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.

Tired. Weary. Slump-shouldered.

Is it really almost October?

Where did another year go? All work and little play. Sometimes I wish time would stand still so that I could

Stop.

Breathe out.

Share a piece of chocolate cake with someone I love.

Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake :
(serves 10; from Bittersweet by Alice Medrich)

1/4 cup blanched almonds
3 tablespoons plain flour
85g bittersweet (preferably 70%) chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 tablespoon brandy
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
scant 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 190’C. Place a round of baking paper in the bottom of an 8 x 3 inch springform pan and spray the sides with vegetable oil spray.

In a food processor or blender, grind the almonds with the flour until very fine. Set aside.

Combine the chocolate, cocoa and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a large bowl. Pour in the boiling water and whisk until mixture is smooth and the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the egg yolks and brandy; set aside.

Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on high speed until stiff but not dry.

Whisk the flour and almond mixture into the chocolate. Fold about a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites. Scrape the batter into the pan and level the top if necessary.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. The torte will sink like a souffle.

Taking care not to crack the edges of the torte, run a knife between the torte and the sides of the pan to release the cake. Remove the sides of the pan and invert the cake onto a plate. Remove the pan bottom and paper liner. Turn right side up on a platter. Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift a little powdered sugar over the top. Serve with a little whipped cream, if you like.

[Note: Amazingly, this cake has no butter. It has a pure chocolate taste, that calls for the use of the best chocolate possible. I served mine with a dollop of double cream]

For this month’s DB Challenge, and as a first ever for the DB group, Natalie and Shellyfish challenged us to make lavash crackers and an accompanying dip, whilst keeping within the perimeters of being gluten-free (optional) and vegan.

Lavash crackers are relatively easy to make and have fairly wide appeal so I was thrilled that the hosts had opted for this. What worried me was my choice of accompaniment. While I have dabbled with being vegetarian and pescatarian in the past, I’ve never ever considered going vegan and therefore wasn’t too familiar with it. In fact, my favourite thing to have with lavash crackers is a decent piece of cheese, be it a gloriously creamy triple cream cheese like St. Andre, or even a fabulous Australian-made goats cheese.

Dip. Chip ‘n’ Dip. A friend said he attended a party recently and spied a hollowed out round loaf of bread, filled with dip with the bready innards served on the side as agents for the dip! Somehow, that reminded me so much of the seventies and eighties. Growing up, we were never really “dip” people (aside from our brown and orange lounge furniture, and pastel green walls, a few trends did manage to bypass my mother during those decades). Mom made a mean ricotta cheese dip at one stage but we all got tired of it pretty quickly and it hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

So I was stumped for ideas (aside from guacamole and tomato salsa) until I came across a recipe for a tahini sauce in the latest issue of Vogue EAT. The sauce was intended as an accompaniment to a dish of tameya, or falafel, but I had tasted a similar sauce before and figured it would also work well as a dip. In keeping with this Middle Eastern-ish theme, I used sesame seeds, poppyseeds and a sprinkling of ras el hanout on my crackers. The crackers tasted lovely and were fun to watch, puffing up in the oven.

Below, I have provided the recipe for the non gluten-free version of the lavash cracker. If you are after the gluten-free one, or are just interested in ideas for vegan dips and spreads, you should check out the other DB blogs.

Lavash Crackers :
(the non-gluten-free version; recipe reference: The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering The Art of Extraordinary Bread, by Peter Reinhart.)

* 1 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp instant yeast
* 1 Tb agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball.

2. Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 25-27’C. The dough should be satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size.

4. Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

5. Preheat the oven to 176’C with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Tahini sauce :
(Salatet tahina; served as dip; from Vogue EAT Oct/Nov 2008)

1 clove garlic, crushed
150g tahini paste
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
paprika, to serve

Combine garlic, tahini and vinegar in a bowl, then whisk in lemon juice and 125ml (1/2 cup) cold water to form a creamy sauce. Stir in cumin and parsley. Season. Spoon into a bowl and sprinkle with paprika.