Archive for March, 2010
Chocolate mousse recipes abound in all shapes and sizes, some are complicated, and some, like this one, are very easy to make. However, that doesn’t make it any less delicious. This one gets made frequently in our house, and doesn’t last long! I use a blend of white and milk chocolate because I feel that creates a perfect complement to the baileys, and the amaretti biscuits.
This is the sort of recipe that can be easily adapted with all sorts of different flavours, as long as you retain the same ratio of chocolate to cream, and don’t add too much of any ingredient that contains a lot of water, as this could affect the ability of the chocolate and cream to blend together smoothly. I’ve included some other varieties we frequently indulge ourselves in at the end of the recipe, which will hopefully spur you on to dream up your own concoctions.
HELPFUL HINTS: The trick with this recipe is to get the chocolate and cream to the right temperatures so that when they are blended together, the chocolate doesn’t “melt” the cream (which has all the lovely little air bubbles in it because of all the whisking you’ve been doing), and the cream doesn’t make the melted chocolate instantly solidify into little bits. For that reason, I’d suggest you get the cream out of the fridge about half an hour before starting, so that it can warm a little, and don’t forget to let the chocolate cool a little before adding it to the cream!
INGREDIENTS:
300ml (10 fl oz) Double Cream
100g (3.5 oz) Milk Chocolate
200g (7 oz) White Chocolate
100ml (3 fl oz) Irish Cream (Baileys, or any other brand)
Half a dozen small hard amaretti biscuits
METHOD:
Melt the Milk and White Chocolate together gently in a double boiler (or a pyrex bowl over a saucepan with a bit of water in the base), and then set aside to cool a little. Meanwhile, whip the double cream until it just shows the trail of the whisk. Gently fold the cream and melted chocolate together. Then add the Irish Cream, a little at a time, stirring constantly and gently. Pour into individual ramekins, and top with an amaretti biscuit to garnish.
Leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours. The finished dessert should be consumed within 3 days of making, unless it is frozen, in which case it will keep in the freezer for at least 3 weeks, if kept inside a tightly sealed box.
Calories per portion: 585 kcal
Fat per portion: 44g
Makes about 6 portions
OTHER OPTIONS:
Substitute dark chocolate for the milk and white chocolate, and add about 200g of fresh raspberries to the mix at the end, folding them in gently to avoid squashing them.
Replace the milk chocolate with white chocolate, and add a few drops of peppermint oil to counteract the sweetness of the white chocolate.
Make some caramel by boiling up 90g of granulated sugar with 3 tablespoons of water in a heavy-based saucepan until it is a pale golden brown. Pour it onto a greased baking sheet, and leave for a few hours until cool, then put in a bag and break into small pieces using a rolling pin. Replace the white and milk chocolate with 100g dark chocolate, and 200g milk chocolate to make a really richly chocolatey milk chocolate, and stir the little pieces of caramel into the mousse at the end.
Double the batch size, omit the Irish cream and amaretti cookies, and split the chocolate content into dark, milk and white (i.e. 200g each of white, milk and dark chocolate. Mix them up in separate batches, and either pour into a loaf tin in layers (allowing them to set in between), or pour small amounts into a large serving bowl, stirring together gently at the borders between the colours, to achieve a marbled effect. Delicious served with a fruit coulis!
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About the Author:
Joe is a keen amateur confectioner, and runs an online Chocolate Delivery service, Chocolate Now! with her husband Nigel. You can find more of her chocolate recipes at www.chocolate-now.co.uk/recipes
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The mention of chocolate cake brings water in everyone’s mouth. This article will help you bake a chocolate cake on your own. Here are easy and simple steps to bale a chocolate cake.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup Hershey’s cocoa
- 2 ½ cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 ¾ cups sifted all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup softened butter
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
Icing:
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa
- 2 cups powdered icing sugar
- 1/2 cup or a stick of unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Procedure
Step 1:
First, pre-heat the oven to a temperature of 177 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 2:
Grease two round layer pans of nine inch and set aside.
Step 3:
Mix the cup of Hershey’s cocoa with 2 cups of boiling water until it becomes smooth and let it cool.
Step 4:
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a plastic bowl.
Step 5:
Cream the butter slowly. When the butter gets softened and starts to cream, slowly add sugar and keep creaming the butter until it appears fluffy and light.
Step 6:
Now, eggs have to be added one at a time when the butter is done and it has to be slowly mixed. Then vanilla is to be added.
Step 7:
Add cocoa mixture fourths to the butter. Then add the mixture of dry ingredients. Keep adding in alternates until the last mixture which should be the dry ingredients.
