Number of hours to plan the menu for Christmas = 8736 hours
Amount of time spent with cousins during Christmas = 5 hours
Time taken to enjoy the post Christmas Celebration dinner = 1 hour
Christmas came and went just like that!
How??
I still have beautiful memories of that Pecan Tarts. In fact, it was at its best this year.
The cousin (Read: Riya) used to bake us pecan tarts as someone who was still in university, giving tuitions part-time and the price of pecans were absurd. Today she is a working adult and the monetary value of pecans no longer bother her. There were a lot of pecans in the tarts plus the crust was made with cream cheese. It was so flaky, deep in flavors and luscious. My mommy who can be pretty much a fussy eater actually confessed to eating SIX of those pecan tarts.
That is a big one. Till next year, Flaky Crust Pecan Tarts. You know I am gonna miss you loads baby. ♥
We also had other yummy food during Christmas. Check out the menu and some of the pics below!
I didn’t get a chance to take pictures of my Christmas gifts but I sure got a lot.
Gordon Ramsay book and cards. A gorgeous Bobbi Brown thermos, a couple of lipsticks/lip gloss, a handbag and many more great stuffs. The most needed gift had to be the butane torch because mine broke down a year ago and I never seemed to remember to buy one until the time I crave for a Creme Brulee. You can be sure that I am going to make one pretty soon!
Last Christmas I made some dark chocolate mousse and some white chocolate mousse that was a hit with the cousins. This year, I layered the two shades of chocolate in little cups. I fiddled around with the layers though; some had more dark cocoa and just about had more white chocolate. This actually caters to individual preference as some of the cousins prefer more white chocolate and the rest would prefer more of dark chocolate. Everyone can be happy that way!
The White and Dark Chocolate Mousse is as pleasing to the eye as they are to the sweet tooth. It is really a make and forget kinda dessert. You just make a batch of these and store in the fridge till the time your guests arrived. It also keeps well, thus you can really make it way in advance.
- 250 g white chocolate, broken into small pieces
- 1 cup double/heavy cream
- 1 egg white
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 50 g butter
- 150 g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
- 60 g caster sugar
- 175 ml double/heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Put the pieces of white chocolate in a bowl, and sit this bowl over a pan over simmering water until it melts. stirring gently with a spatula.
- When it's melted, keep aside.
- Place the egg white in another bowl and place it over the same simmering water. Whisk the egg white till it reached soft peaks. Keep aside to cool.
- In a third bowl, whisk cream till soft peak and add vanilla extract.
- Once the egg is cool, fold it into the whipped cream.
- Put a big dollop of egg+cream onto the slightly cooled chocolate and mix, and then gently fold the chocolate mixture into the cream.
- Melt the butter and chocolate over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, set aside
- In another bowl, put yolks, sugar and 2 tbsp water n whisk till thick n pale. Set aside to cool
- In a third bowl, whip double cream till soft peaks.
- When the chocolate and eggs have cooled down, fold the chocolate into the eggs.
- Finally fold the egg + chocolate mixture gently into the cream.
- To assemble:
- Place 2 tablespoons of dark chocolate mousse in little cups. Top with 2 tablespoons of white chocolate mousse. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- You can serve with strawberries or chocolate curls.
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