A long overdue update on a couple of kids…

Another thing to love about the warmer weather : suddenly all the plants on my balcony that looked like they were on the verge of death during Winter, have sprung to life. Can’t wait to have.. erm.. a tomato, snow pea, and spring onion salad!

Come down from the mountain, you have been gone too long
The spring is upon us, follow my only song
Settle down with me by the fire of my yearning
You should come back home, back on your own now

The world is alive now, in and outside our home
You run through the forest, settle before the sun
Darling, I can barely remember you beside me
You should come back home, back on your own now

–Ragged Wood, Fleet Foxes

He’s away, and now I’m in the doldrums.

While he’s in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing, I read books distractedly, get a haircut^*, put Fleet Foxes on repeat, have dinner with friends. It feels like a weekend spent in an alien vessel. At night as I lie in bed, his pillow silently bares its grey and white teeth, daring me to venture closer. I stick to the far end of my corner. If this were a boat, the balance would have long tipped me into the water. The deep water of sleep. But sleep is light, and the telephone is sulking. The MythTV box is sullen; it won’t play what I want to watch. At this, I flee into the kitchen, and devise a dessert for 2 to beckon him home with.

I’ve always wanted to make an ice-cream sphere, and this one was going to be Cherry Ripe inspired, but cherries aren’t in season yet, so when they are, I might have to revisit that idea.

But for now I don’t want to wait, so this one is vanilla and elderflower flavoured, with a heart of raspberry sorbet. Raspberry and elderflower sauces stroke the plate. Edible flowers from my balcony complete the picture, reminding me that it really is Spring.

So now I wait, and count down the days until he finally returns and we can share this.

(^* My hairdresser told me he used to call a souffle, “soffle”, to which I replied that I wished he hadn’t told that to me just as he had the scissors right up against the side of my face, because I had to do everything I could to stop from laughing. Funny, tall, dark, handsome and SINGLE, ladies! Anyway, I love the new cut. I feel like Anna Wintour, minus the glamorous wardrobe and extra large sunglasses. I took a picture to show B, which I have also included on my About page. Unfortunately, you can’t actually see the hair because I’ve cropped the picture for the sake of anonymity.)

I just realised the other day that I hadn’t eaten chocolate mousse in a long time. Certainly not chocolate mousse in the sense of eating it straight from a bowl, served with nothing more than a spoon. B hadn’t either, but only because most mousses contain cream, which he, being lactose intolerant, can’t have. When I saw Alice Medrich’s recipe for Albert’s Mousse, a chocolate mousse she devised for her brother who couldn’t eat dairy, I knew I had to make this for him.

These days, people would probably laugh and call it quaint and homely, if you served them an unadorned bowl of chocolate mousse. It needs to be tricked up, in layers, or presented with height, with frills like spun sugar, glazed nuts or gold leaf, before we would even look twice. I love the frills, but when faced with a mousse stripped bare, I’m reminded again, of just how good some basics are. Chocolate mousse that is smooth and rich, yet incredibly light and airy, with the delight of trapped bubbles bursting against the roof of your mouth with each spoonful. Things can only get more MA 15+ from then on!

Of course, if you want to complicate life, you could serve it as a chocolate cigar. Pipe the mousse into cigar shaped chocolate tuilles, and seal the ends by dipping into melted chocolate, if you wish. Place the cigars alongside a dish of “coffee and donuts”. I baked some spiced hazelnut financiers at work many weeks ago that someone said tasted like donuts. It got me thinking about a coffee and donut dessert, a la Keller. At home, I baked the financiers (stuffed in the middle with a few squares of chocolate) in a larger mould, and served them with coffee flavoured chocolate sauce, chocolate coated coffee crumble and a cinnamon foam. A coffee ice-cream, incorporated into this dessert somehow, would have been great too. But don’t forget, it all starts with that amazing chocolate mousse.

Albert’s Mousse :
(makes about 4 cups; from Bittersweet by Alice Medrich)

170g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (50% – 62%), finely chopped
70g water, coffee, or milk, or 1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tablespoons brandy, rum or liquor of choice
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons sugar

Place the chocolate and the water (or liquid of your choice) in a medium heatproof bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until chocolate is nearly melted. Remove the bowl and stir until completely melted and smooth. Stir in the liquor, if using, and set aside.

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the eggs with the 3 tablespoons of water and the sugar until well blended. Set the bowl in a skillet of not-even-simmering water and, stirring constantly to prevent the eggs from scrambling, cook until they register 71’C on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bowl and beat with an electric mixer at high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until the eggs have a texture like softly whipped cream. Fold about one-quarter of the eggs into the chocolate. Scrape the chocolate mixture onto the remaining beaten eggs and fold just until evenly incorporated. Divide the mousse into ramekins. Chill for at least 1 hour, or until set, before serving.

Serve topped with whipped cream, if desired.