Chocolate puddings!

Lent and the time of abstinence is over- Easter tide is well upon us. With that our fancy turns to thoughts of ....chocolate.

This month's blog salutes that most sublime of puds- chocolate mousse/sponge/cream in all (or many at least) of its forms.





I am featuring 4 choccy puds- two made with eggs, two without.

The first is the most wacky- made with aquafaba ( the water drained from a can of chickpeas)- so a really unusual way to use up something that would ordinarily be thrown away.

The chickpeas of course can be used in a variety of dishes- hummus, falafel, tagines...

https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/534564fbe4b06807fd8c4f13/927201
Hummus

Falafel 
http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=falafel

http://lizsleftovers.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=tagine
Tagine

Chocolate Mousse with Aquafaba 

Now you have to trust me on this, as it might seem weird - but it does work.

You need 100g dark bitter chocolate, 100 ml of water drained from a can of chickpeas (known as aquafaba), 2 tbsp of icing sugar and 1 sachet of vegegel or agar-agar.

Simply melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water(as in the title pic above).Pour the chickpea liquid into a mixing bowl.
Whisk on high speed with an electric whisk ( too much work to do by hand), adding the icing sugar as you go, until the mixture begins to foam and turn into a mousse. (It will never be stiff like a meringue but it will be foamy)

Whisk the aquafaba until foamy

Sprinkle on the vegegel and whisk in. Now quickly add the melted chocolate and fold in until incorporated but still mousseux.

Pour into glasses or ramekins and chill for one hour before serving.

Chocolate Mousse with Aquafaba

Et voilà! A dark chocolate mousse- with no raw egg!

The second pud however does use eggs for a more traditional bitter Chocolate and Coffee Cream.

Chocolate and Coffee Creams

You will need 200g of dark chocolate, 90 ml of strong coffee, 60 ml of brandy or other liqueur of your choice and 3 eggs.

1. Melt the chocolate over simmering water as before. When melted, whisk in the coffee and brandy and allow to cool slightly whilst you whip the eggs.
2. Separate the eggs and whisk the whites to soft peaks.
3. Whisk the yolks into the chocolate
4. Pour the chocolate into the egg white mix and fold together until incorporated, keeping the mixture as light as possible.
5. Pour into ramekins or expresso cups and allow to chill for 1-2 hours before serving.

This dessert is quite rich- and not very sweet- so can benefit from a little pouring cream over the top.

Chocolate and Coffee Cream

Still using those eggs up- the third dish mixes crème anglaise with a chocolate custard to make a two-tone Crème Mic-Mac. (We made this at our Atelier de Cuisine so many thanks to Joselyne for the idea.)

Crème Mic-Mac

1. Heat 400 ml milk with 100g of sugar and warm through until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is hot but not boiling. Allow to cool whilst you prepare the eggs.
2. In a bowl, beat 4 eggs with a tbsp of cornflour until pale and frothy.
3. Also melt 100g of chocolate ( milk or plain) in a bowl over simmering water as before.
4. Pour the milk in  a steady stream over the eggs, beating as you do so

Carefully make your custard mix

5. Return it to the pan and heat through until it begins to thicken.
6. Now divide the custard evenly between two jugs with good pouring lips.
7. Whisk the melted chocolate into one of the custards and a tsp of vanilla extract into the other.
8. Now- hold your nerve! Line up the chosen ramekins or cups for the pud, take a jug in each hand and pour a steady stream into each side of the cup so you end up with a two-tone pud.

Crème Mic-Mac

Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.


And finally a little touch of magic with a Wizard Chocolate Sponge- self-saucing to make a complete dish in a few minutes. You can do this in the microwave or in a conventional oven.

Wizard Chocolate Sponge

100g plain flour
5 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
200g soft brown sugar
175 ml milk
30 ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1.Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and 2 tbsp of the cocoa powder into a bowl and add 100g of the sugar
2. Pour in the milk, oil and vanilla and mix to a smooth batter
3. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 20cm cake tin or mould
4. Mix the remaining sugar and cocoa powder together and sprinkle evenly over the batter
5. Pour 350ml of boiling water over the mix
6. Either microwave on HIGH for 12-14 minutes or bake in a hot oven (180 degrees) until firm on the surface.(Around 20 minutes)

Chocolate sponge ready for spooning out

7. As if by magic, the cake has made its very own chocolate sauce underneath- ready to spoon over itself!

Saucy Chocolate Pud

So, here ends my tale of four chocolate puddings. I hope you get to try at least one of them- if not the whole lot!

Enjoy!

Week 6- Velvet Pants

Mad Apples?

This week's blog celebrates the aubergine or eggplant- for no reason other than the fact that I like them, and they are no longer an expensive and exotic ingredient (most supermarkets have them in their 'everyday' or 'value' ranges.)

