Preparations…… for the Easter holiday!!

My kids will be home this weekend!!  YAY!!  Its Easter and while we not longer have visists from the rabbit its still fun to have them home.!!

There are a few food requests that are pretty standard …   Chocolate Mousse Cake is one.  I usually do not honor this request!!  It is a heart attack disguised as a succulent dessert!!

I thought I would play around with photographs of this delight but be warned….  They are just snapshots.  Nothing fancy, no pretty backgrounds and just my out of date kitchen counter and my stove top. I began with the Chocolate Mousse….

First I organize my helpers..... Inky agreed to keep track of where I was in the recipe!

My “helpers” had to be dealt with.  Inky thinks the entire household belongs to her.  So a thorough scouring of all surfaces precedes any cooking or baking!!

Bella prefers washing dishes to reading the recipe

Now that the tasks were assigned  its time to prepare the crust!!

Spring form pan

This recipe calls for a spring form pan.  I have several that I have lost over the years.  My favorite is this Aluminum one.  It works well.  After melting unsalted butter and making chocolate cookie crumbs out of chocolate cookies in my Cuisinart you mix  and them press onto the sides of  the spring form pan.  I place this pan in the freezer to harden while I prepare the rest of the mousse.

I am kinda a thrifty baker.  With limited cupboard space I have condensed my tools.  I plan to use this bowl to put the entire mousse together so why not melt the chocolate in it?  So while its not a traditional double boiler it works and saves time.

Next I separate the eggs.  I need 2 whole eggs and 4 yolks  to add to the melted chocolate.  The eggs need to be room temp or slightly warmer.  This I have found is the tricky part of the recipe.  The chocolate needs to be cooled a bit and the eggs need to be warmed a bit.  I put the whole eggs in a Pyrex measuring cup and place it in the hot water.  The water is not on the heat.  Just sitting on the stove.  So let the chocolate sit a bit and then go about warming up the eggs.  I do this with both the whole eggs and the yolks.  It makes the mixing of the eggs and chocolate easier.  The texture needs to be creamy.

Now its time to whip the egg whites and heavy cream.

Egg Whites

Now for the heavy cream

I am prepared to fold all in!!

Now I gently fold in the whipping cream and the egg whites.  Be gentle here!!  If you fold too vigorously you will loose the loft!  The idea is to keep this really light and fluffy!!

Now pour into the pan with the crust!!

Freezer ready!!

At this point you can freeze this.  I cut a round piece of tin foil and tightly cover.  I like to make this a couple of days early.  There are no short cuts in the cooling of the chocolate and keeping it smooth.  So its a fussy recipe.  Easy but fussy.    The day before I want to serve this I put it in the fridge.  It will slowly defrost and be ready for serving!!

Another fav is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  This is a recipe I wrangled from a wonderful baking friend!!  While its kinda a fall recipe the kids ask for them year round.

We prefer mini muffins.  I hate muffin papers.  They just do not peel off a freshly baked muffin.  So I use a spray oil on my muffin pan and am happy not to have to purchase muffin papers.  One thing I have done is purchased a real nice heavy muffin pan.

Wilton muffin pan

I used to use dollar store pans but had issues with burning and uneven cooking.  A nice heavy pan spreads the heat evenly and baking results are predictable.

I like to assemble the ingredients

Muffins are a snap. The trick is not to over mix.

Let cool 2 or 3 minutes

I just spray the pan, mix the ingredients, plop mix into the pan and bake.  Between batches I wash the muffin tin.  When I re-bake I get burnt on oil.  So I wash and only spray enough openings to finish the mix.  Now usually 1 batch of these will not do.  But there will be plenty of other sweets in the house along with the healthy food.  So I am being stingy..  and only baking one batch.

Now perhaps you are wondering what do I do with the left over pumpkin?  I freeze it in sandwich bags in 1 cup quantities..  The next time I want to bake these I have pumpkin measured and waiting.!!   I do the same with shredded zucchini in the summer for Zucchini Bread!!

Have a wonderful holiday!