short&SWEET: Day 22 - Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies & Chocolate Mousse

Saturday, April 30, 2011 & Sunday, May 1, 2011

Today is Saturday and I've decided to get an early start on baking. I wanted to bake two confections this weekend since I feel I've been slacking a bit in the baking department. One thing I wanted to make is a chocolate mousse. I've never made a mousse and while I was in italy I saw a lot of chocolate mousse listed on dessert menu's. I was unsure of the second thing I wanted to make so after perusing the internet for a while, I came across a recipe for double chocolate chunk cookies that looked awesome.

Today I started with the chocolate chunk cookies and decided to leave the mousse for tomorrow. To start the cookie dough, I mixed all of the dry ingredients in a bowl [flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt]. Next, I melted milk chocolate with butter and once combined, added it to the stand mixer. I then added eggs, vanilla and sugar to the chocolate mixture. Once the mixture is thick and smooth, I added in the dry ingredients slowly. The last step to complete the cookie dough is to mix in chunks of milk chocolate.

I put balls of dough on the sheet pans and put them in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. The directions specifically say that the cookies will still be soft after 15 minutes [and almost look under cooked] but they will harden as they cool. The directions couldn't be more right on because thats exactly what happened. The first batch I made created giant cookies so for the next two trays I was careful to make smaller balls of dough.

I couldn't wait to sample a cookie when they were cooled! I'm happy to say that the cookies lived up to all of my expectations. They were crisp along the edges and chewy and decadent in the center. I would definitely make these again!

Stay tuned for tomorrow!!

Sunday, May 1, 2011

I am back in the kitchen and ready to bake [again!] As I mentioned yesterday, I will be making a chocolate mousse today. This is actually a no-bake dessert and it looks really elegant when its finished.

All my ingredients are ready!

I started out by mixing the chocolate part of the mousse, which is just semi-sweet chocolate and butter melted together. Once the mixture is smooth, three egg yolks are added to it.

Next, I whipped the egg whites with sugar until they are light and create stiff peaks.

Getting ready to whip the egg whites

All done!

The last part of the mousse is the whipped cream. I whipped heavy whipping cream with vanilla extract and sugar to create a light and airy cream.

Cream waiting to be whipped

Once all three parts of the mousse are put together separately, I was ready to put them together. First I folded the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, careful not to deflate the eggs. Once this was combined, I then folded in the whipped cream. The mousse came together quickly and I spooned it into individual size ramekins. The mousse needs to be chilled for several hours before eating, so we will enjoy these later!