Good news for chocolate lovers this week as it's national chocolate week and the press is buzzing with enthusiasm for this well known celebratory occasion over chocolate. If you want to find out more then check out the following link; http://29816gkqo6ev0x8yhuhqrvdlck.hop.clickbank.net/ This week's recipe of course had to be inspired by it being chocolate week and is a white chocolate mousse with piped chocolate decorations, a really quick and easy recipe. So quick, this can be a make shift super quick dessert if you are short of time or just want a really yummy chocolate dessert. The recipe makes enough for 2, plus a little extra if you wanted to make a smaller one, alternatively you could skip the smaller one and just fill the existing 2 with more chocolate mousse. Double the quantity for 4 if needed. Ingredients: 150g white cooking chocolate 100ml double cream 1 heaped dessert spoon ricotta cheese 3 teaspoons of sugar 1 egg white 100g dark/plain cooking chocolate In a heavy based saucepan on a low heat, melt the white chocolate until completely a liquid state. In a small mixing bowl, place the egg white and whisk on a high speed until stiff peaks form. Add the sugar to the egg whites and beat in until thickened and smooth. In a large mixing bowl place the cream and the ricotta cheese and blend together well on a high speed until smooth and creamy. Pour the melted white chocolate into the cream and ricotta mixture and beat on a high speed until all combined and smooth. (The mixture will be quite runny and you don't want to over work the cream). Add a little of the egg white to the chocolate and cream mixture and fold in using a spatula. Once all incorporated add the remaining egg white and fold in until combined. Prepare a piping bag with a large open star tip/nozzle and place the white chocolate mousse into the piping bag. Pipe into x2 ramekin dishes, piping a swirl to finish. Fill an espresso cup with the remaining mousse and refrigerate. Melt the dark chocolate in a heavy based saucepan on a low heat until the chocolate becomes a liquid state with no remaining chunks of chocolate. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes once melted. Place a piping bag ready with a small plain tip/nozzle into a pint glass with the top turned out over the outer of the glass. With both your hands free, you can pour the melted chocolate into the piping bag and use a spatula to get any last bits of chocolate from the saucepan into the piping bag.
Place a piece of greaseproof paper on a large chopping board and write a message of your choice or shapes of your choice. I chose a heart, star and the word yum. Refrigerate and chill until the chocolate is back to a solid state again and once set, remove from the paper with a palette knife and place on top of the chocolate mousse to serve. I think the yum looked really cool and these were simple and easy decorative additions to this wonderfully light chocolate mousse. I mentioned in last week's post the silicone piping bags that are now available. Having now tried and tested one, I would recommend them highly. There was no leakage at all when using the silicone bag (Pictured) and it made for an enjoyable and accurate piping detail. Look out for next week's post with more on techniques. ---------If you want to find out more then check out the following link-------http://29816gkqo6ev0x8yhuhqrvdlck.hop.clickbank.net/