Wednesday 23 March 2011

Chocolate and Lemongrass Mousse


When I made this, it was just to get another one made from the Green & Black's cookbook. I thought chocolate and lemongrass would be weird, but it was...actually nice. Really yummy.

Yay :)

It's just that the first 4 years that lemongrass was in my life I'd only ever known it in the form of Fairy lemongrass antibacterial washing up liquid. And so it took me the next 4 years to get over the idea that lemongrass was in fact, an ingredient, and not just what washing up liquid tasted like.

I actually quite like the chocolate and lemon combination now. Maybe I might even try dipping lemons in the chocolate fountain next time. It can't be worse than dipping in cheddar cheese slices, but that's a story for another day...

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That's the milk and lemongrass boiling together. Nothing much to report.


That's the chocolate going into the milk mixture. Even less interesting to report.


The next part was to sieve the chocolate and milk mixture to remove the lemongrass bits. To me it looked a bit like a science experiment...in fact, do you see much difference between this photo and my A level physics coursework photo?


Can you even tell which one's which?? No, didn't think so.

Though one's got hydrochloric acid and a ball bearing in it, so er, pick carefully.

This photo of the cream and chocolate mixing reminds me of the unlimited ice cream factory at Pizza Hut. You know, the one where you stuff your face with hundreds and thousands and an hour later stumble out of the restaurant feeling satisfied but ever-so-slightly nauseous. As Irene Cara would agree - what a feeling :)


I really recommend that you try it, it's chocolate mousse with a surprise! (Unless you mix it up with a science experiment, of the hydrochloric acid variety).

Also, one last thing before I go, I went on a bit of a bakeathon at the weekend, blog posts to come. Next stop, pecan pie!

Lesson learned today: Mousse makes you reminisce. I call it "reminmousse". Hehe.





Chocolate and Lemongrass Mousse
From the Green & Black’s cookbook

Prep time: about 2 hours including 1 hour infusing time (read on, you’ll see what I mean)
Chilling time: 2 hours

Serves about 6, 4 if you’re greedy and/or have discovered a new found love for CHOCOLATE AND LEMONGRASS!

3 sticks of lemongrass
200ml milk
270g milk chocolate (preferably 34% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
1 ½ gelatine leaves
50g caster sugar
300ml double cream

Finely chop the lemongrass into small pieces or grind in a food-processor or a pestle and mortar. Pour the milk into a large, heavy based saucepan, add the lemongrass and bring to the boil.

Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 1 hour.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over simmering water. Whisk the sugar and gelatin into the milk and return to a low heat, stirring continuously until the gelatin has melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the melted chocolate. Leave to cool slightly.

Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove the lemongrass. Allow to cool down completely. Whip the cream in a bowl until it begins to thicken, but it should not be too stiff. Gently fold into the chocolate mixture. Spoon the mousse into our chosen containers.

18 comments:

  1. I never thought of combining lemongrass and lemon, that's very interesting.

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  2. I have never baked or cooked with lemongrass. It does sound like it would taste delicious with chocolate, and chocolate mousse is my favorite. Yours looks so yummy:

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  3. How curious! Lemongrass in chocolate... Hmmm if I had seen that recipe, I really doubt I'd even look at twice much less make it :P Kudos for trying with satisfying result :)

    Looking forward to your pecan pie!

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  4. wow... I love the combo of chocolate and lemongrass, that's really genius! but I love lemongrass, so this is a no brainer for me!

    Thanks for your kind comments on my blog, always lovely to have new readers... I love your blog!

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  5. I've never combined lemon and chocolate and have yet to bake with lemon grass so this looks really interesting! I could never resist a chocolate mousse :)

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  6. I would never, ever have thought to try lemongrass and chocolate together, but you sold me!!! Mousse looks awesome!! I bet it tastes awesome, too :)

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  7. wow...lovely presentation..with tempting clicks..
    first time here..amazing space you have..nice presenation.
    happy to follow u..
    check out mine sometime..:)
    Tasty Appetite

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  8. Never tried this combo but yours turned out perfect and so tempting!

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  9. Thanks for the lovely comments! I really do hope that you make it, I would love to hear about how your lemongrass and chocolate mousse turned out, and see some photos too :)

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  10. I am a well known chocoholic so this mousse is perfect for me. The lemongrass I am sure gave a very interesting tone to it.

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  11. Oh I've never thought of mixing the flavors of lemongrass and chocolate. In fact, I've only sampled lemongrass in restaurants and have never cooked with it myself. This looks so good!

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  12. What a great combo of flavors! I have to give this a try!

    Great blog; happy I found you!

    Mary xo
    Delightful Bitefuls

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  13. I have used lemon grass in many savory dishes and recently learnt that tea infused with lemon grass gives it a very refreshing flair:) This,"reminmousse" has blown me away-I am most definately trying this and will let you know if it looked and tasted as good as yours. I give this one ***** for presentation and I can bet on the taste as well so ***** again:)!!!

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  14. I've never cooked with lemongrass, but I've seen it in the grocery and have not known what to use it for. I love chocolate covered lemon creams, so I imagine that this mousse would probably have the same type of flavor. It looks so creamy and delicious!

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  15. yummy! I love your blog! The pictures are all so pretty and make me hungry! Love the Sushi cake too!

    http://jessicanoelbakes.wordpress.com/

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  16. You had me at chocolate :) love this :)

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  17. Great combination :) love it ♥

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  18. Hi! Arrived here after googling a dessert off one of the queen's menus, what a joy. I will be trying this sometime soon hopefully!

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