Mini Cherry Chocolate Mousses (low fat) and Dirty Bertie (FoodBuzz #7 6/10/11)

Diets are all well and good, and for the main part I have no trouble sticking to one once I get started. However, every now and again, it's nice to have a little of something nice - perhaps something chocolatey yet not too sweet.

I saw a recipe for a yoghurt based chocolate mousse served with fresh fruit in one of the food magazines a month or so ago. I cannot for the life of me remember which one and cannot find it now to be able to cross reference for you. Anyway, I've modified the original recipe somewhat and it looks much different from the original. It's easy and quick. You get a nice chocolate hit from the dark chocolate and the mousse - without it being over sweet. That said, I can't think of anything that beats a really luxurious mousse made with cream.

Even I could eat one (JUST ONE) of these without feeling guilty as my once a week special treat. The rest went into work and to nursery with Oliver for the teachers. Leaving them sat in our fridge would have been temptation overload and besides, one was just enough !

I decided to make some little fluted chocolate cases with our new 12 cell fluted tart mould. This silicone bakeware mould is now also available in a larger 6 cell size. These little filled shells would make an ideal canape type dessert to pass round on a tray at a party... or perhaps to serve three different combinations as a dinner party dessert. Each one is little more than two bites.

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate (for the shells) (plus extra for seeding)

150g dark chocolate

8 tablespoons greek yoghurt

3 large egg whites

2 tablespoons powdered (icing) sugar

12 cherries

2 to 3 tablespoons of cherry preserve

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. I like to boil some water, pour in a saucepan and simply place the broken chocolate in a glass bowl above the water until melted.  Remove the bowl from the saucepan and stir in some broken pieces of chocolate to the melted chocolate  until no more will melt. This procedure is called "seeding" and is a method of tempering chocolate to prevent the white mildew looking marks when the cocoa butter separates.

Using the back of a teaspoon, coat the inside of the 12 fluted mini tart mould with the chocolate. Refrigerate to harden and then repeat.

To make the mousse, melt the remaining chocolate and allow to cool.

Whip the egg whites with the (sieved) icing sugar until they reach firm peaks.

Stir the yoghurt into the chocolate and combine well, then fold in the egg whites using a metal spoon.

Put 1/2 to 1tsp of cherry preserve in the bottom of each chocolate shell and then top with some mousse. Refrigerate to set and then decorate with some chocolate curls and cherries. The little flowers on top of some of mine are made from modelling chocolate left over from making the chocolate roses in an earlier blog post.

Product description  as copied from Amazon  : 

Review

"combines a wicked sense of humour and wacky illustrations... Children will laugh out loud" Booktrusted News

Product Description

Bertie has shockingly dirty habits, from nose-picking to weeing on the flowerbed! Whenever he does anything dirty, Bertie's family shouts "No, Bertie! That's dirty, Bertie!". Will Bertie ever kick his horrible habits?

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in the doctor's surgery with Oliver whilst we waited on my husband to be seen. There were about 7 or 8 people all sitting waiting to be seen (at a guess all 70yo +).

Oliver was the centre of attention and they were all sitting watching him play on the floor with a little toy car h had brought with him. In fact, many were being incorporated in his play and the car was zooming between feet. Had it been busy, I'd have had him say up nicely on a chair - but from the moment we had gone in he was the sole source of entertainment and bringing quite a number of smiles to some elderly people.

Anyway, eventually the car is no longer proving a distraction and Oliver decides he wants to read a book. The kiddies books in the doctors surgery are in pretty dire condition and falling to bits after many years of use. I was rather surprised when he came back from the little library area with an almost brand new looking book.... DIRTY BERTIE.

By this point, my husband is in with the doctor (prior to recently being admitted to hospital). 

Oliver : " I like this book Mummy, it's Mrs Butcher's favourite !" (Mrs Butcher is his nursery class teacher)/

Oliver climbs up on my knee with the book. "Read it out loud Mummy. The old man will like this story".

Little did I know what was in store as I start reading the first page. "Louder Mummy - we can't hear you ...."

So, I start reading a bit louder. Comments from the other patients waiting indicated they did indeed want to hear the story too !

Every page that turned, the more Oliver giggled, the more the patients giggled and the redder my face got. I'm not kidding - this is one hideously embarrassing book to read in public to a small child. I swear someone put that in the doctor's surgery out of pure spite. 

By 3/4 of the way through, I couldn't read it without laughing from sheer embarrassment about the vile habits of Dirty Bertie. Just when you think the worst is over .... the last page is something like....

"But Bertie does not do these horrid things any more. He's usually a good boy. However, when no one is looking, Bertie picks huge green bogies out his nose, puts them in his mouth and EATS THEM"

I suppose it made a few people laugh... but I was NOT amused when Oliver came back with another Dirty Bertie book - after having read that one. Your children will no doubt find this book hilarious - but I'd seriously recommend avoiding reading this one in public !

Sarah-Jane Nash, October 2011 - www.siliconemoulds.com