat the egg whites into merengue, with in reason of course, the chocolate will not burn.  This trick is so simple and gentle.  Just forget you ever had a microwave, just forget it right now!  For beating the egg whites, I would recommend investing in an electric mixer, because I am sure it makes things infinitely easier.  I do not have one and that is the only part of the recipe that I found a challenge: the physical labor!  (I swear my arms are getting toned from all of this baking.)

If you are as unfortunate as me and have to beat your egg whites by hand, first thing I would recommend is getting some help.  Your arm is going to get tired and you will have to take breaks, probably, so it would definitely be nice to switch off with someone.  I am a bit of a control freak, so I was silly and did not ask for hep.  Do not be like me, folks.  It took me about thirty minutes to beat the eggs into soft peaks, though, but I did discover a trick which made the process easier.  I sat down at the table and put the rod of the whisk between my hands and made a rubbing motion so it spun in the egg white (I am will aware of the innuendo here, but there was no other way to explain it!  *Sigh*).  This made the motions of an electric mixer and I cannot say it was faster, because I discovered this near the end, but it seemed like it was and it was easier to do.  If you are beating by hand, there is an end in sight though and beating in the confectioner's sugar is much faster!

These were my stiff peaks, picture quality is a no go, sorry folks!

Once you have finished with your merengue, set it aside and go finish up with the chocolate.  This only takes a few minutes as it should be all nice and melted by this point.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well over the heat.  Remove and add in the merengue in small amounts, about a quarter at a time or so worked well for me.  Work slowly driving your spoon down to the bottom of the mixture and then bringing up the chocolate to cover the merengue.  As it gets more fully covered, you can start to work at breaking up the clumps and making the consistency even.  And then, repeat three more times or until you have it all mixed.

Easy, right?  Now all that is left is dividing it into some serving glasses and putting it in the refrigerator for a few hours to set.  I let mine sit over night (I made them very late) and by morning they were perfect!  I had one before going to work and it was delectable.  I did not garnish mine as I really had nothing to garnish them with but you can follow Titli's suggestion, stick a small cookie in, or spray on some whipped cream.  Or eat them as is like me!  Whatever your fancy is, go for it!

This poor guy lasted barely a minute before he was consumed

Happy Baking,

Zielony Pie

What's Brown and Sticky?

Recipe:  Brownies
Video:  Link
Week:  0
Recipe:  2

Yum!

Brownies, of course!  Though, if you ask Titli, she would say a stick!  What were you thinking?  So today's recipe was another baked good and really kind of a cheat on my part because I have made brownies before.  But I had some extra time today so I thought I would give Titli's recipe a shot.  So go read her recipe and watch her video before reading my blog so you know what I am talking about (links at the top of the post).

Now, before you even begin to make brownies, I have one very important recommendation for you: make sure you have all of the ingredients!  That may seem silly, but I had already gotten started melting my chocolate and pre-heating my oven and then I went to grab my eggs to crack into the sugar.  I had three and this recipe calls for four.  Shoot!  I turned everything off and ran quickly over to my neighbor to borrow an egg.  Though, I won't be giving it back to her so really I went to beg for an egg.  So an extra step in my baking was having a little chitchat about nothing so I could get an egg.  Double check, folks!

Notice the three eggs?  I noticed too late!

This recipe was incredibly easy to do and I did not even have an electric mixer like Titli did!  So I got another work out today mixing by hand!  My arms are soon going to be toned between shredding carrots and beating batter.  Now Titli said to mix the eggs, sugar, and vanilla for ten minutes on high.  And that is a great tip for all of you who have electric mixers can just watch it go to town while you suck on your teeth (I jest) but for those of you like me who do not have an electric anything for cooking (I told you I was a beginner!) you can reduce this time.  I mixed well for probably less that five minutes and everything was smooth and well mixed.  Also, as a note, I used white sugar and two cups like Titli recommend.  Unless, you really like sweet brownies, I would not use any more than this.

A good, old wooden spoon does the trick just fine

Now, I forgot to mention, start melting the chocolate before mixing anything.  It helps wasting time sitting around for it to finish melting and mine had melted completely and perfectly right when I was ready for it.  I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and you need to press them with your spoon to realize that they have melted, just mix it a bit when you are ready and it should be fine.  The bowl over the simmering water works wonderfully.  When I added in the butter (or fat as Titli charmingly refers to it as) it takes a few minutes to mix it in well.  And at first it does not seem like it is going to mix in and then WHAM!  It is all smooth and creamy.  Just keep stirring it over the simmering water and it will mix beautifully.

Mixed chocolate and butter; nice and smooth

Mixing the sugar/egg mix, chocolate, flour, and salt is the final mixing step and it is super easy.  Took me just about a minute of good stirring to mix everything together smoothly.  I decided to add a little bit of extras to mine and poured in a half cup of chocolate chips into the batter.  Then I poured into a 9"x13" baking try that I greased with Pam, not butter, and it worked perfectly.  Like with the carrot cake, Titli set her oven to 180C and baked for 30 minutes.  I baked mine at 400F (which I think is slightly hotter) for 30 minutes and when I pulled it out it was done, toothpick tested!  And there were no burned corners, it came out perfectly.

The end result: delicious!  They were jut the right balance of chewy and gooey with a nice flakey top and edges.  The hardest part of this simple recipe is waiting for them to cool properly before cutting them up and eating (but do let them cool, because it makes less of a mess!).  From starting to pulling them out of the oven, it took me just about an hour (conversation with the neighbor lady included) so this recipe is quite quick to make!  Definitely an easy baking project and very tasty!  Thanks Titli!

Ready to share (or not)!

Happy Baking!

Zielony Pie