Monday 27 August 2007

SHF#34 going local

Passionate Cook Johanna chose local or regional specialities as the theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday. Which meant I could go a few different ways with this one - British, Asian or Belgian.

For the past six years I’ve been calling London my home, so I could opt for something quintessentially English - trifle, Eton mess, spotted dick, ... None of these really rock my boat though. Not to mention the fact that I haven’t got a clue what spotted dick might be. Or, since the area in East London where I live resembles Bombay (especially on a sunny Saturday afternoon), an Indian sweet perhaps? I absolutely love ras malai but wouldn’t know how to make it myself. Halwa I also like - I once made carrot halwa, which was absolutely delicious but took me about half a day to make. And seeing as I would be working my way through mountains of laundry in addition to adhering to the most clichéd cliche of Englishness, ie spending the bank holiday weekend doing DIY, I thought I’d better opt for something quick and easy.

Which left me with something Belgian. Most of the sweets I recall from my childhood were store bought, or made from a packet. However, one of the few things I do remember making regularly in my parents’ kitchen (apart from pound cake), is a simple chocolate mousse. I don’t even like it that much, but it is an absolute doddle to make and S loves it. And since as he has had to ‘endure’ lots of non-chocolate-and-vanilla kind of desserts lately, I thought I’d humour him and make a simple chocolate mousse.

recipe
quantities needed per person

25g chocolate
1 egg white
1 tbsp icing sugar

Whip egg whites until stiff, adding icing sugar gradually. Melt chocolate and carefully fold into egg whites. Pour into ramekins and refrigerate until firm.

7 comments:

Sigrid said...

Oh, so you're belgian too??!!! :-D
I must say that the pictures do make me pretty much yearning for a nice mousse au chocolat (perhaps made with cote d'or chocolate), but euhm, there are like 40 degrees in rome at the moment, I suppose I'll just have to skip this one...

Anh said...

A simple yet elegant dessert. I love it.

Karen Baking Soda said...

Ah..hence the Dutch words in your comment! I love the little bowls the mousse is in!

thepassionatecook said...

the simplest is always the best. i personally detest any chocolate mousse where cream features in the ingredients... but this is a recipe where i can lean back and let my daughter do all the work - wonderful!

Rose said...

Beautiful! I love your serving cups!

tammy said...

I'm loving those little cups, too. Of course, chocolate mousse makes everything look good.

Jannett said...

Love the little bowls. Perfect to serve chocolate mousse in.

Hope you do not mind I have tagged you for a meme.

:)