Sunday, November 7, 2010

Green Chocolate Mousse

There are so many great food blogs out there that I visit regularly and that always make me hungry. One in particular that never fails to inspire is Delicious Days. I recently bought a copy of Nicole Stich's book which was released in 2008, also called Delicious Days, and I hear she's working on a second book now. Just like the blog, the book is full of beautiful photos and delectable and varied food. This green chocolate mousse is from the "sweet and irresistible" chapter where I've just marked the coffee power, coffee-topped panna cotta, to try next. The green part of the mousse is obviously the green fruit that crowns the top, but there's also a secret green ingredient hidden in the mousse itself that adds a subtle uniqueness. Extra virgin olive oil is the secret, and you would probably never guess that that's what gives the mousse a little special touch. One more element of the dessert which added sweetness and texture was chopped pieces of pine nut brittle that were sprinkled over the fruit.

I used a bar of El Rey chocolate with about 70 percent cacao, and it was chopped into chunks and melted in a double boiler. Once melted, the olive oil was stirred into the chocolate. The brittle was a simple affair of caramelized sugar to which pine nuts were added and that was poured into a flat layer and left to cool. The mousse was finished in the traditional way by adding egg yolks that had been whisked with sugar although it was raw cane sugar in this case. The egg whites were beaten until stiff with regular granulated sugar. And, last, cream was whipped. That does require three small mixing bowls, but you can use a hand mixer for the egg whites and then move it directly into the cream. You don't want to go the other way because any fat from the cream will prevent the egg whites from reaching their full volume. With everything whipped and ready, the egg yolks were added to the chocolate first, then the egg whites were folded in, and that was followed by folding in the whipped cream. The mousse was portioned into individual cups and refrigerated, and just before serving, a green apple, pear, a kiwi, and some grapes were chopped to go on top followed by broken bits of brittle.

The rich and chocolaty mousse was a divine dessert, and I found complete bliss just in licking the spoons and bowls while making it. However, the fruit and brittle topping took it to another level. The fresh, crisp flavors of the green fruits were a nice contrast to the rich, creamy layer below, and the nuts and caramel of the brittle brought sweetness and serious crunch. This is going to be a fun book to continue cooking through, and I'm already curious about what the next one will hold.



34 comments:

  1. It looks delicious and is so prettily presented!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. What a beautiful dessert! The green fruit sounds like a different but yummy topping for creamy chocolate. I'd already be in a sugar coma after licking the bowl though!

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  3. I love chocolate and olive oil together. I remember trying it for the first time in a cake dessert, and it was fabulous. I bet this mousse is equally wonderful.

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  4. This is a beautiful presentation - I would not have thought to combine those fruits with the mousse but I bet it is delicious!!

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  5. I love finding recipes with surprise secret ingredients! This mousse sounds absolutely delicious...a little fruit, a little chocolate...what could be better?

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  6. Your presentation is just superb, I love how you have paired the choc mousse with fresh fruit and the brittle is and added bonus!

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  7. Lisa, this chocolate mousse in glass looks simply gorgeous! I love the extra addition of fruit and caramel atop. Perfectly perfect!

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  8. The mousse has the perfect pairing in term of flavour and colour. Simply awesome!! ;)

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  9. Oh my goodness - evil cravingI see you! what a beautiful dessert. Absolutely amazing.

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  10. Positively stunning daaaahling, a real show stopper of a dessert, that's for sure!
    *kisses* HH

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  11. Lisa, what a beautiful dessert...and you presented so nicely...I can imagine the taste of it...crunchy and smooth, so yummie!

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  12. It looks heavenly. Tempted to get a copy of the cookbook.

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  13. The green fruits, the brittle and the mousse is such an unusual combination, and even more unusual is the olive oil! But I bet it was a dessert divine.

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  14. So lovely looking. The green fruits complement the color of the rich chocolate mousse so well- if the pics are any indication of how it tasted, I'm sure it must taste marvelous!

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  15. Lovely presentation of a unique showstopper of a dessert! Never would have thought to put chocolate mousse, green fruits and pine nut brittle together, but I guess that's why I'm a blogger and not a chef!!! You make it look and sound delicious!

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  16. This mousse looks fabulous, and I am with you as far as licking the bowls and spoons as you go along. Sometimes it is simply impossible to resist doing so! Gorgeous presentation!

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  17. A really gorgeous dessert. A great contrast of textures. I've been wanting a chocolate chipper.

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  18. I'm glad to see you mention Nicole Stitch, I have her cookbook and have cooked through several of her recipes. She is also a very nice person, you should contact her if you happen to be in her town in Germany someday.

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  19. Very tempting dessert... I like the way you combined chocolates and fruits...

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  20. What a gorgeous dessert! I'm going to check out her blog now too! :D

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  21. Lisa, this is fabulous! I also have this wonderful cookbook and the Coffee Power is at the top of my to-make list. I'm betting it is unbelievable. But I love this green chocolate mousse. Oh my I must pull the book off of my shelf.

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  22. What a beautiful dessert! this looks absolutely wonderful!

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  23. What a tasty looking dessert, nothing nicer than a lovely mousse with fresh fruit. YumO :)

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  24. Exciting textures (velvety mousse, crisp apples, brittle pine nut) and flavors (hint of tartness, sweetness) :)

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  25. This is a gorgeous dessert and makes for a great presentation. All those different textures sound wonderful together - it's very unique!

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  26. This looks great... i might go check out the book now... thanks for sharing ;)

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  27. Very nice! I like the green toppings.

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  28. if this is a dream, I don't want to wake up anymore! lol I love all the ingredients you put specially the fresh fruits! it's cool. Rate it 5/5:)

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  29. Wow, that look pretty amazing Lisa. Love the fresh fruit topping.

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  30. I love chocolate mousse and this was presented beautifully.. congrats on your FoodBuzz Top 9 :)

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  31. i was perplexed by your title, and for good reason! what an interesting dessert--i've had chocolate combined with nearly every fruit, but kiwi and grapes are new. yum.

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  32. Browsing the web and stumbling on one of my recipes by accident is such a nice surprise! I love your presentation of the mousse & am so happy you enjoy my book :)

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