Mousse au Frangelico

I was sitting in the kitchen, contemplating the world (as usual) and of course, attempting to make une décision très importante:  what to have for dessert. Crise existentielle de la journée, as one might say.  Alone, with a kitchen just begging to be used, and a sibling returning soon home from her long day over at the Eric Carle Museum…I felt the pressure.  What to do, what to do.

Hm.  I didn’t have any chocolate chips.
Nor enough oatmeal to make oatmeal scotchies.
Not in the mood for pie.

I could make brownies.  But I don’t want those either.

Then I started thinking…what about mousse ?  It was a beautiful day, mousse doesn’t sound hard, and it’s definitely soemthing new. With a bit of luck, sibling called, saying she would happily pick up some ingredients at a local market before coming home.   With her purchasing whipping cream and some native strawberries (for ’tis the season, so they say), I set about crafting some mousse.

I didn’t want chocolate mousse – too rich and I didn’t have the right chocolate for it.  I thought abotu what goes with cream and ended up with…frangelico !  Frangelico is a lovely hazelnut liqueur that is best served (in my humble opinion) with cold cream.  Best friends with the exotic Kahlua and the reliable Bailey’s, Frangelico is another one of those dessert-type liqueurs that comes in an immediately identifiable bottle and possessing an unforgettable flavor.  It’s refreshing and delicious and just sounded fabulous with strawberries and a little chocolate garnish.  When I googled my concept, however, nothing came up.

Uh-oh.

I’ve never made mousse and apparently, the world hasn’t made frangelico mousse – all I located were chocolate-based recettes.  As a result, I made up my dessert and lucky for me, it turned out splendidly.  Light and creamy from both egg whites and whipped cream, the mousse was a great summer treat and the strawberries, being native, tiny, and adorable (I know a souris who would have loved them) added an excellent tartness to the dish.  I served mine in chocolate cups, but you definitely don’t need to do that – the mousse is delicious as a solo act.

NOTE:  MOUSSE REQUIRES THE USE OF RAW EGGS.  PLEASE USE THE FRESHEST EGGS AVAILABLE TO MAKE THIS DESSERT IN ORDER TO AVOID GETTING SICK.  If you buy pasteurized eggs, which apparently exist, make sure the whites are whippable, as some pasteurized eggs lose the ability to whip due to protein denaturation.

For the mousse :

3 FRESH eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar + 2 tbsp (one for whipping cream, one for egg whites)
3-4 tbsp Frangelico (I did it by taste but I would guess it was about this much)

Start by separating the eggs.  Put the yolks in a large bowl and set the whites aside for the time being.  Grab a whisk and roll up your sleeves – mousse requires some serious mixing skills.  Add the 1/2 cup sugar, butter, and vanilla to the yolks.  Whisk until they thicken and lighten in color (this step is also known as ribboning the eggs – it makes sure the sugar is well distributed throughout the yolks).  Add the frangelico, stir, and taste.  The yolk won’t hurt you – be bold and taste it !  You should be able to taste a burst of hazelnut and a tiny bite of alcohol, but not much.  If you want more, be my guest and get those yolks a little silly !

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add 1 tbsp of sugar and beat again to incorporate, staying at the soft peaks stage.  Set aside.

In YET ANOTHER bowl, whip the cream until thick and looks like a swirly mountain range.  I used the trusty Sunbeam beater to do this because I didn’t want to whisk by hand and I’d already used BOTH electric mixing bowls.  Kitchen drama.  Add the 1 tbsp sugar, mix again to incorporate, and grab a spatula.

This next bit is a little delicate.  Start by adding the whipped cream to the yolk mixture.  Using a spatula, fold the cream in carefully – we are trying to increase the volume of the combination.  Don’t over mix – it’s okay if it’s not all incorporated because…

…we are going to fold AGAIN !  Once all the whipped cream has been added, spoon in the egg whites and continue folding.  When complete, the entire concoction should be very airy, large, and a pale yellow color.  Cover your container and let chill until set – probably a good 4 hours.

Naturally, we weren’t that patient and ate ours before it had entirely chilled and the sky did not open up nor did the earth quake, so if you are like my sibling and I (two antsy filles with a stubborn sweet tooth), go ahead and indulge early.

Serve in chocolate cups with chopped strawberries OR on it’s own in a little ramekin OR with a vanilla wafer OR eat it straight out of the bowl.  Bon appétit ! 🙂

Tiramisu Cupcakes

Tiramisu.  Famous cake.  Fancy cake.  The cake that never really made sense to me (but I always just accepted it because my mother likes it).  I’m pretty sure my dad likes it, too.  Moi ?  I’m not sold.  I never understood what was so appetizing about cookies soaked in syrup with a little whipped cream – the texture was strange, the taste felt wrong, and the temperature never correct.  However, a little mouse showed me a beautiful photo of Tiramisu cupcakes, suggesting I make them sometime.  (Yeah. Right. Sure. I don’t like this dessert, remember ?)

…

But they seemed so cute.  And approachable.  And oddly…intriguing.  So I skimmed a multitude of blogs to compare recipes and ideas and techniques and put together my own recipe for this Italian sweet.  I made a few changes that are IMPORTANT :  There was no rum involved in this cake.  No cookies, either.  The cake batter is spicy – not just vanilla.  The result ?  A fantastic and surprisingly LIGHT cupcake that made for a perfect breakfast sweet with coffee, an equally good teatime accoutrement, and a delectable (and beautiful) after-dinner dessert.  The cake is not too sweet and has a nice bite from the nutmeg, which sings with the use of frangelico, a hazelnut liqueur, otherwise known as the reason why the rum is GONE.  A little tip : ice these cupcakes as you go – the whipped cream frosting will otherwise make the cupcakes soggy and potentially make a large mess.  Furthermore, if you ice those babies, you’ll have to store them in the fridge…which will dry them out.  Avoid this if possible.  This recipe makes enough for 18 cupcakes (give or take).

