This super rich chocolate cake was one of the best indulgences I've ever had. At the same time it was so heavy that I didn't even need to eat dinner. The recipe is still being made in moderation but at the same time I wouldn't want my lovely people to miss out on something this grand. I shared it with my roommates, and they loved it. Simple as that.
Ingredients
1. 400 grams of 70% Dark Chocolate
2. 400 mL's of heavy cream
3. 8 pieces of gram crackers
4. 1/2 cup of butter
5. 2 tablespoons of sugar
6. Powdered Sugar for garnish
Prep Time: 2 - 5 Min
Cook Time: 5 min
Refrigerator Time: 1 - 2 hours
Directions
1. Break up your gram crackers into pieces and put it in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor I suggest you put the crackers in a bag or some cloth and bang the crap out of it until they're all into little chunks; here, i'm using a food processor. Throw in your melted butter and sugar. Blitz.
2. Once all the crumbles, butter, and sugar is mixed well together. Get your cake tin and just pour your mixture over it. Press it down towards the tin and make a nice layer. You're basically making the crust for your gateau.
3. You wanna start by making a ban marie, get a pot of bowling water and then put a bowl on top of that. You wanna start putting in your chocolate in the smaller bowl. This way, you're melting the chocolate with indirect heat so it's much safer. Also I'm using a 9" inch cake tin, so if you have a 4 inch cake tin; divide all the ingredient amounts by 2. So melt your chocolate all the way.
4. In another boiling pot, heat up your cream until it reaches boiling point. At this stage, just combine your cream and chocolate. Mix well together. You can also throw in a small amount of butter to give it a shine. I threw in some mint leaves instead to try and cut the richness....but there was too much chocolate.
5. Once you're done mixing. Pour your chocolate mixture over your crust. At this point, the crust should be set right now. Once you've poured it all into your cake tin, make sure to tap the bottom so that everything evens out. Set it in the fridge for 1 to 3 hours and then you can serve!
Garnish it up with some powdered sugar, and I tell you, it is one of the most delicious and best things you can ever make. It's super easy and you can def impress your friends with it.
ITS DA SHO SIMPLE
A souffle is a lightly baked cake that's rich and moist on the inside. It's served as a savory main dish or sweetened for dessert. Today I decided to make a sweetened version combining the flavor compounds of chocolate and passion fruit. This was the best chocolate and passion fruit indulgence I've ever had the fun of making AND eating. This wasn't my first time making a souffle, but it was definitely my first time making a chocolate and passion fruit souffle. There aren't a lot of recipes out there when you're trying to serve 2 people; so I had to guess on the amount of ingredients, and what do you know...it turned out amazing! If you want to serve 4 guests or 6, just multiply the amount of ingredients by 2 or 3.
Ingredients
1. 40 grams of 70 % chocolate
2. 2 eggs
3. 1 TB spoon + 2 tspns of butter
4. 1 TB spoon + 2 tspns of flour
5. 1/4 cup of milk
6. 1/4 cup of sugar
Powdered sugar to garnish
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 17 min
Directions
1. I had a 10 oz ramekin but you can also use two 8 oz ramekins and it'll be plenty. Melt down your butter and combine it with your flour. On a low - medium heat, mix it well together until it looks somewhat like a paste. Set that aside, you don't want to over cook it. Next melt your chocolate over a bain marie. Combine together until it becomes a homogeneous mixture.
2. Throw in your egg yolks and mix it in with the chocolate paste mixture. Next get your egg whites and whisk. You can use a electric mixer to speed up the process. Once it turns into a foamy white, throw in half of your sugar. Wait 10 seconds and then throw in the rest of your sugar. Whisk/Mix until they form streaks or soft peaks.
3. Throw in 1/3 of your egg whites and mix it well with your chocolate paste. Don't worry about the folding part. Just mix it well enough with the 1/3 of the egg whites. Now you can throw in the rest of your egg whites and fold it in. Throwing in the 1/3 of the egg whites helps change the texture of the paste, making it a bit easier to fold when you're throwing in the remaining 2/3's. Fold in gently until it becomes homogeneous.
4. Brush your two 8 oz ramekins with butter. Brush up ways having vertical streaks. If you don't have a brush like me, just grab a chunk of butter and rubbadubdub. Get some sugar or cocoa powder and line the ramekin. Once you're done with that fill the ramekins with your souffle mixture. Make sure to bang the bottom of it so it can reach the bottom. Sometimes, air gets trapped within the middle of the ramekin so by banging it, you're doing it a favor. Fill it all the way, get a knife and level it. Clean the sides so that it rises evenly.
5. Bake the Souffle mixture at 375 Fahrenheit for 17 minutes. If you're using a 10 oz ramekin, bake it for 18 to 20 minutes. Once it's poofed up, take it out and garnish that delicious baby with some powdered sugar. Serve it while its hot. If you got some Creme anglaise sauce on you, pour that baby in and just dig in. It is so rich and moist. Light and fluffy. It's a bit hard to describe, but it's one of the best things to indulge on when you're a chef. I absolutely love it. Make it for your special person, or if you're like me, just all to yourself. enjoy.
Delicious
This was my first time working with mussels...EVER. I"m glad I had a friend from the seafood department give me some advice. So what I learned was that when buying fresh mussels/clams, to store it you'd want to put it over a bath of ice. Fresh mussels usually last a good 2 days in the fridge. If you see any open ones, immediately throw them out, otherwise you might end up with food poisoning or other harmful effects. I wanted to make this go with a pasta dish but...I ended up screwing up the pasta dough so I decided not to use it LOL alright lets go.
Ingredients
1. 1/2 a pound of Black Mussels
2. 5 or 6 Cherry Tomatoes
3. 1 cup of White Wine
4. 3 cloves of Garlic
5. 1 or 2 Red Chili peppers
6. Parsley
7. Capers
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Directions
1. Mince up your garlic and chop your chili. Get a pan and heat it up on medium heat. Add your olive oil and sweat out your garlic and chili for a good 2 to 3 minutes. Chop your cherry tomatoes in half and throw them in. Chop up your parsley as well and throw that in.
2. De-glaze your pan with your cup of white wine, now add your mussels and let them steam for a good 5 minutes or at least once they're open. Make sure when you throw them in the pan that they're all closed. NEVER THROW IN OPEN MUSSELS. You don't want to over steam them other wise they get a rubbery texture.
3. This is optional but if you want to add cream and make it sorta like clam chowder that works too. Just make sure when you finish steaming the mussels immediately add in your 1 cup of cream and give it a mix and bring it to whatever consistency you want it to be. And now you're ready to serve!
Fast. Super Easy. Delicious
