Some years ago, I was heartened by a confessional piece penned by food journalist Matt Preston, wherein he admitted that his guiltiest pleasure was Coco Pops with a dollop of cream. This resonated with my definition of what it means to be a gourmand: to embrace food as something both nourishing and sensuous. It may also encompass an appreciation for the refined but it shouldn't exalt this aspect above all others, because to do so is to limit oneself. In the words of Clive James, "The human personality is a drama, not a monologue." Passionate foodie that I am, I vacillate between desires, from the wonder of cutting edge palate cleansers to the unapologetic satisfaction that is packet Mi Goreng at the end of a long Saturday night.
As far as techniques go, making mousse barely qualifies as cooking. Much more skill is required to make, say, individual dessert tarts. Nerd that I am, I can't help but think of this in terms of cost-benefit analysis. Individual tarts require a significantly greater investment of time and effort than mousse; will the resulting pleasure derived from eating the tart be higher than that of the mousse, reflective of and equivalent to the extra work put in?
Laziness won out in this instance and I went ahead with the mousse. What I did not anticipate was the reception this basic dessert would receive. Granted, it is delicious and I adapted it from Bill Granger's recipe to exhibit the flavours and textures that I like best: a velvety mouthfeel, crunchy almonds, sweetness, citrus and bitterness.
I've struck out the egg yolks, as I feel the mousse is rich enough already.
White chocolate mousse w/ orange and almonds
Serves 2 [simply double the quantities to make more]Ingredients:
100g white chocolate
2 egg whites
35g caster sugar
80ml thickened cream
20ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (vanilla essence will work as well, but extract delivers better flavour and the visual pay-off of the little black dots from the vanilla pod)
2 tbsp flaked almonds
1 tbsp Grand Marnier (substitute in more orange juice if you're going for a non-alcoholic version)
1 orange, reserving 1 tbsp juice plus zest
To decorate:
Orange zest
White chocolate curls (these can be shaved off of the edges of your white chocolate block)
Method:
1) If decorating, make your orange and white chocolate curls first. Orange zest curls can be made using a very sharp vegetable peeler.
2) To make white chocolate curls, shave along the edges of the chocolate block using your vegetable peeler. This can take a few attempts to get right. If you're a klutz like me and it takes you so long to work out that the chocolate starts to soften in your hands, whack it in the fridge and then try again.
3) Break the chocolate into pieces and melt with the milk and vanilla extract in a heatproof bowl over a double boiler, stirring until smooth and set aside to cool to room temperature.
4) Beat egg whites until, gradually adding caster sugar until glossy peaks form.
5) In a separate bowl, beat the cream and then fold into egg white mixture with a large spoon.
6) Fold the cooled chocolate mixture, orange juice, Grand Marnier and flaked almonds into the egg whites and cream mixture with a large spoon.
7) Pour mixture into serving bowls/glasses and allow to set in the fridge.
8) Once chilled, top with orange zest and white chocolate curls and dive right in.
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