dessert « (y)our food choices™

Please join us in supporting a great cause while enjoying the delicious treats on sale at the second annual National Food Bloggers Bake Sale this Saturday, May 14^th, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The good folks at 18 Reasons have graciously offered up their space at 593 Guerrero (between 17^th and 18^th) for Saturday’s event. Be sure to visit Share Our Strength for more information on the organization’s efforts to end childhood hunger. If you’d like to know more about the national bake sale, be sure to check out event organizer Gaby Dalkin’s food blog, What’s Gaby Cooking.

We will be selling loaves of Jason’s homemade wild yeast bread, jars of his orange granola and two different cakes – an old-fashioned chocolate layer cake a la America’s Test Kitchen and an orange olive oil bourbon bundt cake. Yum! Of course, we won’t be alone on Saturday. The event will bring together an interesting mix of San Francisco food bloggers who will be selling a variety of home baked goodies. But you’d better hurry if you want to take any of these treats home. They’re sure to go fast.

A dollop of whipped cream adds a bit of love to this otherwise vegan chocolate mousse.

You can’t get a reservation to save your life, all the restaurants are filled up, and you have to work late. After all, Valentine’s Day falls on a Monday this year and your boss doesn’t care if you have a love life or not. You feel like an idiot because you didn’t prepare for this day and you know your significant other is going to be beyond pissed if you don’t do something special. What to do?

Beyond hoping that you can find some decent flowers, we suggest you buy a nice bottle of Champagne, or two, a good pâté, a few nice cheeses, a bleu, cheddar, and maybe a Swiss, and a baguette. A few other things like olives, cornichons, some raw almonds, and dried apricots to round out the nosh. Keep the meal simple so you don’t feel stuffed and bloated. After all, neither one of you will be in the mood for that something-something if all you want to do is veg out on the sofa.

To assure that you’ll be getting that something-something, invite your honey into the kitchen while you defy all the laws of cooking by adding water to chocolate. In less than 5 minutes you’ll have the best chocolate mousse ever. You’ll even prove that your biceps are not just for show, but that you can actually use them. While you are whisking away, throw out terms like ‘molecular gastronomy’ and that it was the French chemist, Hervé This that discovered this unusual dessert. By the end, you’ll both be feeding each other out the bowl and well, let’s just say that the kitchen will really be cooking.

5 Minute (Vegan) Chocolate Mousse

265 grams (about 9.40 ounces) dark chocolate (we use 54% Trader Joe’s dark chocolate we don’t recommend using any chocolate higher than 60% cocoa)
1 cup water
1 – 2 tablespoons of honey or ultra fine sugar (optional)
Note: honey is not vegan.

Place a large mixing bowl on top of another slightly smaller one, filled with ice and cold water (the bottom of the large bowl should touch the ice). Set aside.
Put chocolate, water, and honey/sugar in a medium-sized pan and melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring occasionally until just melted. Do not boil or simmer.
Pour the melted chocolate into the mixing bowl sitting on top of ice and water, and start whisking like hell with a wire whisk (or an electrical hand-held mixer if you don’t have the muscles) until it begins to thicken. Watch the texture as you whip and make sure not to over-whip as it will make the mousse grainy. You want it drip from the whisk in ribbons. If the mousse becomes grainy transfer it back into the pan, reheat until half of it is melted, pour it back to the mixing bowl and whisk again briefly.
Divide into four serving cups serve right away or refrigerate.

Thanks to Cenk over at Café Fernado for inspiring this blog post!