Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Sauce

Two Words: Chocolate Mousse.

What in the world can be more of a treat, more of a chocolatey indulgence, than a traditional silky chocolate mousse? Possibly this dangerous-good-yet-simple chocolate mousse recipe with a super easy raspberry sauce.

This is the real deal. And it's certainly a wonderful treat. This chocolate mousse recipe comes form Alton Brown from the Good Eats episode The Art of Darkness and let me just say, this masterpiece of dark-chocolatey-ness is my favorite! And the best part is that it is very simple. No eggs involved. Just melted chocolate, butter, coffee and rum folded into whipped cream with a little gelatin for stability. That's it! The raspberry sauce is also dead easy and is one I created because of my deep love for the wonderful combination of chocolate and raspberry. All you do is take a bag of frozen raspberries, defrost it, add half a cup of splenda, blend, strain, and drizzle your heart out!

Some time ago on my birthday, my fiance, then boyfriend, made this exact same chocolate mousse recipe with raspberry sauce for me. Needless to say, armed with this recipe, he whisked me away :P

If you love chocolate mousse, you most definitely must try this chocolate mousse recipe. The only modification I made was that I used 60% dark chocolate chips for that really rich dark flavor, but you can use whatever you prefer. This recipe is easy, it's delicious, and with a little raspberry sauce, each bite can be elevated to somewhat of a religious experience. Trust me, once you try it, you'll be converted :)

Welcome Back with Peanut Butter Cookies

Is it really August??! And my last post was in February?? I can't believe how the time has flown by! Please allow me to start of by saying once and for all: I'm So Sorry!!

Well, I suppose this was happens when you are in law school and all of a sudden, you find yourself engaged to a wonderful guy and planning your wedding which will take place over your Christmas break!! THIS Christmas break! I know, I'm crazy :)

But that's no real excuse to neglect my dessert blog. I mean, between February and today, I have probably made, tasted, and gawked at over hundreds of dreamy desserts. Oh and speaking of dreams, I have had plenty, conjuring up recipes and imagining new flavor combinations. But yesterday morning, I wasn't feeling creative. I was just feeling like making some good, old fashioned Peanut Butter cookies. But since I am officially on Bridal-dress-size-alert, I knew I had to try to make them with a little less flour and sugar. So I made them completely without! I first saw this recipe while Paula Deen (of all people) on foodnetwork making these cookies for some ice cream sandwiches. They are called Magical Peanut Butter Cookies and they only have 4 ingredients!!

I've made these cookies several times now and they always turn out great! Since it is so simple, there are so many different things you can do with the recipe: like add chocolate chips, or chopped up honey-roasted peanuts, or dip them in chocolate, or even spread some strawberry jam on the bottom of one and make a sweet little peanut butter and jelly sandwich (which is exactly what I did yesterday)! Try them out and have some fun with the recipe for yourself!

Sweet Pink Valentine Cupcakes

There is something intrinsically sexy about the color pink. It's a hot color like red, but it's not as serious as red. It's red's crazy little sister who wants to drive her car with the top down, hair blowing in the wind, with no real direction to go in. Just completely free. How does this wild child translate into desserts you ask? Well, through these cupcakes of course!

 

I'm not boxed cake mix person by any means. But I'm in law school, I had a boxed cake mix in my pantry and some jello, and plus, they were super easy to make! The recipe can either make a layer cake or cupcakes. Just follow the box's cooking times and you can make either one. I gave them as early Valentine gifts to my roommates and our neighbors since we're all in the same boat here on campus and greatly appreciate any sugary, sweet treat that comes our way. To me, that just about sums up Valentine's day: eating sugary, chocolate-y, heart-shaped or pink/red sweets while spending time with the people you love. What a great holiday for a foodie!

So if your looking for something quick and easy and down right PINK for Valentine's day, try your hand at this recipe. A few other bloggers have tried it out and have found them to be really delicious. They were a big hit here. Plus, they've got CREAM CHEESE FROSTING. Can you ask for anything better on Valentine's day?? Well, maybe a deep, dark chocolate cupcake underneath all that frosting... which gives me some great ideas... :)

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Fresh Fruit Tart in January

I know it seems unseasonal, but everybody loves a fresh fruit tart. The combination of a buttery crust, subtly sweet pastry cream and neatly arranged whole and sliced fresh fruit, glistening under an apricot jam glaze presents a beautiful pastry that is difficult for many people to resist! This particular fruit tart (shown directly above and below) was made at the request of my roommate for her 22nd birthday. It received many oow's, aww's and yuuum's as everyone munched down after singing happy birthday. Needless to say, it was a big hit! Most important, I believe the birthday girl was quite pleased (in fact, she said she liked it better than one from a pastry shop!)

The recipe I used for both the crust and the pastry cream filing came from this blog. I know it sounds a bit daunting: making the sweet tart dough, chilling it, blind baking it, waiting for it to cool, making the pastry cream, waiting for that to cool, washing, slicing and arranging the fruit and finally, making and brushing on the glaze. But if you space it out over a few days, you'll find that it's pretty do-able. This tart was a 3 day process for me, but everyone is different. This tart had blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and sliced anjou pears. My first time making a fruit tart was probably last spring, when I followed this same recipe. It was met with popular success then and now! The crust recipe makes 3 batches, so you can make some ahead of time, freeze it and then when you are ready, thaw and bake. I know it says you can freeze it for a month, but trust me, once your friends and family taste this fruit tart, they are going to start asking you when you'll get around to making 2 more :)

This is a tart I made from my first batch of sweet tart dough last year. It had mangos, strawberries and kiwi. But the great thing about fruit tarts is that the possibilities are endless. You can make it all berries, or all sliced fruits, or poached fruits, or any combination you like. Give it a try. In the end, you'll produce something that's as delicious as it is beautiful!