Almond Keto Cake
Thick Chocolate Mousse & Basil Cream
I love Basil. It’s such a sensory herb, with the ability to transport you to just about anywhere – usually in Italy.
I also love chocolate, and one of my favourite memories is from my honeymoon, some 10 and a bit years ago, where we spent time backpacking through Italy, from Sorento through to Bergamo. Our last night was in a hotel in Turin, and by the time we got there we were pretty worn out. The 4-star hotel had an amazing jacuzzi in the bathroom, and with promises to return one day, we didn’t venture further than the cafe on the corner.
This particular cafe, however, had a delicious selection of home made chocolates and ice cream, and I fell in love with the combination of Basil and Chocolate. No, it’s not one you come across often, but it works – trust me, it works.
I recently agreed to participate in a challenge where I had to come up with a recipe that speaks to the taste of Italy, and I can’t think of much that speaks of Italy like Basil does, so here is my contribution: Chocolate Mousse with Basil Cream – and here is my advice: don’t knock it till you try it!
This is an incredibly rich mousse. We had two people (including two children) sharing the two ice cream bowls of mousse & cream in the pictures, and it was still a lot. So it’s a great sharers dish.
We hope you love the Chocolate Mousse & Basil Cream as much as we do!
Easy French Chocolate Mousse - Kids In The Kitchen
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serve with home made clotted cream, strawberries & mint leaves!
Author: Luschka
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 335g double cream
- 10 fresh basil leaves
- 15g icing sugar
- 150g chocolate
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Basil Cream
- In a sealable container, add 200g cream and whole basil leaves together.
- Cover and put in the fridge for 5 hours. After that time, remove the basil leaves and discard
- Add the icing sugar to the cream and whisk to stiff peaks. (I find it easiest here to transfer into a piping bag, and set aside.
Regular Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave, on a double boiler, in a bowl nestled inside a pot on the stove top (making sure not to get any water in) or however you normally melt chocolate.
- While it's melting, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the sugar slowly as you whisk, then put the egg whites in the fridge.
- Next, whisk the cream to stiff peaks, and place in the fridge.
- Finally, in a large bowl add the vanilla extract to the egg yolks and mix until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate slowly in to the egg yolks, stirring all the time.
- Next, add the cream to the egg and chocolate mix, and stir till it's all combined.
- Finally fold in the egg whites. Do not beat, whisk or over stir this as doing so will cause the mousse to collapse. Follow instructions below for combining.
Thermomix® Instructions
- These instructions are for one bowl. If you have two, melt the chocolate in one and do the whisking in the other.
- Place the egg whites and sugar in the Thermomix® bowl and whisk with the butterfly speed 4 about 1 minute. Keep an eye on it - the freshness of your eggs and the temperature will affect how long you need to whisk this for, and you don't want it to collapse again, so just stop when you reach stiff peaks.
- Scoop into a bowl and set aside in the fridge
- Wash out the bowl and dry thoroughly.
- Pour the cream in and add the butterfly again. Whisk the cream for about 30 seconds/speed 4. Again, keep an eye on it - freshness of cream and starting temperature of cream will affect how long it needs to be whisked for. You don't want butter!
- Set aside the cream, and wash and dry the bowl.
- Add the chocolate to the Thermomix® bowl and chop speed 5, 10 seconds.
- Heat to 50C/Speed 2/ 3 minutes. Meanwhile in a large bowl, mix the egg yolk and vanilla extract and stir to combine. When the chocolate is melted pour in a thin stream whisking together. (Don't pour the egg into the hot chocolate or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.)
- Add the cream to the bowl, whisking to combine.
- Finally, add the egg whites and gently fold them in. If you whisk or stir too vigorously you'll knock all the air out of the egg whites and your mousse will fall flat.
To Finish
- Smaller ramekins or glasses are better for this desert as it is very rich.
- Place a layer of chocolate mousse in your serving dish and flatten out.
- Next you need a layer of basil. I find piping it around the edges first then in through the centre the easiest, before adding a final layer of chocolate. If you're confident in your piping skills, pipe a pattern of the basil cream on top - I messed it up first time, so scooped it up again, hence mine looks a bit chocolatey.
- You can serve it immediately for a light and fluffy mousse, but it's equally delicious, if a bit denser and less airy a few hours later.
Easy French Chocolate Mousse – Kids In The Kitchen
We’re still learning about France this week, and another recipe from the France: Food and Celebrations* book that we’ve been using that we just had to try is the Chocolate Mousse. According to the Frenchling in this book, this dessert is only for special ocassions, but a great thing about it is that it’s really simple to make.
I think if you have two Thermomix® bowls this is the simplest recipe in the world. I just have the one and it’s still dead simple, just requires a bit of a wash inbetween.
Of course I am trying to teach the kids to cook without the Thermomix® too, so there’s a bit of ‘elbow grease’ required in three sets of whisking, but that’s good for them too. They used the Annabel Karmel Casdon Baking Set which has a fabulous bowl and whisk, perfectly child sized and very effective in whisking.
I had each girl responsible for her own whisking ingredients while I did the chocolate, but managing kids whisking liquids doesn’t leave much time for photo taking!
