An excellent chocolate mousse recipe

I decided a few weeks ago that it had been far too long since I’d tried to make a great chocolate mousse (and failed miserably). Some Googling a few days ago led me to Gourmantine The Blog, and specifically, this post on the best chocolate mousse recipes.

I was intrigued by the ‘winning’ recipe by pastry chef David Lebovitz – especially because it didn’t call for the traditional heavy cream – so I grabbed a screenshot and whipped it up this afternoon.

I followed the recipe as written, though the yolk really didn’t want to be ‘whisked’ into the chocolate, so I just stirred vigorously. I also might have over stiffened the whites slightly. I used sea salt.

A recipe in pictures (with commentary):

I used a mixture of these three chocolates by Cacao Barry to make up the 200g. The resulting mousse was quite dark, so I could have used slightly less of the Tanzanie (75%).

‘Stiff peak’ egg whites. Remember to bring your eggs to room temp before whipping. I think these might be slightly over whipped.

I managed to get chocolate everywhere, of course and always.

The recipe made six mousses that perfectly filled my six glass ramekins.

After three hours of chill time. Dense but fluffy. Creamy and rich. Almost too dark (my fault). I would suggest serving the mousse with a dollop of whipped cream or some fresh berries for balance.

I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. It’s brilliant.

Speaking of Cozy in a Cup …

We were speaking of cupcakes, weren’t we?

Recipe found here and in the Dowser Series Companion Cookbook.

Dowser Series: Cookies, Cupcakes, and other Selected Recipes, Vol. 1

I’ve finally collected together some of the recipes from the Adept Universe. So far I’ve included sixteen cupcakes, two cookies, and a brownie from Dowser, books one through six, and Catching Echoes (Reconstructionist 1).

I’ve made the cookbook available as a free PDF download while I slowly develop and test bake more recipes. I will update the PDF periodically. When it is ready, I’ll have it formatted as an ebook and a paperback.

If you sign up for my new release mailing list or my monthly newsletter you will automatically be emailed the download link twenty-four hours later.

Fun! Fun!

*Note: ETA: February 14, 2017 – the recipe book now includes Vixen in a Cup and Clarity in a Cup (from Catching Echoes, Reconstructionist 1)

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Dowser Series: recipe card giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED. WINNER TBA

I had six different recipe cards, all representing a different Dowser book, test baked, proofed, and printed for The Bookcon 2016. Then I shipped a bunch back from Chicago for giveaways and such. They showed up today.

I’ll probably be doing random flash giveaways with the postcards over the next few months on this blog, twitter, and Facebook but I’ll hold this one open for 36 hours so everyone gets a chance to win right away.

Would you like a set of all six recipes? To enter all you need to do is comment below and let me know:

Of the six recipes featured here – Lust in a Cup, Cozy in a Cup, Sunshine in a Cup, Sass in a Cup, Buzz in a Cup, or Lift in a Cup – which cupcake are you most looking forward to baking?

Notes/Rules: OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Each comment will be assigned an entry number. ONE winning entry will then be selected via random number generator. One entry per person. Please make sure to fill out a valid email address in the comment form. Email addresses are not collected for any purpose other than notifying the contest winner.

If you haven’t commented on the blog before, or you comment from a different IP address, the comments are moderated. So don’t worry if you don’t see your entry right away. I will approve it, then assign it an entry number.

Contest closes WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016 at 8 p.m. PDT.

Dowser 6: The Cupcakes

FYI

The following cupcakes either appear, or are mentioned, in Dowser 6 – just in case you want to bake along. 🙂 I’ve linked the names to the recipe (if I’ve published it). I will slowly work away at getting more of the recipes published.

Lift in a Cup – white cake with coffee buttercream

Hug in a Cup – dark chocolate cake with buttercream

Delight in a Cup – white cake with lemon buttercream

Lust in a Cup – dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate cream cheese icing

Buzz in a Cup – mocha cake with mocha buttercream

Thrill in a Cup – white cake with mocha buttercream

Rapture in a Cup – chocolate and lemon cake topped with chocolate-cream-cheese frosting

Vixen in a Cup – salted-caramel-frosted chocolate-gingerbread cake

Serenity in a Cup – carrot cake with cream cheese icing (this is Solace in a Cup without the additional chocolate)

– DOWSER 6 PREORDER NOW AVAILABLE –

Release date: May 5, 2016

Preorders currently available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Virtual cupcake party for National Cupcake Day for the SPCA

This year I thought it would be great fun to support the SPCA on National Cupcake Day. To that end, I opened an ‘online bakery‘ for Cake in a Cup and I’m inviting you to make a donation. I’ll be hosting a virtual party on my blog and on Facebook and Twitter throughout the day.

Here are some of the ways the SPCA uses your donation to make a difference in the lives of animals:

Just to make things extra fun … and because I can’t give you all actual cupcakes … each minimum donation of $5 will receive a personal thank you email from me (YAY! LOL!) and a sneak preview of a recipe from Dowser 6 once it is ready for release. Whoot! Simply DONATE HERE [green donate now button] and email me a screenshot of your donation to info [at] madebymeghan.ca

Dowser 6 cupcakes sneak peek — Dowser 6 cupcakes – a sneak peek

And to make things REALLY fun, I’ve also put together a prize pack! Each minimum $5 donation PLUS a picture of a cupcake you baked to help celebrate National Cupcake Day will be entered to win:

An autographed paperback of Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1)
Dowser series postcards and a thank you from me 🙂
A Cake in a Cup T-shirt

The same rules apply as above, donate a minimum of $5, take a screenshot of your donation, email it to me at info [at] madebymeghan.ca and post a picture of your cupcake in the comments here or my Facebook page or tag me @mcdoidge on Twitter. I will assign each cupcake entry a number, then run a random number generator to select the winner.

