Sunday, 22 May 2011

I award thee...


A while ago, I was so lucky to get not one, or two, but three (times a lady...) blog awards in one week. I'm so sorry it took me something like a month to blog about it, but it just took me an age to think up seven random facts about me that weren't:

a) incredibly boring
b) economics related 
or 
c) both.

Anyway, it's not that long. I made this Light and Dark Chocolate Mousse in 2009 and am FINALLY getting round to blogging and posting a recipe on it.
:)

So, first, along came:

From Easily Good Eats, someone who is quite like me in that cooking and baking is the passion but finance is the profession! You can find loads of recipes on there, most are quite easy to make, and cookies do feature a lot :)

Then I got:
From What Katie's Baking. At the time of writing this, her last post was Fudgey Gooey Brownies. 'Nuff said.

And thennn:

From Jennifer and Elizabeth at Life of Lovely. They really like what I'm (attempting!) to do with the Green & Black's cookbook, and I agree that it does take a degree of versatility to cook everything in it! I love their inspirations and everything about their blog is lovely :)


UPDATE!:  Just as I was about to post this, I was told by Nancy and Vjay at Kitchen Gypsies that I received an award from them too! Thank you so much for the 'One Lovely Blog' Award :) Do hop on over and take a look at their site, it's full of exotic home cooked foods and I think I can learn a thing or two from them!

**************************

So I'd like to thank you all for these awards, they're my first ones and it really means a lot for my blog :)

So this is what I'm supposed to do after I get one...

1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award 

2. Share 7 random things about him/herself 



3. Award 5-15 blogs ✓ (see below!)

4. Drop them a note and tell them about it, including the rules (on it's way!)


I would like to pass on the 'One Lovely Blog', 'The Stylish Blogger' and 'The Versatile Blogger' awards (plus this chocolate mousse :) to...

Les rêves d'une boulangère- first blogger to have found my blog!
The Harried Cook - the new kid on the block ;)
Hungry The Ate - another Cambridge food blog, and from Trinity College too! Also, green tea matcha ice cream, GREEN TEA MATCHA ICE CREAM! :D :D 
Delightful Bitefuls - can't stop gawking
Teen Baker - she's 15 :O When I was 15, I baked my first batch of biscuits and almost broke my teeth trying to eat them.
Cooking Gallery - inspired me to make Bento boxes!
The Food Hound - makes me giggle :)
Much to my delight - fantastic hilarious writing style, and from the city I want to live in :)
Scrambled Henfruit - loveee the photos

And finally...

Citying Pretty - okay okay, a) not a food blog and b) not many posts yet. But the girl behind it is one of my best friends and I really hope you'll check it out! It certainly deserves the Stylish Blogger Award! (p.s. that's me in the spotty skirt in her second to last post :)

Right, back to revision for me. Still have four exams left so ciao for now!


Light and Dark Chocolate Mousse
from the Green & Black’s cookbook

Chill for a minimum of 1 hour. Serves 6.

200g (7oz) dark chocolate, minimum 60% cocoa solids, finely chopped
50ml (2fl oz) full-cream milk
2 large egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
40g (1½ oz) caster sugar

Melt the chocolate and the milk in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir together and then set aside to cool slightly. Stir the egg yolks into the chocolate until well blended, and then stir in the vanilla extract.

Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually and continue to whisk until stiff and glossy. Stir a ladleful of egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, and then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Transfer the mixture into your chosen container and chill for at least an hour.

Hint: always use eggs at room temperature. Do not over whisk the egg whites (you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without anything falling out), and remember to use a CLEAN (grease free) bowl.

24 comments:

  1. Congratulations! That must be very exciting! Awards, and possibly a new TV show...the next Nigella? :)

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  2. @Emmyw thank you! This is indeed extremely exciting, I'm not quite Nigella material but I shall try my best :)

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  3. Xinmei! Thank you sooooo much for my first awards :) As a newbie, I want you to know how much I appreciate it. Do all the awardees get a serving of that mousse too? I can email you my address so you can send it over :p hehe... Seriously, that mousse looks & sounds phenomenally good! :) Thank you once again!

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  4. Congratulations! You definitely deserved all those awards!
    Your choc mousse looks delightful! Put a bowl of this right in front of me, and it will disappear in a blink of an eye! :) Looks delicious!

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  5. Your hand drawn pictures of yourself, especially the one about salmonella, are hilarious! Congrats on the awards!

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  6. Congratulations for getting so many awards! I love the way you decorate your mousse so lovely!

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  7. Well thank you for the accolades, my dear! I think your blog is pretty fantastic as well. Your list made me chuckle. I'm still amazed that you manage to find the time to make such ornate food while balancing college. Kudos to you!

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  8. fact 7 means that you would never finish the biscuit, sad times.

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  9. ahhhh i eat nut butter out of the jar. it's a very bad habit of mine!!! my favorite is sunbutter and almond butter! hahaha. :)

    the mousse looks lovely~~~ :)

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  10. wowzer, 3 awards.

    I would eat cake batter out of a jat myself.

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  11. You are too funny! Love your blog; you deserve all this fawning and praise! Keep on cooking and laughing about it too!

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  12. Congratulations on your awards!

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  13. Congrats on your awards! My kids love mousse. Will have to try your recipe.

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  14. That chocolate mousse sounds just divine, as does anything from Green and Black's in my books! :)

    I eat peanut butter and Nutella out of the jar too- they're both dangerous things to have around in my house ;)

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  15. You are so so sweet to pass along these awards!!!! I won't bore everyone by posting 7 MORE random facts about me, like I did when someone gave me the Stylish Blogger a few mos ago, but I'll try to come up with some new ones :) I love your blog- you have a great writing style, and your recipes are delish! I swear you missed your career calling, girl!! :)

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  16. You are so funny and creative! I love your list of fun facts and that you illustrated it :) Celery? Never though of it as scary before but maybe now I will, haha. Congrats on your awards, too.

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  17. Congratulations on all the awards! They are well deserved!

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  18. Congrats on your award, very creative about writing 7 facts. Absolutely loving your mousse recipe, bookmarked :)

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  19. Wow beautiful mousse! Congratulations on your awards Xinmei! You and your blog totally deserve all kinds of awards. I love your blog and I enjoy every time I come here! It was fun reading more about you too. :-)

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  20. Those are hilarious! I am notoriously bad at responding to these things but I like reading other peoples!

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  21. Congrats, you're doing really great with the blog!
    Thanks also for the award! I guess I'm pretty new to the foodblogging scene... I didn't even know food blog awards existed =P

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  22. Well done on your awards!! As you should know, I love your blog and so I think this recognition is well deserved for you.

    Your facts are so interesting (and funny)...because I would eat raw cake mixture out of the pot too..if it existed :(

    Ps. Thank you so much for passing it on to me. I am so honoured that you thought of me!!! It means a lot.

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