Choca Mocha Mousse

Another dessert recipe this week, from the same magazine as the last one (OK, it's the Weight Watchers magazine). Yes, I made a few changes to it - artificial sweeteners are one of the things I absolutely will not use, and this recipe called for them. So of course I replaced that ingredient with good old sugar.
One of the other things used in this recipe is something I've never used before, so I was a little worried about it - gelatine. For some reason, I have the idea that it's a tricky thing to work with, and if you don't get it exactly right things are going to turn out inedible. Well, I followed the instructions and things worked out just fine. In fact, it looked just like the picture. This was reassuring - when I was pouring the mousse into the glasses, it was quite worrying to see that some of it was nicely foamy, but that there was a good quantity of liquid too. Pouring the liquid in, it settled to the bottom, with the 'foam' sitting on top. I really didn't think it was going to set, but it did, in two distinct and complementary layers - a denser mousse on the bottom, with a lighter one on the top. Very nice, and one to make again. I'm tempted to try variations, but there's that fear of it all going so wrong...

Recipe:
3 grams leaf gelatin (2 sheets)
40 grams dark chocolate (I use Green & Black's)
75 millilitres strong black coffee
25 millilitres skim milk
2 egg whites
2 teaspoons caster sugar

Cut the gelatine into strips and soak in cold water for 10 minutes to soften.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.
In a small pan, heat together the coffee and milk. Do not allow to boil.
Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine. Add to the hot coffee and stir to dissolve.
Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and whisk to combine.
Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate.
Drizzle the coffee into the mixture, and fold in gently, keeping as much volume as possible.
Divide between two 150ml glasses or ramekins.
Cover and chill for about 2 hours until set.

Rhubarb & Custard

I was supposed to be too busy with work this weekend to do much baking. Luckily, two weeks ago I started a small experiment for just this kind of situation. When I made the last batch of chocolate chip cookies, I froze half of them unbaked. So today, it was time to see how they would bake.
Rather than waste the whole batch, I thought it best to try just a few. The unfrozen batch were originally baked at 175C, but with these being frozen, I figured a lower temperature might be better - to allow the dough to thaw all the way through before the outside baked. So the oven was preheated to 160C, and the cookies went in for a few minutes longer than they would have done unfrozen - 15 minutes rather than the original 12. The result? Well, they didn't spread as much as the unfrozen batch, but I still ended up with 4 perfectly yummy cookies. With another 5 still in the freezer for later.
What's this got to do with Rhubarb & Custard? Well nothing much, except that while I knew I wouldn't have time for actual baking today, I didn't want to do absolutely nothing. In a magazine, I'd seen a recipe for a baked custard. Since it didn't look like it would take too long, I though I'd try it. And with some stewed rhubarb (with just enough sugar to sweeten it, but not so much that it takes away all the sharpness), it was exactly the comforting dessert I needed. I'm pretty sure I'll be making this again. It seems like it would lend itself to variation too - different flavourings in the custard, maybe something baked into the custard. Or even a simple brulee topping.

Recipe:
200 millilitres skim milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160C
Put the milk in a pan and heat gently until fairly warm. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg, sugar and vanilla extract in a jug.
When the milk is warm, pour it slowly into the mixture in the jug, whisking as you do so.
Put 2 150ml capacity ramekins into a roasting tray or other deep sided baking tray. Divide the custard between the two ramekins.
Pour hot water into the tray, to come about half way up the side of the ramekins.
Put the tray into the oven and bake for 40 minutes, until the custard is set but still with a slight wobble.
Serve with some stewed rhubarb on top.

Ginger Carrot Muffins

How much do you trust a recipe that you get from a web site? I suppose the answer to that depends on the site you got it from. Something from a food magazine, or a TV programme, or a well-know chef/cook can probably be considered to be fairly robust. The reputation of the source depends on the recipes, and we assume that those recipes are at least tested a few times, to make sure the kinks are worked out. Food blogs? Well, the authors seem to let you know when something was an experiment, or didn't particularly turn out as expected, so we can make a reasonable guess at how things might turn out for us. What about community sites, where anybody can submit any recipe, and make it available? Well, you're probably taking pot luck with those. And that's where the recipe I tried this week came from.
I like carrot cake and carrot muffins (Nigella Lawson has a wonderful recipe for carrot cupcakes in How To Be A Domestic Goddess), so when I came across this recipe for Carrot Ginger Muffins, I really wanted to give it a try.
Reading the recipe, it seems to use a method I'm not familiar with for muffins or cupcakes - that's more what I'd expect for a scone. So I decided to completely ignore that method, and go with my own feelings, based on my (OK, limited) previous experience with muffins. That means rather than rubbing the butter into the flour, the wet and dry ingredients get mixed separately, and then combined. I suppose that's one of the good things with 'community' rather than 'pro' recipes - you really get nervous about not following the pro recipe to the letter, whereas with the community one, there's less pressure.
The end result? Moist, fairly light carroty little muffins. Not really enough ginger for me, so when I do these again, I may add a little more. I think they could also have risen a little more - other recipes seem to have a little more raising agent than these did, so I may add a touch of bicarbonate of soda along with the baking powder next time. I mean, what's the worst that can happen?

