Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Mint Milk Chocolate Mousse
August 11, 2020 at 9:12 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 9 CommentsTags: chocoate, mousse
Okay, this should be Double-Mint Milk Chocolate Mousse and Gelée, but I just don’t think gelée is good, and nothing will convince me otherwise. So this is just Single-Mint Milk Chocolate Mousse and, even though I don’t have that cool layered effect that gelée would have given, it is fabulous!
There is really something quite special about chocolate mousse. It isn’t particularly hard to make, but it is so luxurious, and it really fixes a chocolate craving. I used up a lot of my random milk chocolate bits and pieces for this, so that was also quite satisfying. I usually have fresh mint on hand in the summer because I like it with all the summer fruits and vegetables, but if you don’t have it to steep your cream for the mousse, I don’t see why you couldn’t use peppermint extract. This mousse uses just egg whites and no yolks, which I thought was unusual, but it makes it nice and fluffy, and I had absolutely no issues polishing off a tall glass!
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Crème Brûlée Tart
June 23, 2020 at 10:33 am | Posted in BCM, groups, pies & tarts, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, tarts
A Crème Brûlée Tart is just what it sounds like— crème brûlée baked in a tart shell rather than a ramekin. I had a few mini tart cases already lined in the freezer and I whipped them out to make these. Now my freezer stash of sweet tart dough is gone, which feels good, but I’ll have to make it all from scratch the next time we have a tart on deck. I don’t know why but that makes me feel tired. Haha.
These tarts are meant to have some berries hiding under the custard, but my shells were so teeny-weeny there was only room for one thing inside, and I figured it should be the crème brûlée. I served the berries on the side instead. I used granulated sugar, not brown, for torching to get the crispiest sugar shell. We liked these a lot and I’m glad they were nominated during peak strawberry season here in New York.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Tea and Honey Pots de Crème
May 26, 2020 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: custard
We’ve made several versions of pots de crème during our TWD journey, but these Tea and Honey Pots de Créme might be my favorite. Shocking since no chocolate is involved. Haha. I steeped the cream with a tea from Kusmi called Sweet Love that I originally got as a small sample tin, but I liked it so much that just yesterday I ordered a big one. It’s a black tea with things like cardamom, cinnamon, liquorice and pink peppercorn, and it went really well with the rose extract Dorie suggests adding to the honey-sweetened tea base. It was really flavorful and this round of PdC for some reason baked nicer that my last one, which developed something of a fatty skin on top. I didn’t even feel the need to decorate these with whipped cream and sprinkles! I baked them off in some cute little teacups that I got when we lived in Sydney. I’m down to only three of them now though– broke one during wash-up in the kitchen sink! Oopsies. Stuff happens, I guess, and they weren’t expensive (although this is the third thing I’ve shattered in the last couple of weeks, so maybe I need to be better focused).
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Lavender-White Chocolate Pots de Crème
February 11, 2020 at 9:27 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 8 CommentsTags: custard
Floral and delicate, yet rich and elegant, Lavender-White Chocolate Pots de Crème may be the answer to, “what the heck should I make for Valentine’s Day dessert?” We made another version of pots de crème not too long ago, and these little baked custards are equally luxurious.
The only lavender I usually have at home is in a potpourri sachet in my sock drawer. Thinking better of breaking it open for this recipe (eww– I would never!), I almost made the mint Bonne Ideé version. Then I remembered that the pastry chef at work candies lavender buds for a bar cocktail, so I asked her for a few spoonfuls to take home for both these and the upcoming sablés for DC. In the finished pots de crème, I found the lavender flavor to be subtle and the white chocolate added even more richness and smoothness to the creamy texture. To help disguise the fact that mine got a bit of a darker yellow layer on top, I decorated these with a bloop of whipped cream, some candied lavender bits and a few white chocolate pearls…btw, looking at the last PdC we baked makes me realize I’m a one trick pony when it comes to food styling!
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Caramelized-Coffee Bean Pots de Crème
November 26, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: caramel, coffee, custard
Pots de crème are luxurious baked custards (pots of cream! and egg yolks!), and these Caramelized-Coffee Bean Pots de Crème are flavored with cracked coffee beans further roasted and toasted in caramelized sugar. Pots de crème are rich, and a small-ish serving will do. I baked these babies off in some cute little French yogurt pots that I had to go all the way to Europe to collect! Turns out it was worthwhile trip. I served my cream pots with a little whipped cream and some chocolate covered espresso beans.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Mascarpone Mousse
July 23, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: mousse
Mascarpone Mousse sounds like it would be rich, but it is surprisingly light and airy. It’s a nice chilled, no-bake dessert for the oppressively hot summer days we’ve been having. I think it would go well with just about any summer fruit, too…here I topped it with some of the Roasted Rhubarb with Bitters I made for our last posting.
To make the mousse, mascarpone and honey-sweetened cream are mixed together. Then a simple meringue is folded through the mix to give it its delicate texture. There is a little gelatin as well to help it set up. That’s not my favorite ingredient, but I did use it here. The recipe says it makes four servings, but I got six that I thought were quite reasonably sized.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll.
