365 Days, Day 61

After about 20 years of marriage, I'm finally starting to scratch the surface of what women want. And I think the answer lies somewhere between conversation and chocolate (Mel Gibson)

Never mind about 1066 William the Conqueror, 1087 William the Second. Such things are not going to affect one’s life ... but 1932 the Mars Bar and 1936 Maltesers and 1937 the Kit Kat - these dates are milestones in history and should be seared into the memory of every child in the country ( Roald Dahl)

In the bohemian lanes of Brighton, there is a shop called Choccywoccydoodah. Its window is a feast for the eyes. If ever you visit Brighton, make sure you make a detour past this window. In he meantime check out their website: http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com/

Today Ariél and I drove down to Chichester, we had a girls’ day out. We had a light luncheon at Maison Blanc, then found a gorgeous shop called Mistral, and one called Jigsaw, which had delightful retro clothing. We were looking into the window of Montezuma – a chocolate shop, noticing that the window had cupcakes and retro décor, when a lady from the shop, dressed from top to toe in retro 1950s outfit offered us a taste of orange chocolate. It worked: we went in and bought some. All the sales assistants were dressed in 1950s clothes, with bright red lips. We were delighted by their whole effort. And the chocolate is really good: very creamy.

One of my favourite recipes was my triple layer chocolate mousse. I don’t have the recipe here, but I have found one that is similar. It is loads of work to make it, but well worth the effort. I shall make it when I visit in September…

3 Layered Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

3 Eggs

1 tbsp Cornstarch

75g Sugar

300 Milk

1 Pkt Gelatin

3 tbsps Water

300g Whipped cream

75g Bittersweet Chocolate

75g White Chocolate

75g Milk Chocolate

Chocolate shavings for decorating

Method

Line a loaf pan (850 ml) or any other pan with baking paper.

Break the eggs. Seperate egg whites in 3 different glass bowls and mix in all the egg yolks together in another bowl. Stir in the cornstarch and sugar with the egg yolks and keep aside.

Boil the milk stirring gently. Place another bowl filled with water on high heat and let it come to a boil. Meanwhile gradually pour the egg yolk mixture into the milk and keep stirring with a whisk. When the milk and yolks has combined well, remove the bowl from the heat and place it in the hot water bowl such that the base of the bowl touches the boiling water. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens. Remove and let cool.

Mix in the Gelatin with 3 tbsps of water in a small bowl and leave to swell. Place the bowl in hot water and keep stirring till it dissolves completely (You can also use a microwave, just microwave for 4 to 5 seconds on low). Mix the dissolved gelatin into the milk-yolk custard and keep aside.

Whip the cream until stiff and fold it gently into the milk-yolk custard. Now divide this custard-cream mixture into 3 portions.

Melt all the 3 types of chocolates seperately using a double boiler (You can use a large bowl with water which can accommodate all the 3 chocolate bowls or cups and melt them simultaneously, remember to use 3 different spoons to stir).

First stir in the melted dark chocolate into one portion of the custard-cream mixture. Beat 1 egg white until stiff and fold it into the dark chocolate-custard-cream mixture. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth-en on top. Place the pan in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, mix the melted white chocolate with the second portion of custard-cream mixture. Beat the second egg white until stiff and fold it into the white chocolate-custard-cream mixture. Pour this on the first layer of mousse and smooth-en on top. Transfer it back to the refrigerator.

Repeat the same steps with the milk chocolate and layer it on top of the white chocolate. Let it stay in the refrigerator for 5 to 6 hours or overnight or until you serve.

Before serving, Carefully place the prepared serving plate on top of the loaf pan and turn the pan upside down. Lift the pan up and remove the parchment paper. Decorate with chocolate shavings before you serve.