Chocolate mousse

The credit of this recipe goes to my ex-boss (and Nestle France) :) We first had this creamy dense (yet airy) chocolate mousse on a team gathering in her house, and it was just sunctuous deliciousness!!

 

This recipe is featured int he inside of Nestle France pastry melting chocolate bars. It only requires 2 simple ingredients :)

Chocolate mousse

 

Ingredients:

250gr Chocolate (for dessert making)

6 Eggs (large)

1 pinch Salt

Separate the egg whites & egg yolks, place them into separate large bowls. 

Make sure that the bowl for the egg whites is squeaky-clean! If there is any grease at all they will not come to hard peaks.

(I actually used only 5 yolks vs 6 whites the second time i did this recipe because d mousse is really dense.. Im sure you cud add some cream to further lighten it up).

Melt all the chocolate over low-medium heat in a pan (u shud be doing this bain-marie.. But i cant be bothered.. 😎).

Once fully melted, let cool down on d side (or in a small bowl).

Once it cools down significantly, place into egg yolk bowl and mix/combine thoroughly. 

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to hard peaks.

Place a quarter of the beaten whites in the yolk-chocolate bowl and combine well (d mixture will become more fluid). Then gradually gently fold-in the remaining whites into the chocolate mix.

Place into little containers and refridgerate for a couple of hours.

Since this is a deep chocolate mousse, i would suggest to serve it with some whipped cream 😊

Rich chocolate mousse (easy & simple)

200 gr Chocolate
6 egg yolks
6 egg white
1 pinch salt

Melt the 200 gr of chocolate at soft fire. Place into a large bowl and let cool down.

Place the eggs in a squeeky-clean large bowl. Remove d egg yolks in a small side bowl.
Add a punch of salt to the egg whites and beat until hard peaks are formed.

At this point, the chocolate should be fairly cooler, add the 6 egg yolks and beat vigorously.
Slowly fold in the hard whites. Once incorporated, place in containers and let cool down.

Tadaaaa¡ sprinkle with some choc shavings or add some whipped cream prior to serving :)

Bûche de Noël - Yule Log (French Xmass log)

Buche de Noel

The Bûche de Noël (or Yule/Christmas Log) is a traditional French Christmas dessert originated back in 1800s (when the cake replaced the tradition of burning an actual wooden log on Christmas Eve). The bûche consists of a generally rolled yellow sponge caked over chocolate butter-cream frosting, that is also frosted on the outside to resemble a log; and commonly decorated with Christmas/Winter figurines (small pine trees, icemen, skiers, Santa, etc.).

It is less complicated than it may seem :) This said, the key is to truly be attentive with the preparation of the sponge cake (having no flour, it is light and almost moussey). Now let's get down to the baking!

Chocolate sponge cake:
- 1/4 cup & 2 Tbsp White Sugar
- 6 Eggs (separated yolks from whites)
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract
- 110 grms Chocolate semi-sweet (small pieces)
- 3/4 Tsp Cream de Tartar
Chocolate whipped cream (filling):		Raspberry Whipped Cream (alternative):
- 1 cup Whipping cream		- 1 cup Whipping cream
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla		- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla
- 3 Tbsp White Sugar		- 1 Tbsp White Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)		- 1/3 cup Jam (Peach/Berry/etc.)

1) Sponge Cake:
Preheat oven at 180C (top & bottom).
Butter & flour a baking pan (regular Tefal) > line with partchment paper > butter & flour over paper.

Mix ready for oven

Separate the eggs (egg whites vs. yolks) and let reach room temperature in separate bowls. (It is much easier to separate the eggs when they are cold :) and takes about 30 min to come from the fridge to room temperature).

Melt the chocolate at low heat (2/6) in a pan (technically this should be done 'bain marie' ina heatproof bowl... however I take a simplistic approach.. as long as the heat is very low and you stirr it then and again it will not burn).
Once fully melted > put in a bowl to let cool to room temperature. (I spread it over the walls of the bowl, and re-spread it after 5 min to have it air & cool as fast as possible).

In a bowl place the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar, whisk it for about 5 min until light and fluffy (slowly falling in ribbons). Add & beat in the vanilla extract; then the chocolate.

In an sneaky-clean bowl put the egg whites, whisk until foamy (some small bubbles but runny). Add the Creme de Tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form (peaks that are slightly runny). Gradually add the 2 Tbsp of sugar, beat until hard peaks form (peaks do not deflate and remain stiff).

Back to the chocolate-yolk mixture, using a squeaky-clean spatula, add about 1/2 cup of the egg white mixture and mix in (this should make the mix be a bit more runny, and easier to fold over the remaining egg white mix). Gradually add the egg white mix: place into the chocolate bowl, and folding the mix over.
It is crucial not to stir or over-mix it all because the air bubbles wil break and you will end up with a flat cake.. It is perfectly OK to have small streaks of white.

Pour batter into the prepared baking tray and spread evenly throughout the pan. Tap the pan 2-3 times to have it set evenly, then place in the oven for 15 min. The cake will be ready when it's puffed, will spring slightly to the touch; the top will not be shiny.

Remove from the oven, cover cake surface in full with a moist (not damp!) kitchen towel, and let cool.
(If im afraid the towel is too dry I put some moistened kitchen paper on top of the towel. Make sure you cover the edged too to prevent it from drying and crakign while rolling).

2) Filling:
In a bowl combine all ingredients (cream, sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder). The cooler the ingredients are the better (so you can put it in the freezer for 5 min, along with the whisk). Beat it until you get stiff peaks.

Rolled & dusted Buche de Noel

3) Rolling:
Once cake is cool, remove from pan & peel away the lateral sides of  the partchment. Spread evenly the filling over the cake. Then slowly start rolling the cake from the top inwards, carefully peeling the parchment paper as you roll it. Towards the end place it on your platter, then remove the last bit of paper.
I find that you can retain the shiny layer outside if you roll slowly and peel the parchment paper carefully :)

Ready to serve

4) Decoration:
Dust some cocoa powder over it, or make extra whipped chocolate (white or dark) cream and cover the outside (can do woody stripe patterns), or put little christmas figurines/trees/etc., or cover in chocolate shavings, and you are done!

Voila!

So far this recipe has never failed to impress ;) It is light, airy, moist, and chocolate-y! Even my harshest non-sweets lover critic had 2nd servings :)