A few weeks ago, I had posted a live video of Rasha trying to help me with this mousse on my personal FB timeline. From then on, I received a few requests for the recipe that she tried, or she started to try and then left in the middle, I must say! 😉 I was not intending to do this recipe any earlier on the blog, but then, I thought, since the video had gone live, why don’t I use the opportunity of making this post appear earlier, in the form of a book review? 🙂
Today’s book for review is “Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook 200 Delicious Desserts”, written by Sara Lewis, printed by Octopus Books, UK. This book is a part of a collection of books with 2oo recipes. This was one of the books that HD picked up for me from this year’s Sharjah Book Fair while he was browsing for books for the kids. Knowing how much I love to make and have desserts, it was an obvious choice for him. If I was in his place, I wouldn’t have picked up the book. Not because the book is not interesting – it has a lot of options for desserts for sure, but somehow I love books which have a variety of recipes from savory to sweet. Somewhat, only sweet makes me feel a bit off these days. I don’t know, maybe there is a little shift in my preferences as I grow older. 😉 But no, I am not going to change the name of my blog, for sure! 😀 I am still “The Big Sweet Tooth”! 😀
Just looking at the book will give you a feel of how colorful it is! The book claims to have sold more than 5 million copies. The recipes are divided among five sections – winter warmers, pastries-pies-tarts, deliciously decadent, chilled out and last-minute quickies. The book begins with an interesting introduction regarding whipping, folding, how to work with meringues, how to do pies, and a basic recipe for a flaky pastry and sweet pastry. Some of the recipes that really caught my attention were Lemon Puddle Pudding, Macademia Vanilla Tart, Coffee Latte Custards, Hazelnut and Pear Roulade and Grilled Strawberry Zabaglione. Each recipe comes with a beautiful and colorful picture, giving you an idea about how your final dessert will look like. Actually the pictures are so tempting that the girls have folded almost the whole book wanting me to make them! Most of the recipes use ingredients that are readily available in your pantry, so you can use the book for your out-of-the-blue dessert cravings. 🙂 However, there are not many eggless or vegan recipes in the book, so that can be a disadvantage. Most of the recipes do use a lot of eggs, so even replacing them is not an option.
Even though making chocolate mousse has been on my list for quite long, the thought of using uncooked egg whites just puts me off. From the time the book is in the house, Rasha had been pulling up this page and wanting me to make it, and I was literally shooing her off! But then finally during one weekend, I just couldn’t say no, since we were not going out anywhere and I was really bored, wanting to do something. That is when both of us got making it. The Iced Chocolate Mousse is a normal chocolate mousse, but instead of it being set in the fridge, it is set in the freezer. Once it is made, you keep it out on your counter top for around 15 minutes before you start eating it. It looks like a mix of mousse and ice cream then. 🙂 Not to say, it was an amazing dessert. I didn’t make any change to the recipe I used, just used honey instead of liquid glucose, and it was perfect! The best part of this recipe is that there is no sugar at all! The book said 6 servings, I set it in 4 cups as above and it was a little more of a single portion, so I would stick to what the book says. 🙂 Off to the recipe… Hope you have liked this book review, do let me know of any feedback to improve or add more value!
Iced Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 200 gm dark chocolate I used 71%
- 15 gm butter
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp orange juice
- 3 eggs separated
- 200 ml whipping cream
- Chocolate for serving
Instructions
- Melt the dark chocolate and butter.
- Whisk in the honey and orange juice till well combined.
- Whisk in one egg yolk at a time, mixing very well after each addition, making sure that the eggs don't get scrambled.
- Once all the egg yolks are added, allow the mixture to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, in a neat bowl, whisk the egg whites till soft peaks.
- In another bowl, whip the cream till soft peaks.
- Once the chocolate mixture cools, fold the cream, then the egg whites till well combined.
- Pour into 6 moulds and leave in the freezer till set.
- Before serving, leave it on the countertop for 15 minutes, and then serve with crushed chocolate on top!
First beautiful pictures Rafee!! Love the top angle shot!!
Mousse looks delicious and the garnish looks awesome!!
Nice review of the book!!
Thank you so much Priya…
Wow… this is totally new.. love desserts that are cold … n this looks absolutely divine ????????
Thank you so much Niloufer… 🙂
It just dawned on me this morning that tonight is new year eve. Though there seems to be zero celebration vibe around here your this post is making me want to do something tonight to welcome a brand new year. I too have always out off making this due to the raw egg white used… ????Hope to try sometime! I pray that you have a splendid year! Muah!
Here, they will declare New Year at least one week in advance and everybody is all hyped up about it… hehe… Thank you so much Fami… 🙂 <3
It turned out simply perfect!
Thanks a lot Angie…
Happy New Year Rafee 🙂 That is one perfect dessert .. Lovely texture!!
Thank you so much Sharmila… 🙂
I don’t like using eggs either but this sure looks delicious. That book looks most tempting! I love the thought of a picture accompanying each recipe. The recipe you have chosen is just right for a year-ending one. Happy New Year!!
Thank you so much Kanak…
Yumm! Great way to end and start with a sweet. Happy new year <3
Thank you so much Priya…
This mousse looks amazing ..Love these cute forks ..
Thanks a lot Gloria…
Looks like an interesting book. The mousse looks very inviting!!
Thanks a lot Beulah…
I love that this creamy mousse is frozen. YUM
Thanks a lot Wendy…
Thanks so much for stopping by and linking this delicious looking dessert on First Monday Favorites. I do love a nice Chocolate Mousse. Hope you’ll stop by next month as well.
Thank you so much Sid…
OMG! This sounds absolutely decadent in the best possible way! I now will have to check the 200 recipe book, you made me way too curious about it
but this “frozen-iced’ mousse? WOW!
Thank you so much Sally…
Such a pretty dessert ….looks yum too.. And that book seems to have a lot of yum recipes…nice
Thank you so much Anupa…
What a beautiful dessert! I like the use of honey.
Thanks a lot Lauren…
Looks so delicious! Loved your clicks and those cute props 🙂
Thank you so much Ruxana… 🙂
can we replace egg with something else?
Hi Kanya, mousse is always made with eggs, but if you don’t use eggs, you can try replacing with whipping cream.