Raspberry Dahilia mousse with mint choc leaves

Now I thought last week could not get any better. It all kicked off with an amazing meal at ‘Le temps au temps’ (bistro food with a sophisticated twist. I see people at La Cocotte coming in after their meal with a glazed over drugged look) which was made even better by some excellent company.

The 80s party. Man, that was one hell of a part. Everything was perfect except that somebody had decided to get my brioche dough drunk. So when the brioche came out of the oven at 6am and was sliced up for the hardcore party goers,I was greeted by a very (VERY) strong tasting alcoholised brioche. Luckily the local boulangerie is just around the corner with plenty of fresh croissants and pain au chocolats. Note for future parties: hide the brioche dough.

And then, wait for it…drumroll please. I found out I won 2nd place in ‘Does my Food blog look good’ August competition!!! If you’re into the food blog scene you’ll know this is a big thing. DMBLGIT is the equivalent to the Oscars. I couldn’t believe it when I saw my picture on the winners post. I had to do a little celebration dance around my tiny studio.

Running this blog, costs a lot of time and quite a bit of money aswell so it’s great when you get this kind of recognition, even if it’s only 2nd place.
So I would like to thank…(ok, I promise not to do a Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars 1999) but however I would like to thank Andrea, the La Cocotte mastermind who has given me the opportunity to practice my patisserie skills (and who also spent the night making the chocolate mint leaves), Spittoon for hosting the event, all the judges and especially to you guys, the readers for taking the time to pop by and leave a comment. You make my day just that little sweeter… alright enough with the cheesy lines

Ouf! Finally, holiday time has come round for me (I’m fashionable late, not like the rest of the Parisians who have escaped the city like rats fleeing a sinking boat). I’ve headed home to the UK to soak up some English sunshine (only kidding!), more like to eat some good home cooked food (Sunday roast, malay curry, full breakfast….) and then I’m off to the Austrian mountains to yodel with Heidi and the ‘Milka’ cows… not quite, but you get the idea.

So I’m going to ‘love ya & leave ya’ for a couple of weeks with this refreshing little number. This salad has all the Summer sunshine components. Juicy sweet watermelon, salty creamy feta and tangy jewel like black olives…..mmmmmm yum yum yum. On top of that this must be one of the healthiest recipes I have done in a long while. So tuck in!!!

I’ll be back in full swing with lots of yummy little tit bits for you. A la rentrée (transl. until September) as the Frenchies say!

Summer salad: Watermelon & feta salad

1 kg watermelon, peeled & deseeded
1 bunch of parsley (if you don’t like parsley, leave it out), washed
200g feta cheese
150g black olives, preferably pitted
pepper

Make sure the watermelon is well chilled before serving (makes the salad more refreshing). Chop the watermelon into large cubes. Add to the bowl with the olives and chopped or torn parsley. Mix gently. Crumble the feta cheese on top and finish with some freshly ground pepper.

On Thursday we had our little ‘flowery’ event @ La Cocotte for the book launch of ‘Petits bouquets de cuisine’. There were flowery mocktails and these little raspberry dahlia mousses with mint choc leaves. Absolutely delish! I couldn’t stop eating the mint choc leaves. Think After eight but without the sweet filling and calories.

Just a tip if you’re going to use Dahlias to decorate make sure you use pesticide free (flowers from the florist are usually heavily sprayed).

Special thank you to Andrea (the La Cocotte mastermind) who spent the night making the delicious mint choc leaves.

Raspberry & dahlia mousse
Adapted from ‘Petits bouquets de cuisine’

450g raspberries (frozen)
100g raspberry ‘bits’
400ml whipping cream
150g sugar
3 leaves of gelatine
1 dahlia

6 glasses

For the mint chocolate leaves

150g dark chocolate
Bunch of mint leaves

Dip the mint leaves in the tempered chocolate. Leave to set on a piece of greaseproof paper.

For the mousse

Soak gelatine in ice-cold water. Heat the frozen raspberries with 75g of the sugar for a couple of minutes (or until you have a purée texture). Pass through a sieve. Whip cream to soft peaks, add sugar half way through. Fold together the cream with the cooked raspberries. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine, heat gently in a pot until melted. Add a spoon of the cream mixture to the gelatine. Mix, then add the gelatine to the cream. Folding gently but making sure it’s well incorporated. Fill the glasses and chill for at least 6 hours. Before serving top with raspberry ‘bits’ and decorate with dahlia petals and choc/mint leaves.

Mousse de framboise et dahlia
adapté de ‘Petits bouquets de cuisine’

450g de framboises (surgelées)
100g de framboises, brisées pour le décoration
400ml crème fleurette
150g de sucre
3 feuilles de gélatine
1 dahlia

6 verres

Pour les feuilles de menthe/chocolate

150g chocolat noir
Feuilles de menthe

Trempez les feuilles de menthe dans le chocolat fondu. Laissez froidir sur une feuille de papier cuisson.

Pour le mousse

Faites cuire une dizine de minutes les framboises avec 75g de sucre. Passez à travers un tamis en pressant bien. Faites tremper la gélatine dans de l’eau froide pendant quelques minutes. Montez en chantilly la crème fleurette bien froide. A mi-montage ajoutez le reste du sucre progressivement sans cesser de batter. Après melangez doucement les framboises cuites. Chauffez légèrement les feuilles de gelatine puis incorporez. Rempliz dans les verrines. Mettre au frigo au moins 6. Avant servir mettez une c. à soupe de framboises brisées dessous et decouréz avec des petales dahlias et feuilles de menthe.