Mousse and macarons

Chocolate Mousse

If you are like me and have a jar of egg whites in the fridge then each egg white weighs approximately 30g. Don’t forget they freeze well and if frozen in a block, you can grate on a coarse grater to get the amount you need.

The mousse tastes better if made the day before.

Makes enough for 3 glasses

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces 4 egg whites, at room temperature Squeeze of lemon juice

1 Tbsp caster sugar

TO FINISH

Whipped cream Chocolate shavings Ground cinnamon for sprinkling 1 Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (ensuring the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl) and melt. You may want to stir it very gently once or twice. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

2 Whisk the egg whites and lemon juice until stiff peaks form, then whisk in the sugar. 3 Fold 1 tablespoonful of the egg white mixture into the chocolate to loosen then carefully fold in the remainder. Spoon into glasses, cover and place in the fridge to set, preferably overnight.

4 Serve plain or top each glass of mousse with a dollop of whipped cream, a few chocolate shavings and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon.

Vanilla Bean Macarons

Makes 20 80g ground almonds

150g icing sugar, sifted

90g egg whites, at room temperature 80g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

BUTTERCREAM FILLING

75g unsalted butter, softened

½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

125g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra if needed 1 Tbsp full cream milk 1 Heat the oven to 150C. Using a round biscuit cutter or similar (about 3cm) draw a “template” for your macaron on a piece of baking paper, leaving space between each circle. Turn paper over and place on a baking tray. Fit a piping bag with a plain 1 cm nozzle. 2 Combine the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a large bowl.

3 Whisk the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add the caster sugar and whisk until the meringue begins to firm. Add the vanilla paste then continue to whisk until the meringue forms stiff peaks. Remove bowl and fold through half of the ground almond mixture. Add the remaining mixture and fold in.

4 Fill the piping bag with mixture and pipe out blobs the size of your circles. Flick off any little peaks. Hold the baking tray and bang on the bench to remove any air bubbles. Leave the macarons to dry at room temperature for about 30 minutes — they will form a slight skin. 5 Place macarons in the oven and bake for 18 minutes, turning the tray once during baking. To test if cooked — they should lift easily off the paper. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

6 Make the filling. Beat together the butter and vanilla bean paste until creamy. Then add the icing sugar and milk and beat until light and fluffy. Add extra icing sugar if not firm enough.

7 To finish, pair each macaron with another of similar size. Lightly spread one half with buttercream, then sandwich together. 8 Store vanilla bean macarons in an airtight container in the fridge.