Monday, October 31, 2011

No Fuss Chocolate Mousse and a Giveaway

I used to be quite the expert at making chocolate mousse from scratch; dishing out smooth, velvety scoops of delicious goodness! Till I started reading about the dangers of consuming raw eggs especially for children. So I stopped.....

Recently I started dreaming of a spoonful of chocolate heaven again but didn't want to go down the gelatine route either. There were recipes with cream and agar but frankly with the thin cream we get here (no double whipped) I was very doubtful of its ability to set well. That's when I remembered seeing a recipe in Nigella's book. Yes - it was very much there and used marshmallows.

So I tried the recipe and it was a very easy and fabulous tasting one. The mousse turned out silken smooth and with no fuss at all! I made these for a dinner with friends during Navratri and served them in shot glasses as well as these antique glasses (antique - because they are 40 years old, my Dad got them from Japan when he was posted there!). The kids had a whale of a time licking the ends of the shot glasses which they couldn't reach with their spoons!

My blog is now 4 years old!! Only apt that I celebrate with a chocolate dessert since I began this blog with another delicious chocolate dessert. Thanks to all my readers and especially the people who take time to comment and mail me - its your interest which inspires me to blog about my cooking efforts.

And because I love y'all so much and to thank you for your support, I am hosting a GiveAway on my blog this month. For my Indian readers, I have The Mainland China Cookbook by Anjan Chatterjee to give away. The book will be sent to the lucky winner through Flipkart.

 This is one of my favourite restaurants and they have an amazing spread, not to mention some great customer service from a warm and welcoming staff. I have eaten in their restaurants in Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai and enjoyed most meals. The book has recipes for all their signature dishes - Crackling Spinach, Lotus Leaf Wrapped Rice, Lamb Stir Fry, Stir Fried Chinese Greens, Shao Xiang Chicken with Cashews and Chillies, Spring Onion Pancakes - in a crisp and clean format which makes the recipes easy to replicate in your own home.

For my readers outside India - I am giving away one copy of Anjum Anand's new book "I Love Curry" - a lovely collection of Indian recipes (not only curries but also sides, raitas, breads, salads and rice) with a contemporary twist to them. Anjum Anand is the host of Indian Food Made Easy and I love her effortless style and how she breaks down Indian cooking to show the depth and variety the cuisine has to offer without making it seem too complicated and preachy. The book will be sent to the lucky winner via Amazon.


So from Nov 1 to Nov 15th, 2011 - to participate in the Giveaway:
1. Leave a comment with your email id and place of residence
2. Tell me what's your favourite recipe on the blog
3. Share with me the dishes / cuisine you would like to see more of, on Peppermill




Chocolate Mousse
(serves 12-14)

Marshmallows - 200gms chopped into smaller pieces
Butter - 100 gms
Dark Chocolate - 400gms
Cream - 300gms
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
  1. Take a heavy pan and put in the chopped marshmallows, butter and chocolate (I had a packet which was a mix of white and pink marshmallows!) Chop the marshmallows else it takes a lot of time to melt.
2. Heat the pan over a low flame, stirring now and then till melted and comes together.Don't overheat or it might get clumpy. Remove from heat and keep aside.
    3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla essence until a little thick, and then fold into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture - it should be a nice, smooth mixture.
   4. Spoon into 12-14 shot glasses - about 3-4 tbsp in each. Refrigerate till it sets and then serve.

27 comments:

Priya Suresh said...

Very tempting and irresistible mousse, Wat a fabulous giveaway..

sra said...

Those shot glasses and mousse look v stylish. You've set off a chocolate craving in me now! Congrats on your fourth anniversary! (Not here for the giveaway.)

Archana said...

Hey Miri, Congratulations !! 4 years is a big milestone :)
Favourite recipe on your blog is definitely that egg biryani, its a favourite at home now
Love the variety of recipes on your blog, just keep it coming girl !

Vandy said...

This I shall try for sure...

Also, i must send you my version of the rum n raisin dark chocolate fudge (if i can even recall what I did)..my computer crashed taking away with it my recipe..

I love your giveaway :)

ns said...

what a GREAT recipe! i always look for eggless too since i'm not a fan of raw eggs anymore [ not after filming in a poultry farm!!!]

aaaaaaaaand i lurve the give away - both!

Fave recipe is a toss u between the rave kichdi-kathrikai gotsu and bring - I'd love to see more of your MIL's recipes - the vadai curry is a winner! can't stop salivating when i think of it...and my city is Bangalore, India

Malini Nambiar said...

Your recipe on 'Rasam powder' got me on the good side of my mom-in-law. I too discovered the difference in cooking with fresh, home ground 'masala's'.
Thank you and congratulations on completing 4 years. Keep writing and inspiring us young cooks : )
__Malini (Delhi, India)

Krishna said...

4 yrs! 'n many more to come.... :)

fav recipe's - the gujju kadhi, stew appam, orange date cake, etc etc

wishlist - keep em coming, more the merrier, veggie is a personal bias

keep cooking 'n writing

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

absolutely stunning mousse...
very interesting giveaway..;)

Tasty Appetite

Shobana said...

Yay Razi! Congrats on your four-year milestone! :) And what better way to celebrate than with chocolate!
Interesting that you heat the choc+marshmallows straight on the fire....hmmm...and the limp cream we get when whipped with vanilla gets better??.....will give this a shot for sure! :)

Nupur said...

Happy blog birthday and wishing you many more!