Step 8:
The batter is to be now placed in the pans to half or less the depth of the pan.
Step 9:
It has to be baked in a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit for nearly 25 to 30 minutes, check if is baked completely. It can be done with a toothpick pierced into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean then it means the cake is already baked.
Step 10:
Now, take out the pans from the oven and let them cool for ten minutes on a wire rack.
Icing Procedure
Step 1:
First, place the sugar in the bowl and then slowly add other ingredients.
Step 2:
Slow mixer speed will keep the sugar in the bowl. Slowly increase the speed.
Step 3:
If the frosting looks very thick, then milk can be added slowly to make it thinner. Thick frosting will be difficult to apply on the cake.
Step 4:
Use a spatula to top the cake with the icing. It can also be directly piped on.
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About the Author:
You might want to learn how to bake a potato in the microwave and also how to bake a chocolate cake. Follow these links.
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Craving sweets is seemingly natural especially with women. Unfortunately, it can get out of hand which leaves people wondering how they can stop craving sweets. If you are wondering the same, perhaps you would benefit from knowing why you have sugar cravings.
Why Do You Crave Sugar?
First of all, you have to understand that this is biological in nature. When you feel tired or depressed, the sugar levels in your blood are low. This means that the feel-good hormone, Serotonin, in your brain is also low. The body reacts by craving sweets. Once you eat or consume sweets like chocolates or cakes, the brain releases the Serotonin. Unfortunately, the brief bursts eventually subside and since you are still depressed or tired, you will still feel the need to eat sweets.
Craving sweets may also be attributed to severe stress or adrenal fatigue. Not everyone understands what adrenal fatigues means. Basically, this results from severe stress. When people have little sleep or practically no sleep or when they are overworked, they will generally experience severe fatigue. Accordingly, they will also experience intense sugar cravings.
Your diet can also cause sweet cravings. If you have been on a low-fat low-carbohydrate diet for a significant length of time, chances are your body will become insulin resistant. When this happens, the body will send signals to the brain prompting you to eat more sweets even though you already have ample glucose supply in your blood. Many people who use appetite suppressants are not aware of this. They don’t know that by constantly craving sweets, they also increase their fat deposits even if they are eating less than usual. However, they do not feel the need to stop the craving since they figure they are already addressing the problem by eating less.
Perhaps, It is in Your Genes
Many researchers believe that craving sweets may be attributed to a gene variant that helps in maintaining and handling sugars. Constantly craving sweets may caused by this gene urging you to hunger for sweets like sodas, cakes and chocolates.
The researchers and scientists from University of Toronto claim that this particular gene, the glucose transporter type 2, actually assists the brain in regulating food intake. They conducted a study on two groups of people – one group with regular gene and the other with a gene variant. They then compared the eating habits of these two groups.
The first group consisted of 700 individuals who were in perfect condition. These people were asked to make a record of their diet and eating habits over a course of one month. The other group consisted of about 100 overweight individuals who were in the early stages of diabetes. They were not taking any diabetic medication. They were asked to record their eating habits over three days, and then to record their diet again for another three days after the lapse of two weeks.
Researchers discovered that regardless of their health and condition, the people with the gene variant ate more sweets than those people with regular gene. However, they did not see any difference in the fat or protein intake of either group.
Craving Sweets – How to Deal with It?
There are some things that you can do in order to curve your sweet cravings. You are likely to place your health at risk if you keep on gorging on chocolates. So, how do you stop yourself from cravings sweets?
a. Eat small meals every two to four hours. This way you will avoid cravings. Just make sure that you keep your meals small or light. Otherwise, you would gain a lot of weight.
b. Relax. You need to relieve yourself of stress. So, you should give yourself time to relax. Hit the gym. Watch a movie. Go for a walk. Read a good book. Stress can trigger sweet and carbohydrate cravings. You should make sure that you have a stress management plan set up, so you can relax every now and then.
c. Exercise! Regular exercise can relieve stress. You don’t have to go to the gym. You can go for a walk or take up jogging. Just make sure that you exercise at least every other day.
d. Avoid skipping meals. Many people avoid meals or restrict their calories thinking that they are going to lose weight faster. In truth, they are only actually starving themselves. Craving sweets also comes in the same territory. Do not deprive yourself of food especially if you are hungry.
Craving sweets is not a whim. Often, there is a biological reason behind an incessant craving for sugar and carbohydrates. If you are constantly craving sweets, you should try to determine what is causing the need, so you can address the problem properly.
