Gianduja Mousse Pie with Chocolate Cookie Crust

An ode to Nutella.

That’s what this tart is to me, at least. Some of my acquaintances bake frequently, but don’t eat their desserts. Now this befuddles my raging sweet tooth. Why bake, stir, mix, fold, frost IF YOU’RE NOT GOING TO DEVOUR THE CREAMY, LUSCIOUS PUDDING DESSERT ( See below) IF YOU’RE GOING TO ABSTAIN? Granted, my enthusiasm for all sweets makes gym sessions more frequent (Sigh), but I share the loo0o0ove with my family. So obviously I have to marry the Cheangs’ familial tastes into a singular dessert.

TADA! CHOCOLATE MOUSSE! BANANAS! BOOZE! OREOS!

Such a mouthful but only when you PUT THE WHOLE DAMN THING IN YOUR MOUTH… (Strongly suggested). When your whole family loves meat and dessert was always a far far afterthought in the household, you know something is a keeper when the WHOLE MOUSSE PIE VANISHES THE NEXT DAY.  

The star really is the hazelnut mousse, made with pure hazelnuts instead of just Nutella – creamy, luscious and melts with every mouthful. The crust is a no brainer press in, so don’t skip the extra steps to make this nutty, boozey confection! 

Gianduja Mousse Pie with Oreo Cookie Crust

For the Oreo cookie crust

·    24 Oreo cookies

·    ¼ cup melted butter

In a medium-sized bowl or a food processor, add the Oreo cookies and blend until the texture of coarse meal or crumbs. Add the melted butter and blend until well combined.

Place the ground crumb mixture into a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie pan and press onto the bottom and up the sides evenly. Tip : I like to use a measuring cup to make layers even.

To make the hazelnut butter

2 cups roasted and skinned hazelnuts (Can be bought from Phoon Huat)

Process the nuts until smooth and blended. This will make a helluva lot of noise as it takes 12-15 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides occasionally. Continue until you have a runny, smooth paste.

For the Gianduja mousse

·       6 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

·       1-1/2 cups heavy cream

·       2/3 cup hazelnut butter at room temperature

·       2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

·       2 tablespoons Baileys’ liquor

·       2 bananas, sliced thinly

·       2 tablespoons Nutella, microwaved till runny

·       2 teaspoons lemon / lime juice

To make the mousse

Melt chocolate in a microwaveable bowl in 30 second bursts, until smooth and melted. Stir. In a separate small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of the cream over medium heat to just below the boiling point. Pour the hot cream into the melted chocolate and stir together with the spatula until well blended. Using a handheld mixer, add the hazelnut butter and vanilla, Baileys and mix till smooth. 

In a chilled mixing bowl, using chilled beaters, beat the remaining 1 cup cream until it holds soft peaks. With a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture in four batches, blending thoroughly after each addition. Pour the mousse into the prepared individual cookie crusts.

Garnish with thinly sliced bananas and chopped hazelnuts. Using a fork, drizzle the pies with a melted Nutella sauce. Brush the bananas with lime juice to prevent them from browning. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. 

Baker’s Notes

1.    This dessert is best made in stages, as there are many steps. I’d suggest making the Oreo cookie crust and nut butter on day 1. Finish the mousse and filling the tarts on day 2.

2.    Yellow bananas that just ripe are perfect as a firm garnish. Their brown, spotty counterparts are too mushy. If you are making these ahead, brush the bananas with lemon / lime juice. The acid prevents them from browning.

3.    I love love love Baileys’ and they gave such a boozy kick to the mousse. You can also add Frangelico liquor to punch up the hazelnut flavour.

Chocolate Pound Cakes with Cream Cheese Swirl

Muffins are not a new thing. But there’s such a mind boggling amount of recipes, methods and cookbooks out there to tempt one and try all the different combinations. So I did, with ASTOUNDING SUCCESS! If you’re the sort who likes doughey, bready bricks. Meh.

Last week I tried making cream cheese swirl chocolate muffins, using an oil based fat. Even though the muffins puffed like beautiful chocolate mushrooms (Heehee Kinoko No Yama anyone?), the texture was too dense, too gummy.

The failure HOUNDED me throughout the whole of this week, so I devoured my recipe books and finally adapted a pound cake swirl number from Flo Braker. This batter encorporates sour cream, butter and coffee, so expect fluffiness and a deep cocoa flavor. Homemade muffins also mean one has a free reign (HALLELUJAH!) on mix ins, so I tossed in Bailey’s soaked raisins and extra wallop of Bailey’s for that creamy, Irish kick. Voila! If I do say so myself tender, cake like muffins with a tangy cheesecake middle. 