My favorite recipe on your blog is the Tamil style chicken curry which I make as a mushroom or egg curry- so tasty. There are a bunch of other recipes I hope to try too, someday :)

I'd love to see more easy vegetarian regional recipes!

onehotstove AT gmail DOT com from St. Louis, USA.

euroindo said...

You have such wonderful recipes! If I had to narrow it down, I would have to say my favorite recipe is the Burmese Khow Suey, it never fails to please!

I used to live in Delhi and may be returning soon again, which makes me interested in where you purchase your food (your favorite places) particularly when you require more speciality items.

tsarin@gmail.com from Oslo, Norway

Raks said...

Choco mousse with marsh mellows looks sinfully delicious! Nice recipe and Congrats on reaching the milestone!

Sarah enigmaticsarah@gmail.com said...

Happy 4th anniversary miri! just really absolutely adore your blog and hope you continue writing and inspiring novices like me. I do follow a couple of other blogs regularly but yours till date is the only one where I felt the urge to write to you separately and introduce myself :) some karmic connection I suppose.:)

I like your easy style of writing plus the fact you have a delectable collection of both traditional indian+ classy non indian stuff. personal fav till date which has become a regular at home is your salem biriyani.

Well good luck and cheers to many more years of this success story!

Panchamrutham said...

lovely recipe...

http://www.panchamrutham.blogspot.com/

Swati Sapna said...

Hey Miri! I discovered ur blog just a few days ago... Love ur pen name! Miriyalu is black peppers in Telugu. And I can see you have lots of south-Indian dishes on ur blog.
Congratulations on ur 4th anniversary... Have been browsing thru quite a few of ur recipes and my favorite one, the one i'm dying to try right away, is the Lemon Coriander Chicken with the Coconut Mango sauce. What an intriguing blend of flavours!!!
I live in Mumbai, India.
And would love to see more desserts on ur blog... similar to this amazing chocolate mousse!!

Vaishali said...

Miri, Happy anniversary-- we are almost blog twins, because I also celebrate my fourth anniversary this month. :)
It's hard to come up with one recipe I love on your blog, so I'll name at least two I really, really love and have been wanting to try: your brinji and your vegetable ishtoo. Incidentally, I made Anjum Anand's version of the stew not long ago-- am excited you're giving away the book. Fingers crossed!

Vaishali said...

I forgot to leave my email: myveganworld@gmail.com.

Such said...

Congratulations on 4 years of blogging! So proud of you :) And thanks for introducing me to food blooging (only reading/veiwing as of now).
Love the Burmese Khow Suey recipe, one of my favourite dishes too and not very easily available at restaurants in Mumbai.
Look forward to many more interesting recipes from you.

swoop said...

congrats on 4 years...Our favorite recipe from ur blog is Kale Chanechi Amti ....I have a story i should tell u....My sister in law was pregnant and had come to my place....and she had all these weird cravings.....the worst thing was she had lost her mom in law just a few months before to cancer and her mom and she weren't close at all...She had no one to really pamper her and fulfill her cravings.... she asked me if i could make chana for her and i did and she literally ate the whole thing....i still call her channa queen ...so thanks for the recipe

raga, Riverside, California

Bong Mom said...

Happy 4th bloggie birthday Miri. It has been a pleasure knowing you over the years. Made your Veg Biryani this week, it is on my blog today.We loved it. Thank You.

Bhavani said...

Hey R! Gorgeous recipe...i was not able to create a good mousse..will give it a shot with marshmallow now.

I love your breads the best..rosemary garlic one..i never manage to get mine to be as good as yours looks though :-)

Bhavani, from Singapore

Bhavani said...

Hey R! Congrats on the 4 years! S gave me your blog URL and I am one regular, even though i have rarely left comments! So proud of your 4 year achievement.
Love your bread recipes the best- mine never turn out as divine as yours look, though :-)
Bhavani, from Singapore

Arpana said...

Congratulations Raji! This milestone also marks the years I have known you for. Seems just like yesterday, that we met....but I know how enriched our lives our by your presence in it.....could not have asked for a more caring friend! Thanks to you and your blog....my knowledge on food has grown....my always go to person and blog! For the benefit of others,I would like to add that I am the most fortunate because I have had the good luck of tasting a lot of the recipes posted here :)

My favourites are the sideish, which I have tried with fish once; and the chocolate brownie, which gave me the confidence to actually do a dessert on my own for a party!

Thank you for everything! Keep posting.

Anonymous said...

RAji. I like the sound of this recipe and will try it out when I next buy marshmallows.
Email is swanscot at fastmail dot net.

I'm not sure about the favourite recipe as I've tried many over the years, but the one I make most often is your Aubergine and Tofu bake - although I've adapted sometimes and made it without tofu.

As to what I'd like to see on your blog - I like to try new vegan dishes, either savoury or sweet.

Lael said...

I love your blog, miri. I share it on my blog and on Facebook. I drool over all the lentil recipes and the ones with chickpeas. I am thinking of trying one of your latest recipes, the Chocolate Mousse. That I would have to bring to work. Couldn't leave that home alone with me.

Oh, and I love curry:)

Reinee said...

Hello hello! I finally logged on and I,m here most certainly for the prize. What I look forward to the most is my every Sunday breakfast with you. Breakfast in my house is most boring but you have something interesting for me every Sunday. How can I thank you for them other than landing up shamelessly every Sunday.

And thanks to you I have started cooking again and Try out something new all the time.

But my best part of all the recipes that we share is when we did our cooking holiday together in satpura. That is something I shall remember and cherish for years to come.

Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Doesn't marshmallows anyway contain gelatin?