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Dark Chocolate Mousse
February 12, 2019 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things | 9 CommentsTags: chocolate, holiday, mousse
Dark Chocolate Mousse…so fancy, I decided it was worthy of the good silver. Definitely Valentine’s Day dessert-worthy, too, if you are into rich, creamy, velvety, chocolatey deliciousness. If you are not, I guess come back next week…when I’m making buttery, smoky, heart-shaped chocolate cookies…haha.
Let’s get down to business here. I could tell that Dorie’s (originally Pierre Hermé’s) recipe would have a large yield– the 1 3/4 cup of cream alone tipped me off– so I decided to make just a quarter of the original. (And, btw, I still got 4 reasonable servings, when I thought I’d only get two.) In order to downsize though, I had to modify just a bit. The recipe calls for folding together melted chocolate and whipped cream, which I did as written, along with eggs and yolks that are whipped fluffy with a boiling sugar syrup. I know from past experience that trying to make a pâte à bombe like this out of just a yolk or two and a small amount of sugar can go very wrong. Instead, I decided to get the volume into my single yolk and half an egg by whipping it with the sugar over a water bath, sabayon-style. While I was at it, I added a splash of cognac, you know, because it’s French.
My little switcheroo seemed to work just fine. After I chilled my mousse, I was able to scoop it nicely into my little silver coupes. Dorie says the mousse also makes a nice cake or cream puff filling, but whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles seemed to be a more expeditious way for this chocoholic to enjoy it.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll. Happy Valentine’s Day, loves!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Bettelman
October 9, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, groups, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 9 CommentsTags: baking, bread pudding
As much as I don’t want to acknowledge it, the summer fruits are out and the apples are in. I might as well get used to it and least bake some interesting apple treats. I’d never heard of a Bettleman before, but it’s an Alsatian bread pudding made to use up stale brioche. The bread gets soaked in warm milk and egg yolks and then the mix gets a hit of spice and rum, along with apples and raisins. The egg whites are whipped separately and added at the end, so the pudding soufflés a bit in the oven. It’s lighter than the bread pudding I’m used to, and I liked it very much.
I happened to have a couple of brioche rolls in the freezer, and they were just enough to make two individual ramekins. I served my bettleman with some ice cream and a drizzle of apple caramel sauce.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Cold Chocolate Crémeux, Wine-Poached Cherries and Lots of Crumbs
August 14, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, jams & preserves, other sweet, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 10 CommentsTags: baking, chocolate, custard, fruit
If Cold Chocolate Crémeux, Wine-Poached Cherries and Lots of Crumbs sounds pretty cheffy, that’s because it’s inspired by a dessert Dorie had a bistro in Paris. A crémeux is essentially a custard that’s thickened with gelatin. It’s not hard to make and sets up dense and rich, especially when it also has a lot of good dark chocolate blended in! The crumbs are cocoa-flavored streusel bits, and wine-poached cherries are just what they sound like…I used an Aussie shiraz in my poaching liquid. Serve this dessert in a cute little bowl…you’ll have a combination of textures and sweetness levels.
Like most desserts with multiple components, it helps when you can get some of them out of the way ahead of time. The cherries can be poached well in advance and kept jarred in the fridge. The cocoa crumbs, too, but I’d keep them in the freezer for longer-term storage. Any extra cherries and crumbs you may find yourself with will be good toppings for an ice cream sundae later…just sayin’.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BCM: Springtime Cookies and Curd with Double-Butter Double-Baked Petit Beurre Cookies
May 22, 2018 at 12:01 am | Posted in BCM, cookies & bars, groups, other sweet, puddings, custards, mousses, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 7 CommentsTags: baking, cookies, curd
Here are both of this month’s BCM recipes in one nifty post. I’d say I love the efficiency, but actually, I had to get together a lot of bits and pieces before I could stick a spoon in this Springtime Cookies and Curd dessert and call it done. This is a layered treat…cookies, curd, rhubarb and strawberries…oh my! I began by making Double-Butter Double-Baked Petit Beurre Cookies, which I can assure you are double-good. They’re made in an unusual way, starting with buttery baked streusel-like crumbles, to which even more butter is added to hold them together into a rough dough. I knew this would be tricky to work with, so I skipped the step of rolling out the dough and then cutting and transferring delicate rounds. Instead, I pressed the dough into rings, chilled everything well and baked the cookies right in those rings.
Once the cookies were baked and cooled, I got everything else together. Sometimes the state of my fridge drives me nuts, while other times I am thankful for all the little jars of this and that I have kicking around. Taking shortcuts where you can is nothing to be ashamed of. I had passion fruit curd in the fridge already, as well as stewed rhubarb, so I used those. Rather than make a strawberry compote I just diced up some fresh berries. I put all these together in a coupe, beginning and ending with cookie bits, and it made a beautiful and delicious springtime dessert. And the cookies are fabulous on their own…very buttery, a tiny bit salty and with a texture that can’t be beat.
For the recipe, see Baking Chez Moi by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
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