Chocolate Orange Mousse, with Berries

Ingredients

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2T unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
¼ cup orange liquor
3 large egg whites, room temperature
pinch of salt
3T super fine sugar
1 cup cold heavy cream
1 cup raspberries, washed
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

1. Place the chocolate in a medium-size heat-proof bowl and set the bowl on top of a pot of boiling water. Turn the heat off. Stir until the chocolate is melted, remove from heat, stir in the liquor and the butter. Stir until the chocolate is completely mixed and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. In a bowl of your mixer, over medium speed beat the egg whites with salt until they form soft peaks, about 2 -3 minutes. While still beating, sprinkle in the sugar by the spoonful and continue beating until soft, shining peaks are formed, about another 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

3. In a clean bowl, whip the cream until it is fairly thick and holds a soft peak.

4. Using a large spatula, gently fold about 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mix until slightly incorporated. Fold in the remaining whites. Now fold in the whipped cream gently folding until all the cream is blended in.

5. Spoon or pipe the mousse into serving dishes and refrigerate for at least an hour to firm up.

6. When ready to serve, sprinkle a few raspberries on top of the mousse. Dust with confectioner’s sugar and serve with meringue kiss cookies on the side.

TIPS & TRICKS

• Use a good dark 60% cacao chocolate.
• You can use Grand Marnier, triple sec, or Cointreau for the orange liquor. I prefer the Cointreau; it adds a clean, light orange flavor.
• Egg whites separate best when they are cold. They beat up best when they are room temperature. They can sit on your counter for hours.
• Take care when separating the egg whites to insure that there is no egg yolk in the whites. Egg yolks have fat, and fat will cause the whites to not whip up. Make sure your mixing bowl is really clean.
• Chocolate mousse can be made two days in advance. Just cover the dishes with plastic wrap. Remove the mousse from the fridge 30 minutes before serving to remove a little of the chill.

This is a Companion recipe to
Meringue Kisses recipe.
Click photo below to go to recipe.

Olive Oil Orange Cake

Ingredients

1T butter, room temperature

1T all-purpose flour

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1T baking powder

1T orange zest

3T orange juice

¾ cup good quality olive oil

2/3 cup milk

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

4 oranges, peeled, sliced into ½ moons

2T granulated sugar

4T Cointreau or Grand Marnier

1. Preheat oven to 325º F. Using the 1T butter and 1T flour, grease and flour the bottom and sides of a10-inch angel food or Bundt cake pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed for 1-2 minutes, until light in color.

3. With the mixer on low, add the flour, baking powder, orange zest, juice, olive oil and milk; mix just until combined. Do not over mix! Use a spatula to finish combining, if needed. (Mixture will look lumpy similar to muffin batter)

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, and then turn onto cooling rack to cool completely

5. When completely cool, dust with confectioner’s sugar.

6. In a small bowl, toss the orange slices, sugar and liqueur let sit for 10 minutes. Serve with cake.

Tips & Tricks:

• I love this cake because it’s so versatile. It’s just sweet enough to end a meal, but perfect to start your day with or as a pick-me-up with a cup of tea in the afternoon. Top it with macerated fruit. I used blood oranges, but you could use regular oranges, tangerines, or substitute the oranges and use berries (about 2 cups). You can add a dollop of whipped cream, ice cream or yogurt to make it extra special.

• You can substitute the orange zest and juice for lemons, especially Meyer lemons are great in this cake.

• Use an olive oil that has a nice fruity flavor. I prefer Italian or boutique olive oil from Napa or Temecula Calf are lovely, some are infused with citrus and add a nice additional citrus punch.

Pomegranate Champagne Punch

Ingredients

1 orange, skin on, thinly sliced into half moons
¼ cup mint leaves
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
¼ cup Cointreau or orange liquor
2 cups cold ginger ale
1-cup cold unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 bottle champagne or sparking wine

1. To remove the seeds from the pomegranate, score/cut around the middle of the pomegranate, cutting though the skin but not cutting it half. Tear it open and gently “crack” the halves. Place a half of pomegranate in your hand upside down over a bowl and gentle bang on it with a wooden spoon until all the seeds fall out.

2. Fill a small bowl, mold, or cake pan with the sliced oranges, mint leaves and pomegranates seeds. Fill with 4 cups of water. Place in freezer until frozen.

3. In a punch bowl, add the frozen fruit ring.

4. Add the Cointreau, ginger ale, pomegranate juice, and champagne or sparkling wine. Stir.

5. Pour into glasses and serve immediately,

TIPS & TRICKS

• Place the mold in the freezer then fill it with water.

• Ice ring will keep punch cold for several hours. Double the liquid to serve more people.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Summer Fruit

Ingredients

Custard:
2 tsp. gelatin
3T water
2½ cups cream
½ cup milk
½ cup granulated sugar
1T vanilla paste, 1 vanilla bean split open, or 1T vanilla extract ,
2 cups fresh fruit: peaches, figs, or berries
3T granulated sugar
3T Cointreau or Amaretto liquor.

1.    Place eight ¾ cup ramekins on a tray. Set aside.

2.    In a small bowl, place the 3 tablespoons of water. Sprinkle the gelatin on top and let sit for 5 minutes until it becomes “jelled”.  Set aside.

3.    In a small saucepan, add the cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Cook over low heat just until small bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan, about 5-7 minutes. Do not boil. 

4.    Remove from the heat. Run a spatula around the edge of the jelled gelatin and stir in the gelatin. Mix until dissolved. Remove bean if using a whole bean.

