dessert – Audrey's 74 A blog by Giulia Doyle Tue, 31 Jan 2017 21:28:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.17 Chocolate Mousse /2015/11/22/chocolate-mousse/ Sun, 22 Nov 2015 16:23:15 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=3925 Chocolate Mousse Giulia Doyle

People are often intimidated by chocolate mousse, but I find it one of the easiest desserts to make. Mine has four ingredients, can be made ahead and is a hit every time. I’ve made this recipe for years and the key to it’s success is the best dark chocolate you can afford. If you buy low quality chocolate or use chocolate chips you won’t get the results you are looking for. Try this recipe the next time you want to impress, serve chocolate and only have basic ingredients on hand.

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Chocolate Mousse

Yield: 4-6 dessert sized servings

Never melt chocolate directly in a pot. Either use the method I describe below, melt it in the microwave in 10 second bursts or use a double boiler. Combine all components, but don't over-stir, you'll loose the airiness and it will be less mousse and more cream.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs, yolks and egg whites separated
  • 2 Tablespoons of sugar
  • 100 g of really good quality dark chocolate
  • 200 ml of whipping cream (not quite a cup)

Instructions

  1. Beat egg yolks with sugar until frothy
  2. Carefully melt dark chocolate (I do this by breaking chocolate into pieces, pouring boiling water over it, let it sit a few minutes, pour off water carefully, stir).
  3. Add melted chocolate to egg yolk mixture and stir.
  4. Beat cream until you have nice airy whip cream. Combine with melted chocolate mixture.
  5. Beat egg whites until firm. Carefully combine with chocolate, egg, cream mixture. You want to make sure it's well combined, but you don't want to stir the air out of the egg whites and cream.
  6. Chill in fridge for a bit in a large bowl or single serving bowls.
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]]> Nectarine and Blueberry Millefeuille /2013/08/19/1509/ Mon, 19 Aug 2013 10:27:35 +0000 http://www.audrey74.com/?p=1509 Nectarine Blueberry MillefeuilleAren’t these pretty? I’ve been eating my share of nectarines this year – at least one a day, usually with a paper towel or napkin next to me to catch the drips. While eating my allotment of fresh fruit, I was thinking about a fancier way to present these lovelies – something that looks impressive, but is easy to make. Puff pastry fits that description – it’s easy to use, versatile and looks impressive. Add a little vanilla whipped cream and a couple of blueberries for colour (and antioxidants) and you’re done.Nectarine Millefeuille Audrey'sI use frozen puff pastry – I’ve never attempted to make the pastry from scratch. Having a couple of rolls in the freezer has made many fast meals possible. I’m also using the term ‘millefeuille‘ with creative freedom here. While there are three layers of puff pastry, and there are variations with whipped cream – this version doesn’t include icing and has fruit, which I think makes it prettier.

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Nectarine and Blueberry Millefeuille

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted
  • 1 cup of whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1 nectarine, sliced thinly
  • A few blueberries
  • icing sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. Cut puff pastry into rectangles on parchment - about 3x2 inches
  3. Transfer pastry on parchment to cookie sheet and cover with another piece of parchment. Cover second parchment with another cookie sheet to weigh down puff pastry while baking
  4. Bake about 12-15 minutes until edges are golden.
  5. While pastry is baking, whip cream with sugar and vanilla. Whip by hand for fluffier texture.
  6. Once pastry has finished baking, remove top cookie sheet and parchment and let cool completely.
  7. Assemble dessert by starting with one pastry base, dust with some icing sugar, add a dollop of cream, some blueberries and 2-3 slices of nectarines. Add a second piece of pastry, push down gently, repeat sugar, whipped cream and fruit layer. Cover with last piece of pastry, whipped cream and decorate with final fruit. Finish with a dusting of icing sugar right before serving.

Notes

Make sure to weigh down your pastry while baking or it will puff too much and you won't be able to stack it.

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Nectarine Millefeuille Audrey's

 

 

]]> Pear and Plum Sharlotka /2012/12/12/pear-and-plum-sharlotka/ Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:37:46 +0000 http://audrey74.com/?p=109

I really like fruit in cake, I prefer it to pie and I particularly like it when the recipe is so easy you can make it in your sleep. I appreciate that I can make it with ingredients readily available in your pantry and that you can adapt it to any fruit you want. The origin of the recipe is a Russian Apple Sharlotka, but I do find similarity to a Swiss Apfelkuchen or Zwetschkenkuchen (Plum pie). Plums in cake or pie always remind me of back home and fall. This time I combined some ripe pears and added plums for colour and a bit of tartness. It turned out beautifully – so much so that people wanted seconds and I had more for breakfast.

Pear and Plum Sharlotka (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

  • Butter or nonstick spray, for greasing pan
  • 6 large pears pealed and a handful of pitted prune plums
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
  • Powdered sugar, to finish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Butter the paper and the sides of the pan. Peel, halve and core your pears and pit your plums, then cut the pears into medium-sized pieces. (The nicer you cut the pieces the nicer the slices will look.) Pile the fruit directly in the prepared pan.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, using whisk, beat eggs with sugar until thick and ribbons form on the surface of the beaten eggs. Beat in vanilla, then stir in flour with a spoon until just combined. The batter will be very thick.

Pour over fruit in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter so that it covers all exposed fruit. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a tester comes out free of batter. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then flip out onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, and flip it back onto a serving platter.

Serve warm or cooled, dusted with powdered sugar.

]]> Peach Trifle with Vanilla Whip /2012/12/10/peach-trifle-with-vanilla-whip/ Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:36:21 +0000 http://audrey74.com/2012/09/10/peach-trifle-with-vanilla-whip/ ImageI am posting a couple of recipes from my Friday Food Files over at FishlyNews – this trifle is a recent favourite. Light and fragant, the perfect dessert that looks pretty as well.

How to:

  •   I used this yellow cake
  •   this vanilla custard
  •   I stewed peaches with two tablespoons of sugar and some ginger
  •   I whipped fresh cream with vanilla and one tablespoon of sugar
  • Fill each glass with vanilla custard and let cool
  • Cut cake into small pieces and distribute on top of custard
  • Add stewed peaches
  • Top with vanilla whipped cream
  • Sprinkle with chopped nuts (I used cashews, but pistachios would be nice as well)
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