The aubergine has gone by many names over time- the quaint 'Velvet Pants' is the one that tickled me most- but in England for a while they were also known as 'mad apples' ( a corruption of the Italian melanzane which was heard as melo insane or mad apple.)

They were also believed to be highly poisonous, as a member of the nightshade family.

Thankfully, we've overcome our fear of this scrummy food.

My first two courses this week are made from aubergine puree- known as caviar d'aubergines in Southern France or baba ganoush throughout the Middle East.

The three course menu is : aubergine tarte salee (savoury tart), then vegetable lasagne with a base of aubergine and mushroom, and I'm giving you a choice of non-aubergine desserts to complement the first two courses.

For the puree- wash then pierce two aubergines (or 1 per person served) with a sharp knife several times. Place them in a baking dish with 3-4 cloves of garlic (still in their skins) and a glug of olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes or so in a hot oven until the aubergines are soft and wrinkly (it happens to us all!) Watch that the garlic doesn't burn.

Tired and emotional aubergines

Allow to cool and then peel off the skins, squeeze the garlic out of its skin, and mash the flesh of both with the juice of a squeezed lime or lemon. You can now add your choice of seasonings- salt and pepper or paprika, cumin, tahini if you have it, tomato puree, honey - it's up to you.

Aubergine Tart

This puree is lovely as a starter with flatbreads- but I am using it mixed with some pine nuts and sultanas, warmed through in a cooked pastry case. (If you don't have tartlet baking dishes, you can just cut discs of pastry, bake blind and place the filling on top to warm through. You can add cubes of chicken or fried halloumi to the mixture as well (as in the illustration.)

This will use up about half the mixture.

Next- with the rest- the lasagne.

Another name for aubergine in Turkey is 'poor man's meat'- which is why it makes such a good base for vegetarian dishes like lasagne, cannelloni etc

You won't miss the meat.

For this dish, you will need- the aubergine puree, 150g mushrooms, 1 large bag spinach, 1 tin chopped tomatoes, 1 onion, some red wine vinegar, 1 tub ricotta cheese, 150g grated hard cheese (eg cheddar with a little parmesan or emmental).
First, make a tomato ragu by frying the finely chopped onion in a little oil, adding the chopped tomatoes and a capful of red wine vinegar and allowing to boil gently until slightly reduced and a  little thicker.
Then finely duxelle your mushrooms either in a food processor or with a sharp knife, mix into the aubergine puree and cook through. If the mixture is too thick and sticky, loosen it with a little stock or water.
Spoon a layer of this mixture into the bottom of your lasagne dish, layer on the lasagne sheets, then add a layer of tomato ragu and another layer of pasta.
In one of the pans used (doesn't matter which), quickly wilt the washed spinach for about a minute and then layer it on. Then more lasagne sheets, of course.
Your final layer should be the ricotta, spread thinly and sprinkled with cheese.
Bake at about 190 degrees until golden on top.

Vegetable lasagne

For dessert, I'm giving you a choice of Pear and Almond Tart, or Chocolate and Coffee Cups with mini Madeleines.

(I made a lot of desserts this weekend because it was Mother's Day- and my Mum has a bit of a sweet tooth these days.)

First of all, make a simple sponge mix from 125g of butter creamed together with 125g of caster sugar, add two small beaten eggs and 125g of flour. Beat until smooth and creamy.

Take 6 teaspoons of the mix and spoon onto a greased baking sheet (or you could pipe them into little swirls.) I found some adorable little mini madeleine silicone moulds when last in France and used these. Bake these at 160 degrees for about 10-15 mins (or less if your oven is fierce) until golden. (Watch them carefully.)

With the leftover cake mix: take a cooked pastry tart shell, lay 8 pear halves in a wheel shape on the base, add a capful of almond essence to your cake mix and pour the mix around the pears.

Bake in a moderate oven - 180 degrees- until golden on top.

Pear and Almond Tart

Next- for the chocolate and coffee cups.

Make a small espresso cup of strong black coffee.

Break 125g of dark chocolate into a bowl and pour over the hot coffee. Stir until melted ( 20 seconds in the microwave helps.) 

Stir in a capful of rum, brandy or liqueur of your choice - or orange juice.

Separate two large eggs and beat the yolks into the chocolate mixture.

Whisk the egg whites until at the very soft peak stage and then fold them carefully into the chocolate mixture.

Spoon into espresso cups, chill and garnish with sprinkled cocoa powder and the mini madeleines.

Chocolate and coffee cup

These are very rich, but you could add a top layer of cream and cocoa powder to resemble a mini cappucino if you're not counting calories.

Cafe gourmand

Or you could construct a cafe gourmand: a plate of tiny little tastes of all your desserts with a cup of coffee- like a little 3D painting of deliciousness.

Bon appetit!