Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Our heat wave is over, but here’s one more recipe that won’t heat up the kitchen in the summer. Don’t try this if you are watching your weight!

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Crust:

1 cup (120 g) graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup (50 g) melted butter

1 tablespoon sugar

Combine and press into bottom of a 7-inch (18 cm) spring form pan lined with waxed paper.

  

Mousse layers:

Milk chocolate:

1 sheet of gelatin (or 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder)

¼ cup cream

3.5 ounces (100 g) milk chocolate

1 egg white

Soften the gelatin sheet in cold water for 4-5 minutes. Put the cream and chocolate in a bowl and melt in the microwave at 400W (about 1 minute). Stir in the gelatin. Beat the egg white until stiff and gently fold into chocolate mixture. Pour over crumb crust and let set in fridge 30 minutes.

White chocolate:

1 sheet of gelatin (or 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder)

¼ cup cream

3.5 ounces (100 g) white chocolate

1 egg white

Soften the gelatin sheet in cold water for 4-5 minutes. Put the cream and chocolate in a bowl and melt in the microwave at 400W (about 1 minute). Stir in the gelatin. Beat the egg white until stiff and gently fold into chocolate mixture. Pour over milk chocolate mousse layer and let set in fridge 30 minutes (8 servings).

Dark chocolate:

1 sheet of gelatin (or 1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin powder)

3 tablespoons strong coffee

3.5 ounces (100 g) dark chocolate

¼ cup (50 g) butter, softened

1 egg yolk

1 egg white

Soften the gelatin sheet in cold water for 4-5 minutes. Put the coffee and chocolate in a bowl and melt in the microwave at 400W (about 1 minute). Stir in the butter, the egg yolk, then the gelatin. Beat the egg white until stiff and gently fold into chocolate mixture. Pour over milk chocolate mousse layer and let set in fridge 2 hours before serving.

Tourte aux trois mousses au chocolat

Pour le fond :

120 g de petits beurres écrasés

50 g de beurre fondu

1 cuillère à soupe de sucre

Mélanger et presser au fond d’un moule à charnière de 18 cm chemisé.

Pour les couches de mousse :

Au chocolat au lait :

1 feuille de gélatine

60 ml de crème

100 g de chocolat au lait

1 blanc d’œuf

Tremper la gélatine dans de l’eau froide pendant 4-5 minutes. Mettre la crème et le chocolat dans un bol et fondre au microonde à 400W (environ 1 minute). Incorporer la gélatine. Battre le blanc d’œuf en neige et incorporer délicatement au mélange. Verser sur le fond de biscuit et laisser au frigo 30 minutes.

Au chocolat blanc :

1 feuille de gélatine

60 ml de crème

100 g de chocolat blanc

1 blanc d’œuf

Tremper la gélatine dans de l’eau froide pendant 4-5 minutes. Mettre la crème et le chocolat dans un bol et fondre au microonde à 400W (environ 1 minute). Incorporer la gélatine. Battre le blanc d’œuf en neige et incorporer délicatement au mélange. Verser sur la couche de mousse au chocolat au lait et laisser au frigo 30 minutes.

Au chocolat noir :

1 feuille de gélatine

3 cuillères à soupe de café fort

100 g de chocolat noir

50 g de beurre ramolli

1 jaune d’œuf

1 blanc d’œuf

Tremper la gélatine dans de l’eau froide pendant 4-5 minutes. Mettre le café et le chocolat dans un bol et fondre au microonde à 400W (environ 1 minute). Incorporer le beurre, le jaune d’œuf puis la gélatine. Battre le blanc d’œuf en neige et incorporer délicatement. Verser sur la couche de mousse au chocolat blanc et laisser au frigo 2 heures avant de servir.

Tabbouleh

If you’re looking for a change from your mundane pasta or potato salads, this Lebanese salad is very refreshing and easy to make. That’s significant in the middle of a canicule when you have no energy to cook!

 

Tabbouleh

1 ¼ cup (250 g) couscous grains

½ pound (250 g) tomatoes

1 onion

2 stems parsley

2 stems mint

¼ cup (50 ml) lemon juice

½ cup (1.2 dl) olive oil

1 cup (2.4 dl) water

Salt and Pepper to taste

Quarter the tomatoes and onion. Put them in a blender with the herbs and chop for a few seconds. Add the liquids, the couscous grains and seasoning. Mix well. Chill in the refrigerator over night.

Taboulé

250 g de semoule couscous

250 g de tomates

1 oignon

2 branches de persil

2 branches de menthe

50 ml de jus de citron

1,2 dl d’huile d’olive
2,4 dl d'eau

sel et poivre selon goût

Couper les tomates et l’oignon en morceaux. Placer-les dans le mixer avec les herbes et hacher quelques secondes. Ajouter les liquides, la semoule et l’assaisonnement puis bien mélanger. Laisser au frigo plusieurs heures avant de servir.

No Partiality

I spent a good portion of last weekend cooking for company. The thought, time, and care I put into Saturday’s meal was no different from Sunday’s meal. And why would it have been? Some might consider Saturday’s “company” less deserving. The young men at our table at lunch that day were spending time doing yard work for us to compensate for vandalizing our car a while back (they had the bad luck of getting caught by the police, but that’s another story). We didn’t know then from Adam. Our Sunday dinner guests were out-of-town visitors who stayed to eat after worship service. We didn’t know some of them from Adam either. The objective in both cases was to get to know each other, enjoy a good meal together, show Christian hospitality and hopefully have a positive impact.

Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas

This is a favorite summer dessert at our house. For these treats, no heating up the kitchen besides melting the chocolate, which practically melted at room temperature this past week!

Frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas

4-5 medium bananas

4 oz (120 g) milk chocolate

chopped nuts

skewers

Peel the bananas and put them on the skewers. Melt the chocolate on a plate in the microwave or over a bowl of hot water. Coat the bananas with chocolate then cover them with nuts. Lay the bananas on a small tray lined with foil. Freeze 2-3 hours.

Gazpacho

We’re experiencing a canicule (heat wave) here. Some of you who live in California or Texas might snicker at our 97 degrees, but let me remind you that we do not have air-conditioning. It’s down to 83 degrees inside our house this morning after a high of 88 last night! Needless to say, I will not be turning on my oven today or the stove if I can help it. This gazpacho is quite refreshing and requires no cooking at all.

Gazpacho

¾ of a cucumber

2 large tomatoes

1 medium onion

1 bell pepper

1 or 2 garlic cloves

2 slices (50 g) bread

1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Peel the cucumber and tomatoes. Chop all the vegetables. Put all ingredients in a blender and run on high until mixture is smooth. Add water if needed. Makes about 1 ¼ quart. Chill and serve cold.

Gaspacho

¾ concombre

2 grosses tomates

1 oignon

1 poivron

1 à 2 gousses d’ail

50 g de pain

80 ml d’huile d'olive

2 cuillères à soupe de vinaigre

1 cuillère à café de sel

Epelucher le concombre et les tomates. Couper tous les légumes en morceaux. Mettre tous les ingrédients dans un mixer. Mixer jusqu'à obtenir la consistance d'une soupe (1,2 lt). Servir très frais.