Mouuse Chocolate

Peach Cobbler with Pecan Topping:

filling:
8 large ripe peaches
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt

-peel and slice peaches
-toss to coat with lemon juice
-mix together sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg, add to peaches, mix to coat, place in an 8x8" pan or a casserole dish and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375f.

Biscuit:
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
-You can mix the dough by hand cutting in the butter then mixing in the buttermilk. I used the food processor:
-pulse the dry ingredients together to blend.
-add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture is crumbly
-pour most, but not all of the buttermilk over the flour mixture, pulse until it comes together, use all the buttermilk if necessary.
-dab bits of this dough over the top of the cobbler, and brush with a little milk.

Pecan Topping:
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (or almonds...or other nut)
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
-mix together in a bowl and sprinkle on top of the biscuit
-place a sheet of foil underneath the cobbler in the oven to catch drips and bake for about 45 minutes or until the peach juice is bubbling up.
If you fear the top getting too dark, cover with a piece of foil about half hour into baking.
-cool until warm, and serve alone or with ice cream or whipped cream or....yum.

Chocolate Mousse, Need I Say More?

Mousseline Au Chocolat:

6 ounces semi sweet chocolate ( I used Scharffenberger 80% cocoa, any high quality chocolate will do)
4 Tbsp strong coffee
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar (superfine sugar would be even better if you can get it)
1/4 cup orange liqueur (I used Grand Marnier) or rum or Chambord, or other
6 ounces room temp unsalted butter
4 egg whites
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp superfine or granulated sugar
Directions:

- Melt the chocolate with the coffee over a hot water bath, stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the butter a bit at a time. Once butter is incorporated and the mixture is smooth, set aside.
-Put the yolks into the bowl of an electric mixer, beat a bit to break them up and add 3/4 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup liqueur and beat until the mixture turns lemon yellow. Remove the bowl from the mixer, leave the whip attachment on the mixer, place the mixer bowl over the hot water bath and whisk until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar is dissolved.
Wipe the bottom of the bowl, return it to the mixer and whip the yolk mixture until it is light yellow and it thickens. Add the chocolate mixture to the yolk mixture and beat until well blended. Pour this mixture into a separate bowl and set aside. Wash your mixer bowl and whip attachment thoroughly.

-Once the bowl is clean, place the egg whites and a pinch of salt into the bowl and with the whip attachment, whip until the eggwhites are foamy. Slowly sprinkle in the 2 Tbsps of sugar while the mixer is still on high speed. Whip the egg whites until they form firm, but not dry, peaks.

-Sacrifice 1/3 of the eggwhites into the chocolate mixture (this means to just mix it in to lighten the chocolate mixture). Lightly fold in the remaining egg whites and fold until blended.

Creamy Dreamy Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate crust for cheesecake:
1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs (store bought are fine, I did make some chocolate cookies and used them...so homemade also work well)
1/2 cup pecans, ground in food processor
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
Directions:
-Butter or spray a 9" springform pan, and cover the outside up the sides with aluminum foil (this will prevent any of the waterbath from seeping into your cheesecake and ruining your crust).
-Crush chocolate cookies in food processor or open box of cookie crumbs and use them.
-Mix sugar and cookie crumbs together, pour in melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
-Press into the bottom of the prepared springform pan. Set aside.

Creamy Chocolate Cheesecake:
1 1/2 pounds of cream cheese (3 8 ounce packages) at room temperature
1 cup sugar
12 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, melted
8 ounces of sour cream, room temperature
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla or vanilla bean paste (I used the paste, but that's cause I'm a sucker for the little vanilla specks)
Directions:
-Preheat the oven to 325f
-In a mixer fitted with a paddle, or in a food processor fitted with a blade, mix together the cream cheese and the sugar until it is well blended and smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary (as my cake teacher would tell us "become one with the cream cheese" meaning, you're probably going to end up with cream cheese all over your hands, but it's ok ).
-Mix the melted chocolate and the sour cream together to form a smooth mixture (make sure the sour cream is room temp, and the chocolate is still warm). Add this to the cream cheese mixture and mix well or pulse in until combined.
-Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until blended after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix.
-Pour into the prepared springform pan lined with crust.
-Place the springform pan into another pan that is deep enough for a waterbath to come up the sides of the cheesecake, pour water into the pan until it comes up to about 1 1/2 inches below the top of the springform pan. Carefully place in the oven.
-Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour or until the cheesecake appears to jiggle like jell-o when given a gentle shake.

-Carefully remove from the oven (to avoid hot water issues), remove the springform from the bain-marie (waterbath) and allow to cool at room temperature for 2 hours, then chill overnight.

-The next day, unmold your cheesecake, slice and share some decadence! You'll be happy you did.

Happy Baking!

Serious Chocolate Cupcakes:
-10 semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces (10 ounces)
-8 heavy cream (8 ounces)
-2 unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces (2 ounces)
5 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
-preheat oven to 325f
-place broken chocolates and cream in double boiler, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir till smooth.
-Place eggs, sugar and vanilla in mixer w/paddle. Beat on medium until lemon colored and slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate, beat on med 15-20 seconds. Add baking soda, flour and chips, beat on low 10 seconds, increase to medium and beat 10 more seconds.divide into 18 muffin tins, fill ¼ inch below the rim. Baker about 25 minutes, cool..dip tops in icing and garnish with white or dark chocolate chips or curls or something pretty...I also will do seasonal sprinkles on these, such as: pumpkins at Halloween, Holiday M&M's at Christmas..etc....

Ganache topping:
-4 heavy cream (4 ounces)
-6 semi sweet chocolate (6 ounces)
Directions:
-heat cream to boiling, pour over semi sweet chocolate. Let sit for about 8 minutes. Whisk until smooth and dip in cooled cuppycakes.