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About the Author:
Pro Chef 360 – Created and maintained by the culinary minded
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History
Reese’s Peanut butter chocolate was first manufactured in America in the 1920s when H. B. Reese’s Candy Company introduced a specially processed peanut butter filling with Hershey’s chocolate. The peanut butter cups were the first to be produced, a popular item that has now grown to become a well-known and loved confectionary product enjoyed by people across the globe.
The Reese’s name has a unique heritage. Harry Burnett Reese was born in 1879 on a farm in Frosty Hill, Pensylvania. He was a former dairy employee working for Milton S. Hershey, founder of the Hershey’s Food Corporation. Inspired by Hershey’s success, H. B. Reese left the dairy started his own confectionery business.
Although H. B. Reese’s decision led to the introduction of a now world-famous product that still represents something unique in the candy industry, he experienced much adversity before building a company that thrived on a single product – his peanut butter blend.
Timeline
1879 H. B. Reese is born in Frosty Hill. Pennsylvania 1917 H. B. Reese moves to Hershey, Pennsylvania Early 1920s Reese introduces Johnny Bars (caramel-like molasses) and Lizzie Bars (Coconut Candy) with some success Mid 1920s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups introduced and sold in bulk for use in chocolate assortments Mid 1930s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups sold individually for a penny a piece to the assortment line 1939 – 1945 H. B. Reese discontinued other Reese’s lines to concentrate on peanut butter cups 1940s & 1950s Reese’s Cups gains distribution through wholesalers, vending machine operators and syndicated stores 1957 100,000 sq. ft. Reese’s factory built in Hershey, PA 1963 Hershey purchases H. B. Reese Candy Company 2004 D&D Snacks selected as distributor to Hershey’s Reese’s in the United Kingdom selling Reese’s Cups and Nutrageous into all major UK trade and retail outlets 2008 Reese’s Pieces introduced to the United Kingdom with great success
H. B. Reese was not very fond of farming when he was young, in spite of his family heritage. As a youth, he took a variety of jobs including a country butcher and oil burner selling before moving to the town of Hershey in 1917.
He started working at the dairy owned by Milton S. Hershey. Here Reese became inspired by Hershey’s confectionery range and decided to enter the market himself.
After a short time he left the dairy, moving to Hummelstown and Palmyra, where he started a number of new ventures. He enjoyed some success with Johnny Bars and Lizzie Bars, but eventually moved back to Hershey, living just a few blocks from the Hershey’s manufacturing facility.
Reese sold his peanut butter cups in bulk in the mid 1920s, selling them to the trade in five-pound boxes for use in chocolate assortment boxes. By the mid 1930s, Reese Cups were being sold individually for a penny a piece to the assortment line.
During World War II conditions prompted Reese to discontinue other lines in favour of peanut butter cups, supported by consumer advertising.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s Reese’s distributed their peanut butter chocolate lines to wholesalers, vending machine operators and syndicated stores. During this time the peanut butter cups gained in popularity across the United States supported in part by their highly recognisable orange and yellow packaging.
The success of Reese’s in the post-war period meant they required a much larger manufacturing facility by the mid 1950s. Reese acquired a tract of land on the western edge of Hershey where they built a state-of-the-art fully automated 100,000 square-foot manufacturing facility. The factory, located on Chocolate Avenue in Hershey, Pennsylvania, opened in August 1957.
Six years later, in 1963, the Hershey Chocolate Company, which was formerly known as the Hershey Food Company, bought it’s neighbour, H.B. Reese’s Candy Company for $23.5 million.
Hershey’s Reese’s peanut butter chocolate is distributed in the United Kingdom by D&D Snacks UK Ltd. They won the import and distribution contract in 2004 selling Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Reese’s Nutrageous bars into all major trade and retail outlets.
Reese’s Pieces was introduced to the UK in 2008. The product has quickly grown to become a consumer favourite and Reese’s Cups, Nutrageous and Pieces now have a growing consumer fan-base in the United Kingdom.
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About the Author:
South African born Keith has lived in the south of England for most of his life. After graduating from University with a degree in Business Information Systems Management he decided to start Strawberrysoup; a website design company based in West Sussex and Dorset.
Keith successfully gained entry into the Southampton University Air Squadron and spent over 12 months training to fly. Since then he has continued to follow his interest in flying and has now began his own training in the form of a Private Pilot’s Licence.
Keith also spent 13 months working within the Image and Printing Group at Hewlett Packard in Bracknell. Throughout his time there, he was responsible for many activities including events organisation and website design and maintenance.
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