Sunday, September 14, 2008

SGCC Blogiversary Bash (Chocolate Mousse with Caramelized Strawberry and Orange sauce)

SGCC is holding a virtual cocktail party for her Blogiversary Bash and from the sounds of it, it will be huge! Us bloggers at Here Comes The Food have joined forces to participate in this exclusive event. For this party we thought that a rich, creamy chocolate mousse with a delicate fruit sauce would be suitable.

Pupu and I worked on the chocolate mousse beforehand as it needed some time to be chilled. Cupcake (with Pupu and C's assistance) then provided the recipe for a beautiful caramelized strawberry and orange sauce, which would have been even better if we had some Grand Marnier and vanilla essence but was still spectacular. D provided the entertainment, he could have done a dance for us but he brought movies instead. Here Comes the Party!

Chocolate Mousse (serves 6)
300g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 eggs
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)
300ml thickened cream

Double boil the chocolate and stir until melted. Set melted chocolate aside to cool for a few minutes. In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar until pale, thick and doubled in volume. Fold into this mixture the melted chocolate and cocoa powder.

In a separate bowl whip the cream until thickened but make sure to not overbeat. Using a large spoon, fold the cream into the chocolate mixture making sure to keep it as light as possible. Spoon into 6 serving glasses and refridgerate for at least an hour.

Leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

Caramelized Strawberry and Orange sauce
Unsalted butter
Fresh strawberries
Orange juice
Confectioners sugar
Vanilla essence
Grand Marnier (optional)

The measurements are on an ad hoc basis. In a pan melt the butter and then add the finely sliced strawberries, orange juice and sugar. Stir a bit then add the vanilla essence or even better fresh vanilla seeds if you have them, and also add the Grand Marnier if you choose to. Allow to simmer slowly and caramelize.

Serve the sauce warm over the chocolate mousse and enjoy^^!

So Happy Blogiversay to SGCC and thank you very much for the invite^^!

The mousse was quite rich and slightly dense but with the sauce it was a great combination. The smooth mousse has little chunks of chocolate, which was a nice touch and the strawberries added another dimension of texture to the whole. Another possible serving suggestion by D is to chill the sauce as well before serving so there is no conflict between the cool mousse and warm sauce.


On a separate note, I have finally got the book Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray after having to order it all the way from America. I found out about this book from Su-Yin after she posted about it. I have not yet finished but it is a very interesting read and I especially love the descriptions about the cakes haha.

This is the perfect past-time for when waiting time is required like baking times or chilling times haha.

FFichiban

2 comments:

Susan @ SGCC said...

Oh my goodness, does this look wonderful! Thank you so much for sending it over for my buffet! The chocolate mousse looks dreamy all by itself, and that sauce puts it over the top! Where's my spoon?!?!

Anonymous said...

SGCC - Hee hee Thhxx for the invitee ^^! Great fun with great food = awesome party!!