Chocolate mousse
Inspiration
I often used to make chocolate mousse for dessert in England, but I don't remember trying here in Switzerland, at least not recently. But when I was in need of a nice dessert recipe for a special meal, I recreated it, using Delia Smith as my reference.
Ingredients
2 200-gram bars dark chocolate broken into pieces
120 ml. warm water or orange juice
4 eggs, separated
40 g. caster sugar
orange zest
1 tbsp. Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
Serves 4
Method
Place the chocolate pieces in a large bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add a little warm water to loosen. Wait for the chocolate to melt completely before removing the bowl from the heat. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.
Lightly beat the egg yolks and add the orange zest and liqueur. Add to the cooled chocolate and stir in gently. Whisk the egg whites in a mixer on full power, and when it peaks, add the caster sugar a little at a time. It should become glossy.
Using a metal spoon, add one spoonful of the whisked egg white mixture to the chocolate. Fold in. Continue to add the egg whites until they are fully integrated in the chocolate mixture, being careful to retain the air.
Divide the mousse between four glasses or ramekins and chill for about two hours. Enjoy!
Fruit crumble
Inspiration
We often make this popular British pudding as it's so easy. Any fruits in season can be used. Our family favourites are rhubarb, apple or raspberry. Laura published her Quick and Easy Raspberry Crumble in the IPSZ Cookbook of 1995, which is a well-thumbed favourite on our recipe bookshelf. In fact it's falling apart!
Ingredients
1 packet frozen raspberries or approx. 250 grams fresh raspberries, rhubarb, apples etc
60 g. sugar for the fruit (rhubarb may need more)
200 g. plain flour
100 g. butter at room temperature
70 g. sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
Greek yogurt or cream to serve
Method
If using apples or rhubarb, peel and chop the fruit and cook for 5 minutes with 60 g. sugar until starting to soften. Rhubarb may need a little more sugar. Put the fruit and sugar into an ovenproof dish. To make the crumble topping, sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the butter cut into pieces. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the 70 g. sugar and cinnamon. Pour the crumble mixture over the fruit and bake in a hot oven (180 degrees) for 30 minutes (or microwave on high for 5 minutes).
Serve with Greek yogurt or cream.
Sweet pancakes
See recipe for Savoury pancakes in Main Dishes section.
Heidi's fruit tart or Wähe
Inspiration
Heidi Rippmann often cooks apricot tarts for potluck lunches and they are always popular. She considers them to be a main course rather than an afterthought!
Ingredients
1 packet round short-crust pastry
Fresh or frozen apricots (or other fruit in season, eg. rhubarb, apples or damsons)
Brown sugar to taste
Cinnamon
For the custard:
2 eggs
1 small pack single cream
Vanilla essence
Sugar
Method
It's very easy. I buy a round biological
Kuchenteig at Migros, or if we are just 2, a small ready made Kuchenteig in a
Backschale. I put either fresh apricots or frozen ones (important, they have to
be still frozen, otherwise they taste like nothing) onto the Teig or dough (NO nuts) and
season with brown sugar and cinnamon. The Guss (custard) is 2 eggs and 1 Bio Halbrahm for
the large Wähe, or 1/2 of that for the small one, seasoned with Vanille Paste (M)
and liquid Assugrin or sugar. Preheat the oven to 200° (or 180 in a fan oven), prepare the Wähe and
put it into the oven, that's all. No complicated blind baking. When it looks
nice and brown, it's ready, it takes about 1/2 hour. It's my standard recipe
for apples/rhubarb/Zwetschgen.... I squeeze as much fruit as possible onto the
dough and just sprinkle a bit of sugar over it. For the small Wähe, you can use
1 egg (I always take the best I can find, fresh from a farm..) and an small UHT Halbrahm (1,25 dl
?) Migros sells 3 in a package. It's so practical, one can keep it for weeks,
and the frozen fruit as well. My husband loves his fruit Wähe with icecream!
