So now I had the Mascarpone cheese, what was I going to do with it. I know I could have gone with the traditional Tiramisu but I was looking for something a little different. Well Chocolate Mousse sounded like a wonderful idea to me.
Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse (Adapted from Epicurious)
12 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 c heavy cream
1/3 c water
1/4 dark corn syrup
5T dark rum
1 t vanilla
1 t chocolate extract (optional)
8 oz Mascarpone
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 c strawberries, sliced
Place chocolate, 1/3 c cup cream, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Heat until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
Is there a better sight than chocolate melting into cream?
Let cool about 20 minutes, stir occasionally. Whisk in rum and extracts. Whisk in Mascarpone until smooth. Beat 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold chocolate mixture into cream in two additions.
Looks like we'll need some more rum for making Dark n Stormies*
Reserve some strawberries for garnish. Place a spoonful of mousse into each serving dish (about 8 1-2 c serving dishes). Top with bananas and strawberries, spoon in another layer of mousse, alternating layers, ending in mousse. Garnish with strawberries. Refrigerate for 4 hours. You could also top this with whipped cream but I did not find it necessary at all!
I have this really great tool from Pampered Chef. I was a doubting Thomas and did not think it was going to be worth it but I bought it anyway (Thank you Tracy). It's is called Core & More - what a multi-tasker it is! It can core a apple** pear, strawberry, seed tomatoes, seed squash and on and on.
This end works especially well on strawberries
This end works great on squash
*A Dark 'N Stormy is 1.5oz dark rum and 5 oz Ginger Beer and totally yummy!
**Yes this is a Jackie Gleason/Art Carney reference:
So here's a picture of the new kid on the block. Ain't she a beauty? It's a Blomberg . They are fairly new to the US. They have been around in Europe for quite a while. I really liked the design. I've been dying to have a freezer on the bottom. With the old refrigerator I would constantly lose brain cells by hitting my head on the freezer will poking around in the refrigerator. It really makes sense to have the refrigerator on top - that is where you spend most of your time. When we bought the old one, it was an emergency situation. The prior one was leaking on the floor and was no longer cooling. Fifteen years ago the freezer on the bottom was just starting to get popular but we were in no situation to wait for delivery. We had to take what they had on hand. Now the freezer on the bottom is by no means unique. What is - is this freezer's design. There are 3 compartments in the freezer. I used to have a chest freezer in the basement and everything would get los...
Since we were discussing cocktails, I thought I would discuss Mr. Boston . The Sous Chef has his father's Mr. Boston and then the girls one year for Christmas got him the new version. They are different enough that you need to keep both of them. We had once thought about working our way through the book but then decided that probably wasn't a good idea. We have found some really tasty treats though. Old Mr. Boston/New Mr. Boston Here is one of them: Banana Foster (from New Mr. Boston) 2 scoops vanilla ice cream 1 1/2 oz spiced rum 1/2 oz banana liqueur 1 medium banana cinnamon Combine ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large glass and sprinkle with cinnamon I guess there is one improvement with the new Mr. Boston - the index is a bit better. In the old version, you cannot look up the drink by name. You can only look it up by liquor - which doesn't really help you out if you don't know what is in say a grasshopper and just wa...
These are quite impressive looking but very easy to make - especially if you buy ground almonds. The really nice part is that you just press the dough into the tart pans. The only rolling is for the cut outs. Peach Jam Currant Jam Almond & Jam Tarts (Adapted from Bon Appetit ) Makes 2 tarts 7 oz (approx 2 cups) Ground Almonds or Hazelnuts* 4 1/2 c flour 2 1/4 t kosher salt 1 1/2 t baking powder 2 t nutmeg 1 1/2 c sugar 3 sticks butter 6 T heavy cream 3 egg yolks 1 t almond extract 1 Earl Grey tea bag 1 1/2 c apricot jam** 1 1/2 c plum jam** 2 t orange zest 1 egg 1/4 c raw sugar Mix almonds, flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg in a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg yolks, cream, and almond extract. Mix well. Gradually add flour/almond mixture and mix until combined. Divide dough into 3 equal parts, flatten 1 into disk and chill for at least 1 hour. Press the remaining two doughs into tart pans cover and chill....
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