Baking Recipes With Mint Chocolate
My sister recently gave me this Montezuma's peppermint chocolate armed with a warning which isn't how most people would like to receive a gift. However this bad boy 500g block with each piece rivalling the Good News Bible makes the pastime of tucking up on the sofa with a bar of chocolate and a film / book / boy seem like some sort of endurance test for your teeth. Also it's tasty but it's really rich, so even the most diligent and greedy would struggle to eat all this on its own. So what's a girl to do but add it to sugar and butter and BAKE!
I used ramekins instead of the suggested serving bowl (because chocolate mousse already looks unappetising at the best of times let alone putting it in one huge bowl) and the recipe is enough for 8 ramekins. I really liked this recipe, the mint flavour is absolutely perfect for this. I thought I'd need some cream on the side (as clearly this recipe was already lacking enough fat) but the ramekin pot is just about the right portion to have on its own although you can serve with more cream if you have a general disregard for your arteries.
The other thing I wanted to try baking with the mint chocolate was cookies. My friend has been cookie-mad as of late so I was inspired by her to try this out. The Montezuma chocolate is so rich that it seemed a good partner with a more milder cookie flavour.
This recipe is from the delectable Nigella Lawson website. See below for ingredients and method.
Mint chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients
I love baking. I love how after making an incredible amount of mess something amazing and delicious and fattening is produced. My comfort zone is following the recipe like a militant nerd and also making a small number of recipes really well. However I challenged myself to try something I don't normally make because whilst it's important to invest time to improve and get better at something, it's also really important to be open-minded to doing something that isn't comfortable to you.
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| Let's get baking! |
The first thing I tried making was a mint chocolate mousse. I figure the flavour of mint would make a standard chocolate mousse taste a bit more zingy. I found this recipe on BBC Food online:
Mint chocolate mousse
Ingredients
- 115g dark chocolate
- 55g butter
- 4 eggs at room temperature, separated
- 70g icing sugar
- 300ml double cream
Method
- Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water and stir until melted. Leave to cool
- Add the yolk to the cooled chocolate mixture
- Add the icing sugar to the chocolate mixture
- In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks
- In another bowl whisk the double cream until it leaves a soft peak when lifting the whisk out
- Fold the double cream into the chocolate mixture
- Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites
- Pour into a serving bowl and set in fridge for at least 12 hours
I used ramekins instead of the suggested serving bowl (because chocolate mousse already looks unappetising at the best of times let alone putting it in one huge bowl) and the recipe is enough for 8 ramekins. I really liked this recipe, the mint flavour is absolutely perfect for this. I thought I'd need some cream on the side (as clearly this recipe was already lacking enough fat) but the ramekin pot is just about the right portion to have on its own although you can serve with more cream if you have a general disregard for your arteries.
The other thing I wanted to try baking with the mint chocolate was cookies. My friend has been cookie-mad as of late so I was inspired by her to try this out. The Montezuma chocolate is so rich that it seemed a good partner with a more milder cookie flavour.
This recipe is from the delectable Nigella Lawson website. See below for ingredients and method.
Mint chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients
- 150g soft unsalted butter
- 125g soft light brown sugar
- 100g caster sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg, fridge cold
- 1 egg yolk, fridge cold
- 300g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 326g chocolate chips
Method
- Preheat the oven 170°C
- Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper
- Melt the butter then let it cool
- Put the brown and caster sugar into a bowl and pour the melted butter in with it. Beat together
- Beat in the vanilla extract, egg and egg yolk until the mixture is light and creamy
- Slowly mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda until just blended
- Stir in the chocolate chips
- Scoop the mixture into a 60ml ice cream scoop and put onto the baking sheet with 8cm in between each. You will need to bake the cookies in several batches so leave the dough in the fridge while the others are cooking in the oven
- Bake for 15 - 17 minutes or until the edges are lightly toasted
- Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack
As the Montezuma chocolate was a bar I had to chop the chocolate into bits so ended up with varying size pieces. Some would say "rustic", I just say a lottery as to whether you get a nice chunky piece or a small piece with each bite. Oh the anticipation. Also I don't possess an ice cream scoop (far too cold in England to warrant the investment) but I did have a very small plastic tub. I measured 60ml of water to see what volume I needed to fill with cookie dough. In reality the cookies ended up being quite big and quite thick so I would probably make 40ml pieces next time.
The chocolate was far too rich if you eat a freshly baked cookie where the chocolate is still melting but the next day it tasted much better. I'd still maybe see what it's like with less chocolate next time though.
All in all a success on both counts and I'm pleased that it worked out well given that I am not confident in making either of these things. I think mint chocolate works really well in a mouse and in cookies so go forth and get baking my friends.
What other things are worth baking with mint chocolate?
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