.white chocolate blackberry brownie bites.

Hello Fay. Yes.. *that* Fay. Tropical Storm Fay. She decided to come for a visit and it looks like she has finally calmed down some. It has been raining and blowing like crazy outside. Our house backs up to a wetland and it's normally dry dry dry, but the water has crept up to our grass!

Paige has been out of school the past two days so I've been thinking of things to do with her while she's home. One thing we did was make dessert to go with our dinner. These little yummies were ooooh so good.

My sister, Marcia, used to sell Pampered Chef and one of the recipes she made quite often, are their little tuxedo bites. I kind of got the idea based off of those, but changed the filling from their cream cheese/whipped cream mixture, to a white chocolate macadamia mousse. And instead of the cherry on top, I used a fresh blackberry. Very delicious!

These would be great for a party since their bite-sized. You could probably make these in regular muffin sized pans, but it wouldn't look as pretty, in my opinion. :)



Begin by making one brownie mix as directed on the package.


Pour into a mini muffin pan about half way up. (it is tough getting a picture while you're trying to pour. LOL)

Put in a 350* and bake until the tops are domed and baked all the way through.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.


Using this handy tool from Pampered Chef, press the centers down to make them into little cups.

Let's make the mousse now.

Put 2 eggs and 1/3 cup sugar.

Put the bowl on top of a saucepan that has about 1" of water in the pot. You don't want the bowl sitting in water so you don't need that much.

Whisk vigorously as the water comes to boil. The steam will cook the eggs and we want this nice and fluffy. Keep whisking until a thermometer reads 140*.


Remove the bowl from the double boiler and add a bag of Mauna Loa white chocolate chips w/ chopped macadamia nuts. If you don't want nuts, add 6 oz white chocolate. Mix until the chocolate melts completely.


Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Put in the fridge and allow to cool completely.


Once the chocolate has cooled, put 1 cup cream in an ice cold mixing bowl.


Whip on high until firm peaks form. My pictures are light or dark! Fay gave me very poor lighting all day. Sorry about that.


Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate/egg mix. Don't overbeat. Put this back in the fridge and let chill for 3 hours.


Carefully pull all the brownie bites out of the muffin pan. Now I remember why I hate this stupid pan. LOL... they stuck SO BAD!


Transfer the mousse into a piping bag and squeeze some into each cup.


Place blackberries (or strawberry, or raspberry, or cherry!) on the center. Chill for about an hour before serving.


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_100gs4zvftw

.death by chocolate.

I completely forgot I had this recipe to post until someone emailed me asking when I will put it on the blog. Sorry about that! This is a very time intensive recipe. I made two death by chocolate for a cake auction at my church back in April to earn money for the girls for camp.


One cake sold for $70.00, the other for $50.00. Not too bad! The first year I made this, it was a much larger version and it went for a whopping $115.00!!!


There are many steps to this cake. Everything can be made days in advance and assemble the day before you want to serve it. You need to give this plenty of time to set and in fact, if you can freeze the whole thing, even better.


The first step is the brownie cake.


.brownie cake.


3 - 1oz squares unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 - 1oz square semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp cocoa
1/4 cup sour cream




This piece of unsweetened chocolate is from Callebaut chocolate. It's a Belgian product that is just amazing. The bar USED to be the size of my entire torso. It was hugeeee. This is all I have left. :( I need to order more, but I'm going to wait until I move to do so. You can use a knife or a chocolate fork to break the pieces off.













A food scale is a definite must for this project. You want to make sure you have the right amount of chocolate for your cake, mousses, and ganache.















Combine unsweetened chocolate, semi sweet chocolate, and butter in a double boiler. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring ocassionally, until the chocolate and butter melt.

Once the chocolate and butter are melted, remove from heat and set aside.

















Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla on medium high speed until slightly thickened.

Add the chocolate mixture, and beat at medium speed until blended.











In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa.
















Gradually add to the chocolate mixture, beating until blended.


















Stir in the sour cream by hand.

I made two of these for the auction. Make sure you use only ONE pan for yours since this recipe I just posted is for one, not two. Pour your batter into a greased pan. Put in a 325* oven and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.




When the cake is done, dump out onto a cooling rack. Let it cool completely. Wrap with saran, then foil and put in the freezer for at *least* three hours.

Now we're going to move on to the chocolate meringue.


.chocolate meringue.


4 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 Tbsp cornstarch



Beat the egg whiltes in a large bowl at high speed until foamy.

Sprinkle in the cream of tartar and salt.

Beat until soft peaks form.

Gradually add the sugar.

Beat until stiff peaks form. Look at how nice that looks. :)

Fold in the cocoa and cornstarch.

Make sure it is well incorporated into the egg whites.

Take the base of your springform pan and use a pen to trace around it on a piece of parchment paper. I used 8" pans for the brownie cake, so I knew I needed to use a 8" springform pan. Fill a piping bag and carefully pipe in a circular fashion within the edges on the paper.

This is what it should look like.


Put in a 225* oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200* and bake for 2 hours and 45 minutes or until firm and dry.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely.






.almond chocolate mousse.




14oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 tsp almond extract
2 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp meringue powder
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream, whipped



Over a double boiler, put the chocolates, 1/2 cup water, almond extract, and baking cocoa and melt until a nice sauce is formed. Remove from the heat and allow to come to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, put the meringue powder, and the remaining 1/2 cup water.

Beat on high speed until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the sugar.










Beat on high again until stiff peaks form.

















Add a little of the beat meringue whites into the cool chocolate. Fold in until all is incorporated.

Whip your cream until stiff peaks form, and add the same way to the chocolate.

This is what the mousse will look like. Cover with saran and put in the fridge. Allow to chill overnight.



.chocolate mousse.


6oz semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp meringue powder
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped



Just like we did for the almond chocolate mousse, melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.



Beat the meringue powder and water on high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.



Fold the whipped meringue into the chocolate. Fold in the whipped cream.











Once the whipped cream is incorporated, cover the bowl with saran and refrigerate overnight.



Make ganache. Put 1 1/2 cups whipped cream in a saucepan and scald. Do not let the cream come to a boil. Pull from the heat when a thin skin develops on the surface.



Pour over 22 ounces semisweet chocolate chips. Let stand for a couple minutes, then stir until a nice chocolate sauce is formed.



Now it's time for assembly!



Slice the brownie cake in half. This is what happens when you don't allow it to freeze long enough. The cake kind of broke apart on me, but it's of no consequence. You won't ever see it. Put the bottom cake in the assembled springform pan.














Pour a little ganache on top of the brownie cake. Smooth it around with a spatula.

Put the baked meringue on top of the ganache. If it doesn't fit, carefully chisel away at the edges with a knife until it does.



I only had a very blurry picture of this next step, but you want to put the almond mousse on top of the meringue. You want to make sure you leave at least an inch on top free.



Put the top layer of the brownie cake on top. Cover with foil and put in the fridge or freezer (preferrably the freezer) until firm and set. Best if it sets overnight.















Heat a thin knife (such as a boning knife) with hot water and run it along the inside of the pan. Release the springform sides and lift off.



Put the cake on top of a rack on a baking sheet.

Cover the entire cake with ganache. Use a spatula to smooth it as best you can. Put in the fridge to set.

Put the chocolate mousse in a piping bag and pipe large rosettes on the top.



Transfer the cake to a cardboard round, cake plate or platter. Hold in the fridge until time to serve.


So there you have it. I think they call it death by chocolate because it just might kill you making it. LOL Kidding. It is VERY rich. A thin slice is all you need. Serve with a tall glass of milk. :)

Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_69drjcbbt3