Mousse!

This past weekend my church group had our annual Christmas Banquet! This year I was in charge of most of the food for the event, which was a bit of a step up from last year when I just did the desserts.

But of course, this being me, I did still put a lot of emphasis on making sure the desserts looked and tasted fantastic.

Wanting a change from last year, but still wanting something individual and elegant, I went with mousse this year. And since not everyone likes pure chocolate, we did a mixture of Chocolate and White Chocolate Mousse.

Dark Chocolate Mousse

2 tbsp cold water
1 envelope unflavoured gelatin
1/4 cup boiling water

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
2 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl with lots of surface area combine cold water and gelatin. Let stand for 2-5 min, then stir in boiling water until gelatin has dissolved. Allow to cool while you prepare the rest of the mousse.

Stir together cocoa and sugar. Add 2 whipping cream and vanilla and whip until stiff peaks form. Blend in gelatin until well combined.

Spoon into dessert dishes and chill for at least 30 minutes. Garnish as desired.

White Chocolate Mousse

12 oz white chocolate (I cheated and used chocolate chips)
1 envelope gelatin powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup whipping cream

Melt white chocolate in a double boiler (or the microwave if you are super careful).

Stir gelatin into milk and let sit for a few minutes. Microwave the gelatin-milk until it is almost boiling. Stir milk mixture into white chocolate. Allow to cool.

Whip whipping cream until soft peaks form, fold in cooled chocolate mixture.

Spoon into dessert cups and chill for at least 1 hour. Garnish as desired.

As you can (kind of) see in the pictures we had different kinds of garnishes. Plain white chocolate with white chocolate chips on top, plain chocolate with candy cane, white chocolate with raspberries on the bottom and the top of the mousse, with raspberry syrup on top, chocolate with raspberries, white chocolate with blueberries and blueberry syrup and chocolate with blueberries. Again, I was a little busy this year and kind of forgot to bring a camera, not that I really would have had time to take photos anyway.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies are some of my favourite cookies but I'd never made them myself before. I found this recipe on Allrecipes and it turned out wonderfully. I love these cookies but Macadamia nuts are so expensive so I won't be able to make them often.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit this if the Macadamia nuts are salted)
1 cup coarsely chopped Macadamia nuts
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter, shortening and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time and then stir in vanilla. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt (if using). The add in slowly in to butter/sugar/egg mixture. Mix in nuts and chocolate chips. Bake for 10 minutes.

So tasty!

Raspberry Jam Bars

This is one of my favourite recipes that I've made so far. Originally posted on Facebook April 21, 2009

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Bars

Base:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup butter (margarine)

Filling
1/3 cup raspberry jam
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 package cream cheese
2 tbsp milk (or light cream)

Topping
1 cup chocolate chips
3 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 9x9 baking pan with Pam (I don't own a 9x9 so I used an 8x8) Combine flour and icing sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Press into pan. Bake for 15-18 min. Spread jam over warm crust. Melt white chocolate chips according to package directions (My package said microwave for 2 minutes but that burnt some of then so I think next time I would microwave them for 1 min, stir and then microwave for another 30s or so) Beat cream cheese and milk. Add in melted chocolate, beating until smooth. Spread mixture over jam. Chill for about an hour. Melt together chocolate chips and butter. Spread over filling. Chill until set. Allow to thaw a little before cutting.

These were pretty tasty. My brothers didn't really like them though. I took them to YA and they were a hit there.