Recipe:
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (about 30g)
1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 carrot, grated (about 150g)
1 teaspoon ginger root, finely grated
1/2 cup sultanas

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line a muffin tin with muffin cases.
Melt the butter and leave to cool slightly.
In a bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder and spices.
Combine the sugars in a large bowl.
In a jug, whisk together the egg, milk and vanilla extract. Add the melted butter and mix.
Pour the liquid into the sugars and whisk together. Add the ginger root and sultanas, and stir through.
Alternately add the flour and carrot, mixing between each addition to ensure the ingredients are just combined.
Divide the mixture between the muffin cases. Bake for 25 minutes.

Corn Muffins/Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two lots of baking done this week, one savoury and one sweet. Both of them seem to have turned out well; they certainly met with approval.
The corn muffins first. This is corn as in cornmeal - polenta. Now, I've made cornbread before, a long time ago, and I no longer have the recipe I used. So when I came across a recipe for these (fairly low calorie) cornmeal muffins in a book, I wanted to give them a go. Of course, the recipe called for one thing I've never been able to find - buttermilk. Normally, I'd substitute yogurt, but here I thought I'd try a tip I came across, and use the same quantity of milk mixed with a bit of lemon juice (1 tablespoon lemon juice made up to 1 cup with milk is, I believe, the suggested mix). It seemed to work, although I didn't use exactly that mix.
The mix seemed OK, although the muffins didn't rise quite as much as I'd hoped - maybe I did overwork it. They also stuck to the muffin cases a bit, so if (when) I do this again, I think I'll bake it in a cake pan lined with non-stick parchment, and cut it into pieces. They certainly went very well, still warm out of the oven, with the lunchtime soup.

This isn't the first time I've made these chocolate chip cookies, and if my experience with them so far is anything to go by, it's a very forgiving recipe. Cookie recipes that make more than can be fitted on a single tray need to get baked in multiple batches in my oven. Last time, the first batch turned out pretty perfectly. Luckily, as they were destined for my Dad. However, the second trayful weren't so lucky. After taking the first lot out, I'd done my usual thing of turning the oven up to a higher temperature than is required for the baking, so that when I open the door to put the tray in, it falls down to the correct temperature. I must have been distracted, because I turned it up more than usual. And forgot to turn it down again when the cookies went in. Oh dear. Well, they got whipped out of the oven a bit before their time was up, a bit browner that they should have been. And they still tasted OK. Some of them were on the verge of being singed, but nothing too bad. These went to a different set of recipients, who were apparently quite happy with them.
Nothing so dramatic with this lot. I made another change to the original recipe, besides my original substitution of golden syrup for corn syrup; the use of part wholemeal and part plain flour. I thought it might give an extra bit of texture and flavour to the cookes. It seemed to work. Another thing I'm trying with this recipe is freezing half the mix to be baked later. No idea if it will work or not, but I wanted to give it a go.

Recipes:
Corn Muffins (from 'The 1200 Calorie a Day Menu Cookbook, Nancy Hughes)
2/3 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cornmeal (I used quick-cook polenta)
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg white
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 450F/230C. Put 8 muffin cases in a muffin tin.
Place the milk and lemon juice together in a bowl. Note: you can use 3/4 cup plus one tablespoon fat-free buttermilk instead of the milk and lemon juice.
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, polenta, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Whisk the egg white and oil into the milk.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
Divide the mixture between the 8 muffin cases.
Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the tray immediately.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (based on one from One Smart Cookie, Julie van Rosendaal)
50 grams unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
70 grams dark chocolate, chopped (I used Green & Black's)

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking parchment.
In a large bowl beat butter and sugar together until well combined - the mixture will end up with the consistency of wet sand.
Add the vanilla, syrup, and egg. Beat together until smooth.
In another bowl combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, a third at a time, to the sugar mixture, stirring after each addition until well combined.
Drop spoonfuls of the dough, well spaced, onto the baking sheets. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until golden and the outside is set but the middle is still slightly soft.