OPEN INTERNATIONALLY. Donation/entries must be received by Monday, February 29 at midnight PDT. Only entries accompanied by a proof of donation will be assigned an entry number. Prize pack will be awarded by random number generator.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Gertie

On August 20, 2015 my friend Gertie emailed me a blog post about the Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. The post actually included links for FIVE different chocolate chip cookie recipes, and Gertie was planning to test bake all five.

I wished her good luck on the massive undertaking, saying that I’d tried the NYTimes recipe. And, honestly for all the extra work, I hadn’t found them any better than the cookies I’d been baking since I was kid.

Then I offered to send Gertie my recipe for comparison and proceeded to not follow through for four months.

Sigh.

Sorry, Gertie!!

Unfortunately, I still don’t have the time to devote to typing the recipe up with all my notes. So last night, before the year got completely away on me, I decided to quickly bake a batch to make sure I was still happy with the recipe. Then I completely cheated by sending a photo of it to Gertie.

The following recipe is from my venerable, well-used copy of Cookies for Kids [apparently you can buy a used copy on Amazon].

The inscription speaks volumes. And thus it all began …

[And yep, really dating myself here, Gertie. I hope you appreciate it!! 😀 ].

I suggest you ignore my note about the whole wheat flour unless you like that rustic taste, as I do. Try unbleached? Remember I seriously overpour my vanilla. Also I swapped the semisweet for bittersweet chocolate [of course and always]. For this test batch, I used Mi-Amere, a 58% chocolate from Cacao Barry. Also I omitted the nuts. No one likes nuts in their cookies. And by ‘no one’ I mean me, of course.

So there you go, Gertie! I hope that counts. Merry Christmas.

Now, I seriously hope I don’t get charged with copyright violation from Better Homes and Gardens. 😛

Do you have a favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Dowser 2: dangerous but delicious double-chocolate brownies

Disclaimer: I’m not a pastry chef. I’ve baked these many times, and I’m always happy with the results but I’ve just written up the recipe – including the metric conversion. Please let me know if you spot any typos. 🙂

Some visuals:

chocolate and cocoa — Chocolate and cocoa utilized in test bake 😉

Step 2:

Chocolate, cocoa, and butter in an improvised double boiler

Step 7:

Step 8:

Brownies straight out of the oven. Pre-cooling.

Step 10:

We ate two and froze the remainder. Insanely good!

I’ll cut the individual squares into four and add them to my Christmas baking gift boxes. The brownies are crusty on the edges and densely chewy on the inside. I’ve served these with vanilla ice cream, and a swirl of caramel or fudge sauce. But they’re awesome on their own.

Enjoy!

Rustic Butter Tarts

My butter tart recipe, as promised.

Disclaimer: I’m not a pastry chef. I’ve baked these many times, and I’m always happy with the results but I’ve just written up the recipe for the first time – including the metric conversion, as requested – so your results may differ.

Butter tarts are a Canadian thing. I bake them every year for Christmas. I’ve chosen a rustic, whole wheat short crust pastry because I believe it compliments the sweetness of the filling. But feel free to use the butter tart filling in your favourite pastry. Or hell, for super busy mom’s and dad’s or nonpastry making people, buy the frozen tarts at the grocery store and simply mix up the filling. That’s how my mom made them for many years and I loved them just as well as a kid.

According to my handwritten notes, I decided I wanted to make butter tarts back in December 2008. I apparently tried two different pastry recipes and settled on the one written on the righthand page below. And obviously tweaked the filling as well.

This is what a well tested recipe looks like for me. Including notes like 'Mikey likes!' — This is what a well tested recipe looks like for me. Including notes like ‘Mikey liked!’

Here’s what I’ve translated for you:

ButterTarts_RECIPE

Some visuals:

Step 5:

Step 6:

Pastry rolled, cut, rerolled, and folded into silicone cup lined muffin tin. Parchment paper works just as well.

Step 9:

Pastry chilled for another 30 minutes, then filled with butter tart filling. Ready to bake! — The pastry has been chilled for another 30 minutes, then filled with butter tart filling. Make sure to wipe any drips off the muffin tin before baking, or it will be a bitch to scrub off later.

Step 12:

Butter tarts just pulled from the oven. — Butter tarts just liberated from the oven. Let them cool before taking them out of muffin tins. They are super delicate, but just as tasty broken!

Enjoy!

I don’t bake a dessert specifically for Christmas dinner. I figure the meal is crazy heavy and exceedingly filling on its own. I just plate a selection of baking – tarts included – and drop the platter in the middle of the table, allowing my guests pick and choose. But I have served these for dessert after a ‘light’ seafood chowder on December 24th, warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Do you have a favourite butter tart recipe? Please share your modifications or suggestions in the comments. I’m thinking of drizzling these with chocolate (of course, LOL).

ETA: Paula, a fellow Canadian, says she successfully omits the raisins and the tarts are still tasty. But I would worry that they need the raisins for substance.

Banana Bread and Tanzanie

I tossed a couple of handfuls of Tanzanie by Cacao Barry in the banana bread I made last Saturday for our anniversary. Then, with too many indulgences in Vancouver already, we didn’t eat any of it until yesterday morning.

It’s insanely good. I’m not a fan of the Tanzanie on its own or as a hot chocolate. But it’s amazing in the Chewy Gooey Chocolate Cookies and now in banana bread.