I know I’m going to get a lot of heat for this but the truth is that I have never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day. Don’t ask me why but the bows, heart shaped boxes, teddy bears… it’s just not me. All I want is a nice evening with chocolate and raspberries. C. will not be home for Valentine’s this year so we celebrated early.
At the same time I found out that he was going to be away, I found the “Mini Pie Revolution #2” and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to make something for Valentine’s and to enter the blogging event which ends on February 12th.
I love raspberries and C. loves chocolate so it had to be chocolate mousse and raspberry tart. I have to admit that for a while, I felt like the combination of chocolate and raspberries was overdone. It was everywhere. I know, it sounds a little snobbish of me, right? As if somehow this combination was “so yesterday”. I apologize, I shouldn’t even admit to this. I have now come to my senses and realize that we should never question classic flavor combinations.
Besides, I couldn’t let these raspberries get away. Did you see the size and color of these berries? And they were just as sweet as you might envision them to be. My mom couldn’t believe it. “Is it raspberry season?”, she asked… Hmmmm.. “No”, I replied embarrassed. You see, we come from a family where you only eat what’s in season so my mom couldn’t understand how I was able to find them in the first place or what’s worse, why I would spend so much money to buy something that in her mind is probably not as sweet, comes from who knows where, etc, etc. But these were excellent so she forgave me.
At the same time I found out that he was going to be away, I found the “Mini Pie Revolution #2” and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to make something for Valentine’s and to enter the blogging event which ends on February 12th.
I love raspberries and C. loves chocolate so it had to be chocolate mousse and raspberry tart. I have to admit that for a while, I felt like the combination of chocolate and raspberries was overdone. It was everywhere. I know, it sounds a little snobbish of me, right? As if somehow this combination was “so yesterday”. I apologize, I shouldn’t even admit to this. I have now come to my senses and realize that we should never question classic flavor combinations.
Besides, I couldn’t let these raspberries get away. Did you see the size and color of these berries? And they were just as sweet as you might envision them to be. My mom couldn’t believe it. “Is it raspberry season?”, she asked… Hmmmm.. “No”, I replied embarrassed. You see, we come from a family where you only eat what’s in season so my mom couldn’t understand how I was able to find them in the first place or what’s worse, why I would spend so much money to buy something that in her mind is probably not as sweet, comes from who knows where, etc, etc. But these were excellent so she forgave me.
The tart shell is made from chocolate sugar dough that I pre-baked and then filled with a layer of very thin raspberry pate de fruit (the batch that didn’t come out right the first time), chocolate mousse and topped with the beautiful raspberries. Oh yes, and the little dots, that is strained, store-bought peach jam. So here it is.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE AND RASPBERRY TART
Chocolate Sugar Dough
450 grams butter
225 grams powdered sugar
2 organic eggs
5 grams sea salt
4 grams baking powder
625 grams flour
25 grams cocoa powder
Cream together the butter and the powdered sugar with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs one at a time.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
Wrap dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Remove from refrigerator and roll out to about 1/8” to 1/4” thick. Place rolled dough in the mini ring molds and refrigerate for another 30 minutes so the dough relaxes and does not shrink in the oven.
Bake in a 325ºF oven for about 14 minutes or until fully cooked. In the middle of the baking process, I use a fork to deflate the bottom of the dough if it starts to puff up or you could lightly dock it before placing it in the oven. I don’t use pie weighs or beans because I have found that if you let the dough rest before baking it and that if you lightly dock it, it will keep its shape.
Chocolate Mousse
100 grams 70% chocolate
300 grams heavy cream, whipped to soft peak
In a small bowl, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. In the meantime, whip the cream to soft peak.
When the chocolate is hot to the touch, remove it from the double boiler and pour about a third of the cream into it. Whisk the cream into the chocolate with a wire whip. This must be done quickly so the chocolate doesn’t seize up. Add the rest of the cream but this time, fold it in with a spatula. Be careful not to over-whip or the mousse will break.
Assemble the Tart
Pipe a thin layer of soft raspberry pate de fruit or raspberry jam on the bottom of the tart shell. Pipe the chocolate mousse on top. Top with fresh raspberries and decorate each berry with a dot of the strained peach jam or apricot glaze would be even better.
Taking these photos was a real challenge today because my curly, blonde-haired boy could not stay away from the tarts. He was screaming for them. Too cute!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
300 grams heavy cream, whipped to soft peak
In a small bowl, melt the chocolate over a double boiler. In the meantime, whip the cream to soft peak.
When the chocolate is hot to the touch, remove it from the double boiler and pour about a third of the cream into it. Whisk the cream into the chocolate with a wire whip. This must be done quickly so the chocolate doesn’t seize up. Add the rest of the cream but this time, fold it in with a spatula. Be careful not to over-whip or the mousse will break.
Assemble the Tart
Pipe a thin layer of soft raspberry pate de fruit or raspberry jam on the bottom of the tart shell. Pipe the chocolate mousse on top. Top with fresh raspberries and decorate each berry with a dot of the strained peach jam or apricot glaze would be even better.
Taking these photos was a real challenge today because my curly, blonde-haired boy could not stay away from the tarts. He was screaming for them. Too cute!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Post Title
→Early Valentine’s and Mini Pie Revolution #2
Post URL
→http://mercymadame.blogspot.com/2008/02/early-valentines-and-mini-pie.html
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