Custard and Mousse Archives - Page 11 of 11

I wanted to let you in on a little secret.
I have this ridiculous urge to look at everything with pastry eyes! What I mean by that is quite often when I come across a food item or ingredient..herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits..anything. I start to imagine how it would turn out mixed with sugar, whisked with eggs, added to cream, baked, frozen, torched, candied and so on. Until lately I thought this was weird. And people around me thought I was ‘stressed out’ and ‘needed a break’.

A Thai lunch and I was all about Kaffir Lime. Not that this was the first time Kaffir Lime had caught my attention. Before this I was probably paying more attention to something else..Lemongrass I think. I enjoyed the dish I was eating but I enjoyed thinking about the little experiments that I was going to carry out more.

‘This is so good’ one of my friends remarked between mouthfuls of Thai curry.

Oh yes, it is..imagine pairing it with mango…I smiled at myself.

‘I had something similar in ABC restaurant but this one is better’ another one spoke out.

It will be great in a Panna Cotta. And blackberries..lovely…white, yellow, black…i was already planning.

I looked at the watch. 1.10 pm…just enough time to go back home, get the kids to nap and run to the Asian Market to get hold of Kaffir Lime leaves and create something.

That is exactly what I did. Kaffir lime…I had to get some…I NEED Kaffir lime, I told myself. This word ‘NEED’ is more than familiar to me at the moment. Apparently, it has assumed a place of great significance in my little boy’s life and vocabulary (the older twin..to be precise 38 seconds older). He does not ‘like’ or ‘want’ things. He NEEDS them. How well I can trace it back to his genes.

I spent the afternoon at the market and later in my kitchen. The Panna Cotta was exactly the way I had imagined it to be. Light, refreshing, fragrant with a distinct taste of Kaffir Lime. While they were setting up, i made the candied lime leaves.

All this while I have questioned my sanity, my thrill at spending hours at a fruit market, the ability to bake a cake at 2 am after a tiring day with two preschoolers, my obsession with food. But not anymore. I am not alone. Ever since I started this little blog, I am coming across people every day who eat, sleep and breathe ingredients..who live flavours..rejoice and celebrate food. This is my place…this is my world. This is where I belong…where I have always belonged. I no longer do things that I have to do..but things that bring me joy. It is all making perfect sense to me now..I feel liberated. Every day is exciting…every moment is beautiful.

This is my world…bright, brilliant, beautiful…of Sugar…et al..

Kaffir Lime Panna Cotta with Mango and Blackberries
Yields 4-5

11/2 cups Single cream
11/2 Cups Milk
1/2 cup castor sugar
6 kaffir lime leaves finely shredded
2 tsp powdered gelatine
2 tablespoon warm water.
1 mango, sliced
1/2 cup blackberries

Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine. Set aside till it blooms i.e absorbed all the water. Heat the cream over medium heat in a saucepan and add the lime leaves. Bring it to a boil and then remove from heat. Let infuse for 30 minutes. Strain the mixture to remove the leaves. Put the infused cream, milk and sugar back in the saucepan and heat gently. Add the gelatine and stir to dissolve.

Remove from heat once the mixture begins to boil and let cool to room temperature. Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate till set. About 4-5 hours. Before serving top with sliced mangoes and blackberries. I mascerated the sliced mangoes in 1 tsp sugar to release its juices.

Candied Kaffir Lime leaves
1 egg white
1/2 cup castor sugar
5-6 Kaffir lime leaves

Whisk the egg white till frothy. Place the sugar on a plate. Line a baking tray or plate with baking paper. Dip each leaf into the egg white and hold it by the tip till the excess falls out. Dip it again into the sugar till it is evenly coated. Dust off excess sugar. Place the leaves on the parchment paper to dry. About 2 hours later turn the leaves around for the other side (the one which was not exposed)to dry. They become hard when dried.

I have been craving chocolate…craving for a while now. Not a bar or two. Not even a cake or an ice cream. A wicked craving. Shut myself away from the world, sitting with knees folded on the couch, my favourite music playing in the background, a rich..luscious..sinful dessert in my hands, savoring each mouthful.

I have been trying to put away this chocolate hankering for a long time now…saving it for the orange hued months that are to follow. I can only blame it on summer…I have been trying too hard to take advantage of the beautiful summer fruits. It almost saddens me to think that summer is officially over. Berries..no berries..

A little note from a cousin along similar lines was enough to ignite the fire..or should I say an explosion. Before I could gather my thoughts together, I was weighing, whisking, stirring, piping with a vengeance. A self-proclaimed Pastry chef and Chocolate..its a bittersweet symbiotic relationship.