For the cake :

2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs + 3 yolks
2 cups sugar
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Cocoa powder (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 325F.  Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Set aside.  Heat the milk and butter over the stovetop (on low heat – DO NOT LET BOIL) until melted.  Stir in vanilla extract.

Mix together the egg yolks and eggs with the sugar.

Be sure to beat these ingredients until the eggs go from a deep, golden yellow to a light, lemony color.  This stage is called the “ribbon stage” – you’re there when you lift up the whisk and the yolks drizzle off in a long, thin stream – like a ribbon.  Clever, no ?

Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in three batches. If the butter/milk combination is VERY HOT, mix about half the batter into the milk and then fold that mixture into the rest of the batter – this will prevent the eggs from cooking.  If the milk is at room temperature, you can simply add it slowly to the batter, stirring until JUST combined.

Pour the batter into the tins and cook for 20 minutes.

For the syrup :

2/3 cup STRONG coffee (or espresso)
5-8 tbsp Frangelico
1 tbsp sugar

Combine all ingredients over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Let cool.

For the frosting :

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
12 oz mascarpone cheese
1 cup confectioner’s sugar

(Before making the frosting, place the mixing bowl in the freezer to chill – this will help whip up the heavy cream.)

In a large bowl, whisk heavy cream until stiff and peaks form.  In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and sugar until smooth.  Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until incorporated.

Assembly :

When the cupcakes have cooled, brush the tops with the coffee syrup.  I had a little runt cupcake that I used for testing for the syrup – I recommend sacrificing a cupcake (pick the ugly one) to sample.

Repeat this process until all of the syrup has been used.  Allow cupcakes to absorb liquid for several hours (eg 3.  But.  If you are impatient…it’s okay.  Nothing bad happens to those who nibble.)

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with cocoa powder.  EAT !

Buon appetito !

Chicken Marsala

It’s never a fabulous idea to leave me alone and to my own devices. A few days ago, such an event occurred, and I watched two food-related documentaries back-to-back before deciding that cooking was exactly what the doctor ordered ! In our refrigerator were all the ingredients necessary to make Chicken Marsala and nice, crusty “Italian” bread. You can just guess what we had for dinner…

My family now thinks it’s WISE to leave me all by myself – dinner is [magically] made by the time they return to the house !

Here is the recipe, adapted from Gourmet Magazine’s Chicken Marsala.

Ingredients :

2 cups chicken broth (low sodium would be best)
2 or 3 tbsp finely chopped shallot/onion (I used an onion)
5 tbsp unsalted butter
10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
1 1/2 tsp fresh sage (I used dried rosemary to great effect)
Ground black pepper
1 cup flour
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup dry Marsala wine (I used cooking wine)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1-2 tsp fresh lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil over high heat and let boil, uncovered, until reduced to about 1 cup of liquid. Depending on the power behind your stovetop, this can take 15-20 minutes. If it reduces too much, it’s okay – you’ll just have a little less sauce. This (OF COURSE) can be offset by adding more wine/cream later, so don’t stress.

Chop the shallow/onion. I never have shallots so I’m always substituting onions. To cut an onion finely, I recommend halving it, then cutting gridlines with the knife on the half of the onion. Then, slice thinly, and the onion will fall onto the cutting board in nice small pieces. Crying is allowed.

Cook the shallot/onion in 3 tbsp butter (or olive oil, that’s okay) in a large, heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring until it begins to turn golden. At this point, add the mushrooms, being careful not to crowd them. Julia Child spoke wise words when she said, “DON’T CROWD THE MUSHROOMS” as they won’t brown well if you do. Cook half the batch at a time, if necessary. Once they start to change color, I chop them in half with the wooden spatula used to stir so that they release more liquid. Season with ground black pepper and rosemary.

Once the liquid has been evaporated and the mushrooms are nice and brown/soft, remove from the heat and put into a bowl.

Put flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Gently pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, one piece at a time.

Using the same pan that was used for the mushrooms, heat 1 tbsp of both oil AND butter. Once the butter stops frothing, place the chicken in the pan and cook until golden. Chicken takes awhile to cook and you want to make sure it is cooked ALL THE WAY THROUGH. NO PINK. Got it ?

Once cooked, remove the chicken from the pan and place on a platter. To keep this warm, the chicken can be placed in the oven but WARNING – this could dry the chicken out. You know your oven – you decide.

Add the wine to the skillet and boil over high heat, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the nice brown bits leftover from the chicken. (This is called “deglazing” – it works wonderfully).

Add the broth and the cream and bring to a simmer. Once lightly boiling, add the mushrooms and continue to stir until thickened slightly. At this stage it is of the UTMOST IMPORTANCE to TASTE the sauce. This way, you know if you need to season it more – add salt, pepper, more cream or wine, perhaps – I ended up adding much more wine and cream. 🙂 Live the good life…

Once the sauce is hot and seasoned to your liking, add the lemon juice and a bit of wine. Stir and then pour over the chicken. Serve with a nice chunk of bread…I made mine but this dish isn’t picky – any nice, crusty Italian loaf will do. Bon appetite !