The original recipe calls for three hours in the fridge, but I’m not convinced by that. After an hour the mouse was almost more of a pudding, whereas initially upon finishing it, I couldn’t resist tucking in a little had to perform a taste test and it was very light and airy.
You can add flavoured chocolate to this to make a flavoured mousse – mint, orange, strawberry, whatever you like. I used dark chocolate in this recipe.
Easy French Chocolate Mousse - Kids In The Kitchen
Prep time
Total time
Serve with home made clotted cream, strawberries & mint leaves!
Author: Luschka
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Serves: 3
Ingredients
- 150g chocolate
- 2 large eggs, seperated
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 125g (125ml) whipping cream or double cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- fruit and cream to serve
Instructions
Regular Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave, on a double boiler, in a bowl nestled inside a pot on the stove top (making sure not to get any water in) or however you normally melt chocolate.
- While it's melting, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks, adding the sugar slowly as you whisk, then put the egg whites in the fridge.
- Next, whisk the cream to stiff peaks, and place in the fridge.
- Finally, in a large bowl add the vanilla extract to the egg yolks and mix until smooth. Pour the melted chocolate slowly in to the egg yolks, stirring all the time.
- Next, add the cream to the egg and chocolate mix, and stir till it's all combined.
- Finally fold in the egg whites. Do not beat, whisk or over stir this as doing so will cause the mousse to collapse.
- Once combined, dish into serving dishes and place in the fridge for 1 - 3 hours to set.
- Top with strawberries, mint leaves and cream for a luxurious finish.
Thermomix® Instructions
- These instructions are for one bowl. If you have two, melt the chocolate in one and do the whisking in the other.
- Place the egg whites and sugar in the Thermomix® bowl and whisk with the butterfly speed 4 about 1 minute. Keep an eye on it - the freshness of your eggs and the temperature will affect how long you need to whisk this for, and you don't want it to collapse again, so just stop when you reach stiff peaks.
- Scoop into a bowl and set aside in the fridge
- Wash out the bowl and dry thoroughly.
- Pour the cream in and add the butterfly again. Whisk the cream for about 30 seconds/speed 4. Again, keep an eye on it - freshness of cream and starting temperature of cream will affect how long it needs to be whisked for. You don't want butter!
- Set aside the cream, and wash and dry the bowl.
- Add the chocolate to the Thermomix® bowl and chop speed 5, 10 seconds.
- Heat to 50C/Speed 2/ 3 minutes. Meanwhile in a large bowl, mix the egg yolk and vanilla extract and stir to combine. When the chocolate is melted pour in a thin stream whisking together. (Don't pour the egg into the hot chocolate or you'll end up with scrambled eggs.)
- Add the cream to the bowl, whisking to combine.
- Finally, add the egg whites and gently fold them in. If you whisk or stir too vigorously you'll knock all the air out of the egg whites and your mousse will fall flat.
- Once combined, move to your serving dishes and refrigerate for 1 - 3 hours.
- Top with strawberries, mint leaves and cream for a luxurious finish.
No-Bake Marshmallow Cheesecake Recipe
There are a lot of sweet-teeth in my family, so when Father’s day rolled around, it seemed fitting to make a delicious cheesecake filled with a family favourite – marshmallows. I mean, what could possibly go wrong, right!
In retrospect I should have cut the marshmallows in halves or quarters, just to make them more bite-sized, but it didn’t make it taste any the worse.
I love that this cake is no-bake, I love that you can make it a day ahead for the best firmness, and I love that it’s delicious!
Not sure about marshmallows? How about Nutella? It’s so good!
Marshmallow Cheesecake Recipe
Prep time
Total time
This is a very forgiving recipe. So long as you don't over whip the cream. It's really easy with two bowls, but I only have one and it's not a huge faff - just make sure to clean the bowl properly before adding the cream.
Author: Luschka
Recipe type: Desert, Special Occasion, Make Ahead
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 10 - 15 Marshmallows (1 cup mini marshmallows)
- 250g Digestive Biscuits
- 75g Soft Butter
- 400g Double Cream
- 500g Cream Cheese (at room temperature)
- 100g icing sugar
Instructions
- As compared to the picture above, chop the marshmallows into chunks. A regular marshmallow in four pieces or so would be fine. Alternatively, pop them in the Thermomix® and chop on speed 4 for 5 seconds.
- Clean out the bowl (doesn't need to be washed)
- Add the biscuits and the butter to the bowl and mix till it resembles wet sand. (30 seconds speed 5)
- Sprinkle over the base of a cake tray, and press down so that it creates a firm and solid base for your cheesecake.
- Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours and make sure to wash and properly dry the bowl.
- When the base is ready, whip the double cream to stiff peaks. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't turn to butter. Add the cream cheese and icing sugar and mix (with the butterfly) (speed 2, 30 seconds).
- Put the marshmallows on the base of the cheesecake, then pour over the cheese mix. (If you have a deep dish layer marshmallows, cheese, marshmallows, cheese).
- Smooth the top and put in the fridge till you're ready to serve. You can eat this same day, but next day is even better!
- I use a springform tin, gliding a knife around the edges to loosen first, then releasing and serving on the base.
- Once released, decorate the top and serve.