Dark, milk or white…I debated for a while. Then I decided to go with all three. Unsure of what the final dessert would be, I baked the brownie bases in ramekins. White chocolate is not really a favourite in its regular form but caramelized white chocolate..I could kill for that one. It is a simple technique but patience is the key. You need to be cooking it at a low temperature, checking the oven every 10 minutes till the white turns to the colour of Peanut butter. It is, I think, the most gorgeous and delicious thing on Earth…tastes and looks almost like Dulce de Leche.

One cup of caramelized white chocolate..sent my mind racing in all directions. I decided it has to be a mousse.

Quite pleased with myself, I started to think about a little surprise hiding between the brownie and the mousse. Finally I made a quick ganache and spooned out truffles.

While the mousse and truffles were setting up in the refrigerator, I baked a batch of doughnuts to use the white chocolate as a glaze. I was in a frenzy…an overpowering chocolate madness. The colour of the glaze was almost identical to the colour of the doughnuts which I was not too happy with. So out came more dark chocolate to drizzle. I will post the recipe of baked doughnuts with the caramelised white chocolate on another day.

By the end of it, I was so drained…physically and emotionally. Too much chocolate to deal with on one day. But that was the story behind creating it. I was so looking forward to assembling it. I love piping…there were days when I piped on the entire kitchen counter to practise and perfect the art.

And..then the much awaited moment. Time to reap the rewards of my labour.

Shut myself away from the world, sitting with knees folded on the couch,my favourite music playing in the background, a rich..luscious..sinful dessert in my hands, savouring each mouthful.

Brownies, Truffles, Mousse, Doughnuts..and a little left over gorgeous Caramelised White Chocolate. I am in Chocolate Heaven right now !

Double Chocolate Brownie, Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle and Caramelized White Chocolate Dessert

Double Chocolate Brownie (adapted from here)

Yields 4-5 brownies baked in ramekins

227 g semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

4 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a small saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. Stir until smooth and if you used a pot, pour into a bowl.

Stir in the sugar, vanilla and eggs; blend well. Add the flour, cocoa and salt and stir just until blended.

Spoon the batter into buttered ramekins, filling them about half. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until just set. (A toothpick inserted will come out with lots of moist crumbs sticking to it.) Cool completely before removing from the pan.

Once completely cooled cut out the tops to get a even surface. Then refrigerate till needed.

Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles

Yields 6-7 truffles

I halved the recipe from Joy of Baking and included whole and chopped toasted Hazelnuts.

50 g Dark chocolate
60 g Milk Chocolate
60 ml (about 1/4 cup) whipping cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into small pieces
6-7 whole toasted hazelnuts.
1 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts or any nut of your choice for coating.

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized heatproof bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for a minute or two. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. (If the chocolate doesn’t melt completely, place in the microwave for about 20 seconds, or over a saucepan of simmering water,just until melted). Cover and place in refrigerator until the truffle mixture is firm.(This may take several hours).

Place the chopped nuts for coating on a plate. Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator. With your hands, a small ice cream scoop, a melon baller or a small spoon drop 3/4 inch mounds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place one hazelnut in the centre of each mound and roll mounds into smooth balls. Immediately roll the truffle in the chopped hazelnut coating and place them back on the baking sheet. Cover and place in the refrigerator till firm. Bring them to room temperature before serving.

Caramelised White Chocolate Mousse

Serves 4-5

I followed David Lebovitz technique for caramelising the white chocolate. The process has been explained very well and produces consistent results every time. Recipe here. Yields about a cup.

3 Egg Yolks
¼ Cup Sugar(or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ Cup heavy cream for the custard (Crème Anglaise)
5 tablespoons of the caramelised white chocolate
2 teaspoons powdered gelatine
¾ Cup Heavy Cream for whipping

Soak gelatine in 1 tablespoon room temparature water. Heat the ½ cup cream and caramelised white chocolate in a saucepan. Beat the egg yolks,sugar and vanilla extract together in a bowl. When the cream reaches boiling point take it off the heat and slowly pour it over the egg mixture whisking constantly. Add the gelatine (which by now should have bloomed). Return the egg-cream mixture to the pan.

Heat the mixture under a medium-low flame, whisking constantly till the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from heat and pass it through a sieve into another bowl. Cool to room temperature.

While the custard is cooling, whip the remaining ¾ cup cream to stiff peaks. Store in the refrigerator till needed.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled down completely add it to the whipped cream gradually & fold in till no white streaks appear. Refrigerate till set, about 4 hours or longer.

To Assemble

Place a chocolate truffle in the centre of a brownie base. Fill up a piping bag fitted with a large plain tip with the caramelised white chocolate. Pipe all around the truffle centre. Dust with cocoa powder. Refrigerate till set