5.    Pour the mixture into each ramekin.

6.    Place ramekins in the refrigerator. Chill 5 hours or overnight.

7.    Clean, peel and slice the fruit.

8.    Toss the fruit with the 3 tablespoons of sugar and liquor. Let sit at least 30 minutes to allow the juices to release.

9.    To serve, run a butter knife around the edge of the ramekins.

10.    Fill a shallow dish with hot water. Carefully place the bottom of the ramekin in the water, for 1-2 minutes to help loosen the custard from the dish.

11.    Unmold the ramekin on to a serving dish.

12.    Spoon the fruit on to the plate and serve.

TIPS & TRICKS

•    To get the most intense vanilla flavor, use the vanilla paste or the whole bean. The paste is an easy way to get the inside of the vanilla bean; all those flavorful black speaks with no work. 
•    To peel peaches: place a small saucepan full of water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat off and submerge the peach for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Let slightly cool. The skin should just peel off effortlessly.
•    I pour the warm cream into a measuring cup for easy pouring into the ramekins.
•    Adding the sugar and liquor to the fruit allow the fruit to “marinate” and bring out its natural juices. The term is called macerating. You can change the liqueur as you change the fruits. Cointreau and Amaretto work well with most summer fruits. You could use Chambord liquor for berries, or a little pear brandy for pear. The longer it sits the more the fruit breaks down and gets “ juicy”. I like to let my fruit sit for this recipe no longer than a 1½ hours. If you don’t do alcohol, you can substitute fruit juice, like cranberry. 
•    You can make this dish all year long by just changing the fruit. For the spring and summer use apricots, berries, peaches, or figs. For fall and winter, use pears or persimmons.  

Orange & Pistachio Semifreddo

Ingredients

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla 

4 egg yolks, room temperature
4T granulated sugar

¼ cup Cointreau
1T orange zest
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon shelled pistachios, medium chop/dice

4 egg whites, room temperature
pinch of salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar

¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup water

1.    Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with a 12x20-inch piece of plastic wrap; the wrap should hang over the long edges by 4 inches, and it will not completely cover the short ends. Press the plastic into the corners. Set aside.

2.    Cream: Place the bowl and beaters of your mixer in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill. Then, beat the heavy whipping cream on high speed until the cream forms stiff peaks, about 4-6 minutes. Gently fold in the vanilla. Place back in the refrigerator. 

3.    Zabaglione: Place a medium saucepan filled with about 2 inches of water on the stove and bring to a boil. In a heat resistant medium-size bowl, beat the egg yolks and 4 tablespoons of sugar with a whisk or hand mixer until combined.

4.    Place this bowl on top of the water-filled saucepan and turn the heat to medium (water should not touch the bottom of the bowl). Beat continuously until mixture is thick and pale yellow. The batter should make ribbons as it falls off the beater/whisk, about 5 minutes. (You may need to remove the bowl occasionally from the heat to prevent the eggs from scrambling.)

5.    Remove from heat and gently fold in the Cointreau, orange zest, and the ½ cup of pistachios. Set aside.

6.    Meringue: In a clean mixing bowl with the beater, slowly beat the egg whites until foamy, about a minute. Then add the salt and cream of tartar. Increase the speed slightly and beat until soft peaks are formed, about 3-4 minutes. Turn off the mixer.

7.    In a small saucepan with a lid, over medium-high heat, add the granulated sugar and water.  Bring the mixture to a boil, swirling the pan until the sugar is dissolved. Do not stir!  Cover with the lid and boil to the thread stage*, about 5 minutes, to make sugar syrup.

8.    Turn the mixer back on to low and slowly add the sugar syrup. Once the syrup is incorporated, increase the speed to high and beat until the mixture is cool and shiny, stiff peaks are formed.

9.    Using a large spatula, gently fold in ¼ of the meringue into the zabaglione. When almost completely incorporated, add the remaining meringue. Continue folding the mixture until fully incorporated.

10.    Fold in the whipped cream.

11.    Place the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top with an off set spatula. Cover the top with the plastic wrap and place in freezer for 8 hours.

12.    To serve, unwrap the loaf and invert the loaf pan on to a platter. Pull down slightly on the plastic wrap as you lift the loaf pan. Remove the plastic wrap. If there are wrinkles, dip a knife or offset spatula into a little warm water and run over the surface to smooth them.

13.    Garnish with the tablespoon of pistachios. Cut into slices and serve immediately.

TIPS & TRICKS

•    *We are cooking the sugar and water together to make a sugar syrup. To test if your syrup has cooked enough, take a small amount of the syrup and drop it into a cup of cold-water. Little threads should appear. 
•    Carefully add the sugar to your egg whites, trying not to hit the beater as you add the hot syrup. 
•    You can test the temperature of the meringue by placing your hand on the bottom of the mixing bowl. When it is cool to the touch, the meringue is ready.
•    This is called an Italian meringue. It also makes a fantastic icing for cakes & cupcakes.
•    This semifreddo can be made several days in advance. Store in your freezer until ready to serve. 

Poinsettia Cocktail

Ingredients

1 bottle of Cranberry juice
 1 bottle of Cointreau
1 bottle sparking wine, chilled

1.    Pour 2 ounces of cranberry juice and 1/2 oz of Cointreau into a champagne flute. Top with sparking wine. 
2.    Serve immediately

TIPS & TRICKS

•    Use a good quality sparkling wine.
•    You can also make in a pitcher for easy serving.