BLOG — Carolina’s

Perfect for a summer day, this chocolate mousse torte is silky, dense, fudgy, and  it's the most delicious dessert, great for any occasion

This is a deliciously rich mousse. The base is a cross between a pudding and a mousse, which makes it perfectly dense and the result is almost like an ice cream.  

Here, I use a Chocolate Fudge brownie, cut in half, as the base, but you can skip this step and serve the mousse in glass cups, as a filling for cakes or with your favourite fruits. 

You need to use a good semi sweet chocolate for the recipe to work. At least 56% or it will not set properly, so no milk chocolate here! Sorry! You can make a milk chocolate ganache to pour over the mousse :)

The Mousse Torte can be frozen up to a month or refrigerated for 2 days before serving. (without the whipped cream for decor).

Recipe

Ingredients:

- For the "pie crust"

1 Chocolate Fudge Brownie Torte, cut in half (lengthwise)

- For the Mousse:

200ml heavy cream

2 large yolks

200ml evaporated milk

200g sugar

350g semi sweet chocolate

-For assembling:

150ml heavy cream whipped with 2 TBSP sugar to soft peaks

chocolate shavings

berries

chocolate ganache

Directions:

-Prepare your pan. Use a 8"with removable bottom or springform pan. Spray with non stick spray, then add a piece of acetate or parchment paper to line the sides of the pan, making a collar. Make sure the acetate or waxed paper overlaps itself and it's at least 3" tall. 

-Cut your brownie in half, lengthwise, and place it on the pan. With your fingers "squish" it a bit to fit in the 8" pan.

Making the mousse:

-Whip the cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.

-Whisk together milk, sugar and yolk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring constantly, until mixture is hot and thickens slightly; but do not boil.

-Remove from heat and pour over chocolate and let stand for 1 minute. 

-Whisk the chocolate gently, until mixture is smooth.

-Carefully fold 1/4 of the whipped cream in the chocolate mixture to loosen it up and then add the rest, folding gently, until fully incorporated, but don't overwork!! You don't want to loose air or curdle the cream. 

-Pour the mousse over the chocolate brownie and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until firm before serving (overnight is better to develop flavour).

Serve with soft peaks whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Decorate with some berries and chocolate ganache. 

Enjoy!

xx

Carolina

For as long as I can remember, the beloved oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies from the Double Tree Hilton Hotel have been a family favourite of ours. My daughter and I fell in love with these cookies years ago when we received them straight out of the oven during our stay at the hotel. I then introduced them to my sister years later at a food show and any sampling etiquete she had went out the window the moment she tasted these cookies and went back for 1...or 5 more. All that is to say, these cookies are unbelievably delicious so it’s no surprise that when I saw the Hilton Hotels had released our beloved cookie recipe as a quarantine treat, I headed straight to the kitchen.

The cookies turned out even better than we had hoped. The perfect, crunchy yet gooey consistency took me right back to the first time I tasted these delicacies and brought us comfort and happiness right away.

I couldn’t keep this delicious secret to myself, so I’ve decided to share this unmissable recipe for everyone looking to bring a little comforting indulgence to their day

DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Makes 26 cookies

Ingredients

• ½ pound butter, softened (2 sticks)
• ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch cinnamon
• 2 ⅔ cups Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chips chocolate chips
• 1 ¾ cups chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Cream butter, sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
2. Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice, blending with mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, then medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping down bowl.
3. With mixer on low speed, add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, blending for about 45 seconds. Don’t overmix.
4. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
5. Portion dough with a scoop (about 3 tablespoons) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart.
6. Preheat oven to 300°F. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.
7. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheet for about 1 hour.
8. Cook’s note: You can freeze the unbaked cookies, and there’s no need to thaw. Preheat oven to 300°F and place frozen cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden brown and center is still soft.

Grandma’s Chocolate Cake

This delicious recipe is easy to make and decorate with the kids. The recipe belongs to my great-great-grandma! Which makes it even more special for me. 
Do you have recipes that were passed through generations in your family, too?

This one is perfect for an afternoon movie with the kids! 

Chocolate Cake

100g chocolate (semi sweet)

200g sugar

100g butter

100g flour

4 eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9 inch baking pan with parchment paper then spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks and reserve.

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (the water should not touch the base of the bowl). Remove from the heat.

Add the sugar to the chocolate bowl and beat until well mixed. Add the yolks. Whisk them in.

Add flour. Beat until mixed.

Fold in the egg whites.

Here the recipes call to fold until “it opens its eyes 👀”. I assume grandpa meant not to overdo it and stop when the air was trapped inside. 😊

Bake for 30 minutes 350F. Check with a toothpick, it’s done when just few crumbs clings to it, but it’s mostly clean.

Let it cool before turning it out. (Or not, if you are like me and like to eat hot cake).

Observations

1-There is no leavening agent in this cake, so it’s important to be gentle and “keep” the foam intact as much as you can. It’s easier than it sounds!!

2-There is no cocoa powder, so it has a mild chocolate taste. For a stronger chocolate taste, add 1 tsp of instant coffee to the melted chocolate and/or 1TBSP cocoa powder to the flour.

3- dress it up with raspberry jam or Baileys whipped cream.

Let me know your thoughts! 🥰

xx

Carolina