Dessert Guinea Pigs

I just took my daughter, Sarah, to her first Halloween Party yesterday. She dressed up as a pumpkin. I don't know what animal eats pumpkin but we came home safe from being with a lion, turtle, monkey and chicken for a good few hours. When we were home, I made these cupcakes: Moist chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate ganache and spooky meringue ghost. Aren't they cute?

I'm not a big fan of meringue. It's just too sugary... Sometimes I wondered that I'm qualified to call myself having a sweet-tooth. However, it's fun to make them. It's quite easy to make and the end result is always impressive. A few years back, I made some meringue mushrooms to decorate my Christmas dessert. I found that you really need patience to make meringue. If you keep turning your electric beater or stand-up mixer on & off during the process, you'll never get there. The piping part is the fun part. Since you're not piping on a cake, there's less pressure. You can even experiment on what type of "ghost" you like. I like the smooth looking one better than the "Michelin" ghosts.



I made these cupcakes just for fun. I gave the cupcakes to friends who have kids at home. Also, I want to enjoy all the baking fun without weighting 300lbs. That’s why I have a list of friends who signed up as my “Dessert Guinea Pigs”.
After the weekend, one of my guinea pigs called me and told me how much she LOVES the cupcakes. Especially the "icing". She said she had never have that "icing" before. Well, it's because that wasn’t icing… That was chocolate ganache. I'm very happy to hear that she can taste the difference. I tried to select my "dessert guinea pigs" very carefully. I just hate to send my homemade treats to someone who doesn't appreciate the work behind. (or simply can't taste the difference between homemade and store bought tarts.)

One other reason of having a list of guinea pigs is that Frank and I could not finish everything. Sarah is still too young to eat cake. I'm waiting patiently to make her all the different cakes and cookies for different holidays and occasions when she's older. Of course, the first one will be her 1st birthday cake. Stay tune, it's coming in a month.

Meringue Ghosts

Makes 12 meringue ghosts

2 egg whites
pinch cream of tartar
¼ cup sugar

In a stand mixer, whip the egg whites and cream of tartar until they form soft peaks. Stir Slowly begin adding the sugar continuing until stiff peaks form. Spoon the meringue in a pastry bag with an 1/2 inch tip. Pipe out your ghost on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Carefully place the sesame seeds on the meringue for the eyes of the ghosts. Bake in an 200C oven for 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache

Yield about 1 cup

4oz semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to just boiled. Removed from heat and add chocolate. Make sure the heavy cream covers all the chocolate. Stir occasionally until all the chocolate melted. Let cool, the ganache will thicken as it sits but it should be pourable.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
1 large egg
¾ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
¾ cups warm water

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Into the bowl of electric mixer, sift together all the dry ingredients. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add the rest of the ingredients all at once. Beat on low speed until smooth and combined, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each about two-third full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer pans to wire rack to cool.

When the cupcakes are completed cool, dip each cupcake’s into chocolate ganache. Be careful not to drip on the side. Place each meringue ghost on the cupcake & Enjoy.

Dark Espresso Chocolate Cake

I mentioned before that I'm not crazy about white chocolate. On the contrary, dark chocolate is always my favorite. I like its complexity. I found that white chocolate has no character. However, there was once I tried a bar of white chocolate that had Kalamata olives in it. The combination might sound weird but the taste was unbelievably good. It made the world's difference for that plain old white chocolate.

Back to the cake. This dark espresso chocolate cake wasn't hard to make. I have another recipe very similar to this one. They both called for a large quantity of coffee/espresso which made the batter very runny. I don't agree with the name of this cake because you won't taste the coffee/espresso from the cake. (The recipe called for Kahlua and I would definitely skip it next time. It tasted very artificial.) The espresso was there to enhance the chocolate flavour. I have a couple of friends who are not coffee fans. I didn't even bother telling them that it had coffee in the cake. (I do that from time to time. As long as they are not allergic to the ingredient, that's the bottom line.) Of course, they both love the rich chocolate flavour of the cake... Now, only you, me and God knows where that richness came from...

The bitter chocolate glaze on the cake made this cake looked very pretty. You can even see the reflection of the garnish on the top of the cake.

I will suggest having this cake with a glass of dessert wine instead of a cup of espresso. So that my non-coffee-fan friends can enjoy it freely. (evil grin)

White Chocolate Raspberry Tarts

I have made this dessert a few times before. It's always a hit. I even made it for the raffles draw at a fund raising event last year and sold almost 150 tickets.

This time, I made individual tartlettes instead of one 10-inch tart. It looks not as spectacular but more elegant. It's perfect for those who likes this tender crust.

I'm not a big fan of white chocolate. It's too sweet to my liking. However, it goes beautifully with the tartness of raspberry. The white chocolate filling was flavoured with Framboise. In the past, I used lychee liquor which gave a floral fragrant to the filling without colouring it like the way Framboise would.

It's a beautiful dessert for any occassion.

Le Cordon Bleu Experience

Three years ago, I received a hands-on dessert making class at Le Cordon Bleu as my birthday present from Frank. The theme of the class was Festive Dessert. I was so happy when I knew that I was going to be a Le Cordon Bleu student for one day.

The day finally came. It was about 30 people in the class and everyone was waiting anxiously. The class was in English (at least that's what it was intended to be). However, Chef Pagés is French, and sometimes it's hard for him to find all his words in English... It means that it's hard for me to understand every word he said.

Chef Pagés made Chalet Montagnard in the demonstration part of the class. This chocolate cake built chalet, with a chocolate sleigh on the side is a more sophisticated, adult version of gingerbread house. It will be the perfect dessert to show off at Christmas dinner if you can repeat the thousand steps to make this impressive looking dessert.

After tasting the Chalet Montagnard, the practical part of the class began. We moved to the kitchen from the demonstrating room. I pair up with a guy called Pablo, who also received the class as a present. Since I'm so obsessed with making everything from scratch, I was a little bit disappointed about the set up. I want a dessert made by ME!

Everyone is making the same dessert and it is Bûche au marrons confits. It's a chestnut mousse log coated with white chocolate. In order to save time and minimize mistake, all the ingredients were already measured for us. (another disappointment... I want to do everything MYSELF!) Also, the almond dacquoise (the base of the log) was pre-made. Chef Pagés also shared his crème brûlée receipe with us.

I brought home half of a Bûche au marrons confits. (Have to share with Pablo) Frank was very impressed with the final product.

I decided to make this dessert for Frank's friend's Christmas party. I just want to make it from scratch, all by myself. It turned out very nice. I made some meringue mushroom for decoration which really impressed the kids at the party.

It was an enjoyable experience making dessert at Le Cordon Bleu. I would love to take a pastry making course there...one day...