April 25, 2006

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Desserts, chocolate mousse

Little known fact: I spend tons of time cooking. I love cooking. It's my favorite and most time-consuming hobby besides random internetting. Lately I've been considering starting a separate blog solely about food. It feels to me that posts such as the one you're about to read are out of place on the current incarnation of my blog, but it's a big part of my life. Lest I get made fun of for talking about "dollops" of cream, and pinches of salt, I'm putting the question to you, dear reader. Do you, my general reader, want to hear recipes and tales of my kitchen exploits, and see pictures of the sweet and savory creations, or would you rather it be split off and you can go to a separate address (www.barzelay.net/food?) if you're interested? Let me know.

Anyway, this weekend, I went to a potluck dinner party. I was told that no one was bringing desserts, and that there were around ten people coming, neither of which turned out to be true, but I ran with it. I decided to make four things, mostly just for fun, and then I ended up not being able to take pictures. There turned out to be about twenty-five or thirty people, and two other people who brought brownies, and a pretty decent bread pudding.

  • I made two cremes brulees with lots of berries. They looked awesome with the fruit presentation. I'll do it again that way some time and post pictures. The toughest thing about this was that I don't have a torch, so I had to turn on the broiler, and then put the ramekins as close to the heating elements as possible. Still, it took longer than it should have.

  • Two molten chocolate cakes with mint fudge sauce and storebought vanilla ice cream. These also turned out well. The sauce was delicious.

  • Homemade banana ice cream in a puff pastry shell with chocolate ganache. These turned out okay, but I added more ganache than was necessary or prudent, and the ice cream inside melted a bit because I had to make the desserts beforehand, freeze, and then reheat before serving. Oh well. Still tasted good. Would have been really good if I could have made them right before it. Oh, and I already had the banana ice cream. I didn't make it just for this.

  • Chocolate mousse with whipped cream and strawberries. This was excellent. It's funny because this is the only one of the desserts that really required skill, as opposed to just following directions and such, but it probably came out the best. The whipped cream held its structure when folded in, and the end result was light and delicious. In fact, it was so good, that I made it again for tonight's dinner and this time, I've taken pictures. Recipe and pictures below.

Also, some time this week, I'm going to make tiramisu. I've never made it before, but it seems easy enough. I've got the mascarpone and ladyfingers, so if you give a damn about the food posts, look forward to that.

Chocolate Mousse

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (~1 cup)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt chocolate in a double boiler (metal bowl over a pot of boiling water, without the bowl touching the water), stirring and scraping sides occasionally. While chocolate is melting, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, a pinch of salt, 3/4 cups heavy cream, and vanilla. When chocolate is completely melted, take it off the boiler and let it cool for about 2 minutes. Then whisk the custard into the chocolate until it is just completely mixed. Then transfer that bowl to the refrigerator for about 15 minutes and let it cool.

In a separate bowl, whip the remaining 1 1/4 cups of chilled heavy cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate custard until completely mixed in order to lighten it. Then fold in the rest of the whipped cream, slowly and carefully, without vigorously stirring or whisking or else you'll break up the structure of the whipped cream and have a nice chocolate sauce instead of a mousse. When all of the whipped cream is just incorporated, you're done. Divide it up among wine glasses (6 big servings, or 8 medium ones) and chill them for at least 6 hours. Take them out of the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before serving. I recommend you garnish with sliced strawberries (or any other berry) and a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.

Note: This recipe includes raw eggs, as does pretty much every dessert that doesn't get cooked. If you're uncomfortable with that, you have to heat up the custard mixture to 160 degrees Fahrenheit before incorporating it into the chocolate. Good luck doing that without scrambling it. Scrambled eggs with chocolate sauce and whipped cream might be good for breakfast, but I don't recommend it for dessert.

Posted at April 25, 2006 12:26 AM | Comments (10)


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As someone with interest in both reading about and consuming your food, I say integration is the way to go. None of this "separate but equal" malarkey!

And, yeah, that turnout surprised everyone. It was a great time though, and your contributions were thoroughly appreciated.

Posted by: Aaron at April 25, 2006 1:46 AM


Keep the food posts coming. Here in Germany, with no meal plan, I'm cooking for myself basically everyday. Your blog continues to be a source of recipes not in German and an inspiration. I wouldn't worry about the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, that is to say, Internet+law school Dave/food Dave aspect of the blog as it is. It is always a fun surprise finding out which Dave I will find as I browse my friends' posts.

Posted by: Colin at April 25, 2006 3:26 AM


You should check out this book call Choice Cuts; it's an anthology of food writing divided by sections like: drinks, duck, desserts, etc, etc. There are some pretty famous authors writing about their cooking and eating exploits. The introduction is "Better than Sex." Good stuff.

Posted by: Michelle Penaloza at April 25, 2006 9:40 AM


i am also in favor of continuing the one blog for the various davids. you have a varied enough reader base that there's something on here for everyone, and the cooking posts please many of us. not to mention, i'm going to need to live vicariously through your cooking blog posts when you're in san francisco this summer, since i won't have the usual benefit of eating your food.

Posted by: jeanette at April 25, 2006 11:34 AM


Separate the two sections, with your food section holed away on a page with a non-intuitive URL (such as barzelay.net/042928-1cuisinepageref=1?htm).

I have no particular reason for it, but I hate to see you happy.

Posted by: Zhubin at April 25, 2006 12:55 PM


I say go seperate, and allow for guest Chefs (aka Adam and myself) to submit things for you to post...it could end up growing into something bigger, something worthy of internet legend.

Also, maybe when you are in town sometime, we should host a big ass dinner for our close friends, prepared by us. Require people to come dressed up. I think that would be fun. I know we have the skills.

Posted by: Chris Santoro at April 25, 2006 2:33 PM


Love the chocolate mousse. Thanks for the recipe.

Posted by: Chocoholic at April 25, 2006 5:47 PM


"Little known fact"? David, you've already posted lots about your cooking. I think it ceased to be a little known fact a while ago.

And you already know I want recipes and stuff. Something searchable would be good.

Posted by: Cara at April 26, 2006 12:52 AM


I say leave the two integrated, too.

Posted by: Joel at April 27, 2006 11:31 AM


Not sure if you already made the tiramisu yet but i stumbled across this while attempting to find a recipe for clam chowder.

http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article.php?id=60

Thought it was relevant to your tiramisu quest.

Posted by: Adam at May 1, 2006 4:04 PM

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