Cheesecake Swirl

·      110g cream cheese, softened

·      1/8 cup (25g) GRANULATED SUGAR

·      1 small egg

·      1/2 TEASPOON PURE VANILLA EXTRACT

CHOCOLATE-SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE (Makes 9 regular muffins)

·      3/8 CUP (32g) UNSWEETENED NATURAL COCOA POWDER

·      3/8 CUP (90G) WARM COFFEE

·      1 cup + 1 tablespoon CAKE FLOUR

·      1/4TEASPOONS BAKING SODA

·      3/4TEASPOON BAKING POWDER

·      ¹/₂ TEASPOON SALT

·      85g ROOM TEMP BUTTER

·      3/4 + 1 TABLESPOON WHITE SUGAR

·      2 EGGS

·      1 TEASPOONS PURE VANILLA EXTRACT

·      6 TABLESPOONS OF SOUR CREAM

·      100g OF SOAKED RAISINS (IN BAILEY’S)

·      1/3 CUP BAILEY’S IRISH LIQUOR

Before baking: Soak raisins for in Bailey’s liquor for at least 1 hour. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees f (or 325 degrees f if the pan has a dark finish). For the cake batter, in a medium bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and warm coffee until blended; set aside to cool.

To make the Cheesecake Swirl: In a medium bowl, beat the cheese with a rubber spatula just until the cheese is smooth and creamy. Or, use a handheld electric mixer on low, being careful not to whip in too much air. Beat in the sugar until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined and creamy.

To make the Chocolate-Sour Cream Pound Cake: Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the sugar in a steady stream. Continue to beat until light in color and texture, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla, sour cream and Bailey’s to the cooled coffee and stir to combine. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in three additions alternately with the Bailey’s mixture in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing after each addition until incorporated. Again, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Finally, gently stir in the soaked raisins.  

Spoon half of the batter into each muffin mould and spread it with the rubber spatula, working from the center outward to create a slightly raised ridge around the rim. Carefully spoon 2 tablespoons of cream cheese filling on top. Spoon the remaining batter over the filling and smooth the top.

Bake the cake until the center springs back when lightly touched and a round wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out free of cake, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Baker's Notes

1.You can't really taste the Bailey's but the addition makes has that unique sweet Irish caramel fragrance. 

2. Feel free to substitute raisins with chocolate chips or nuts, that's the fun of homemade muffins after all!

Dark Chocolate Banana Croissant Puddings

I awoke to a grey, rainy day. Unusually chilly for Singapore, though I suspect foreigners might scoff 'YOU THINK THIS IS COLD?!' . But whatever, chilly afternoons are a perfect excuse to make puddings. Warm, toasty and chocolatey puddings. Puddings that make you sigh with contentment as you spoon in every soft, sweet bite. Puddings that go great with ice cream. 

Even though this one made me really sad at the end because it was GONE, it's still a keeper - silky dark chocolate, creamy bananas and buttery croissants. Yummmmeh! Frantically scraped every last nugget of croissant and chocolate crust, but sigh. All good things have to come to an end. I deviated from Nigella's original recipe, which called for too much liquid and added my own few mix-ins. 

Feel free to toss in some nuts for added texture. Or if you've a dessert death wish (HIGH5!!!!), drizzle with some irish toffee sauce.

Baker's Notes

• I used individual ramekins which are great for a dinner party and calls for a shorter baking time (20 minutes). Serve it family style in a huge dish, but remember to extend the baking time to 45-50 minutes.
• Butter your ramekins generously to lift the puddings out. 
• Whisk in the eggs one at a time to the custard mixture, but quickly, so you don't have a scrambled eggfest on hand! 

Dark Chocolate Banana Croissant Puddings (Serves 4)

Author : The Bakerlily

Ingredients

3 stale croissants

125 grams sugar

3 tablespoons water

180ml double cream

180 ml full fat milk

3 tablespoons irish cream (or rum)

3 large eggs (beaten)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

60g chopped dark chocolate

2 sliced medium bananas

1.    Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350ºF.

2.   Tear the croissants into pieces and put in individual ramekins.Scatter an equal portion of sliced bananas and chocolate onto the croissants.

3.   Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, and swirl around to help dissolve the sugar before putting the saucepan on the hob over a medium to high heat.

4.   Caramelize the sugar and water mixture by letting it bubble away, without stirring, until it all turns a deep amber colour; this will take 3-5 minutes. Swirl, but don't stir. In the meantime, whisk together your milk, vanilla, salt and cinnamon.

5.   Turn heat down to low and add the cream - ignoring all spluttering - and, whisking away, add in the milk mixture. Any solid toffee that forms in the pan will dissolve easily if you keep whisking over low heat. Take off the heat and, still whisking, add the beaten eggs quickly. 

6.    Pour the caramel bourbon custard over the croissants and leave to steep for 10 minutes if the croissants are very stale.

7.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes and until pudding springs back when gently touched. Puddings are best served and eaten warm, with a dollop of ice cream.