Tag Archives: chocolate

Grandma’s Chocolate Balls

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Chocolate balls-03850

If you want a fun activity with the kids, this is the perfect “baking” since no oven is involved. These decorative little balls taste the best when served chilled! Both young and adults love them. All swedish families have their own versions of the balls, this is our version, a recipe inherited from my grandmother, improved by my mother and with additions from my niece (she increased the vanilla flavour) and it is now the best chocolate balls recipe around!

Please make sure you use glutenfree oats!

Serve as part of a Children’s Party Menu with
Perfect Pizza, Churros, Chocolate Maple Sauce, Very Blueberry Scones and Banana Choco Bread

Ingredients:
300 ml oats
150 ml granulated sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp of vanilla sugar
100 g butter, room temperature

Decoration: Sprinkles, shredded coconut or something else decorative (from the home baking section of you grocery store) to coat the balls.

  1. Mix all ingredients well (except the decoration). Start out with a hand mixer, then continue by hand.
  2. Shape small balls. Test one ball, if the balls are difficult to form (or not sticky enough to attach the decorations to), either mix the dough a few more minutes or add more butter.
  3. Coat the balls by rolling them in the decorations of your choice.
  4. Chill for several hours.

Duo Chocolate Mousse with Cassis Syrup

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Duo Choco Moussse 7396

Apart from being a delicious chocolate mousse dessert, this is like a piece of art on the plate. Be prepared for guests wanting to photograph your masterpiece! This dessert can be prepared a day in advance and plated just before serving.

Serve as part of a menu with
– Starter: Avocado Gazpacho
– Main Course: Seafood Quinotto

Serves 4

Dark mousse:
100 g dark chocolate
2 tbsp milk
200 ml double cream
1 tbsp whiskey

White mousse:
100 g white chocolate
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp rum (or Malibu if you prefer)
1 egg yolk
200 ml double cream

Cassis syrup:
100 ml caster sugar
2 tbsp crème de cassis
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp gin
2 tsp lemon juice
½ vanilla pod, cut open and scrape out the seeds, discard the shell

Garnish:
Fresh berries
Icing sugar
Fresh mint leaves

Dark mousse:

  1. Break the dark chocolate into pieces and melt with milk in a bain marie (a heatproof bowl placed over a pot of boiling water). Add the whiskey. Cool.
  2. Whip the cream and fold into the chocolate.
  3. Spoon into the bottom part of individual molds and refrigerate for 1 hour.

White mousse:

  1. Melt the white chocolate with milk in a bain marie. Cool.
  2. Combine the rum with the egg yolk and add to the chocolate mix while stirring. Whip the cream and fold into the chocolate mix. Spoon the white chocolate mix on top of the dark mix in the individual molds. Freeze for several hours.

Syrup:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat for about 3-4 minutes, until thickened. Let cool and then refrigerate until serving.

To serve:

  1. Remove the duo chocolate mousse molds from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
  2. Turn out each mold with the chocolate mousse onto individual serving plates.
  3. Place berries and menthe leaves by the mousse. Pour the cassis syrup from a spoon all around the mousse. Lastly, powder the plate with icing sugar.

 

Chocolate Rum Cake with Chocolate Creme Anglaise, Vanilla Chantilly and Berries

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CB Genoa Chocolate Cake IMG_4910

This cake takes a bit of time but is well worth the effort. As it is quite rich, I prefer to use miniature molds to keep each serving quite small. This dessert is based on a recipe from the chef school we attended.

Serve as part of a menu with:
– Starter: Summer Salad with Basil Walnut Dressing
– Main Course: Caribbean Chicken with Avocado Rice and Red Pepper Vinaigrette

Chocolate Crème Anglaise:
1 vanilla bean (pod)
250 ml whole milk
3 egg yolks
50 g sugar
275 g dark chocolate, chopped

The cake:
2 egg whites
200 g ground almonds
6 tbsp icing sugar
30 g butter
4 eggs
15 g gluten free flour (rice flour works very well)
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
¼ lemon, grated peel
4 tbsp rum

Chantilly:
200 ml cream
20 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Decoration:
Strawberries
Chocolate shavings

Chocolate Crème Anglaise:

  1. Slice the vanilla pod lengthwise. Scrape out the interior.
  2. In a saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla to a boil.
  3. Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and thick.
  4. Pour the hot milk onto the eggs and sugar taking care to stir continuously so the eggs don’t set.
  5. Return the mixture to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon over low heat until mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon. DO NOT BOIL.
  6. Pour the Crème Angailse over the chopped chocolate and gently mix until the chocolate has melted.
  7. Cool the chocolate and refridgerate for about an hour until thick enough to place in a piping bag fitted with a round tip.

The Cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
  2. Butter small molds.
  3. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Set aside.
  4. Mix the ground almonds, icing sugar and egg whites together in a thick paste.
  5. Beat the eggs into the almond mix, one at the time. Whisk for about 5 minutes, the mix should be pale and thick.
  6. Fold in the sifted flour, cocoa and baking powder, add the melted butter.
  7. Pour into the prepared molds, let the batter come to two-thirds up the side.
  8. Bake until done. A knife blade comes out clean when inserted. About 12-15 minutes depending on size of molds.
  9. From a spoon, let a few drops of the Rum drop on the cakes.
  10. Turn out of molds and place on rack to cool.

Vanilla Chantilly:

  1. Whisk the cream and icing sugar together with the vanilla until it holds in soft peaks.

Assembly:

  1. Place a chocolate cake on each plate.
  2. Pipe elongated balls of the chocolate cream all around the top.
  3. Cut strawberries in a decorative shape and place on top.
  4. With two spoons, form a chantilly cream quenelle on one side of the plate and sprinkle some chocolate shavings on top.