Rosie Finally Cooks Again. Well Not Exactly Cooks. Rosie Mousses.

Daughter Hawthorne

was asking about sweets this morning. Did we not have any cookies? Were there no cakes in the house? Why was there no chocolate? Something is terribly amiss in the Hawthorne Household. All I needed was someone to want me to make something for them. I remembered a dessert picture on the menu from XKT's and my dinner in Cambridge, Maryland. Toffee Chocolate Mousse with Kahlua. Oh yeah. I think this will scratch the itch.

Rosie's Toffee Kahlua Chocolate Mousse Mix: 5 egg yolks 1/4 cup sugar 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out 4 TB Kahlua Add to yolk mixture: 1 cup melted dark chocolate. Whip to soft peaks: 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup sugar Gently fold into chocolate mixture. Beat until soft peaks: 5 egg yolks 1/4 cup sugar Gently fold into chocolate. Spoon mousse and toffee layers into decorative glasses and chill.

To remove the vanilla seeds, work with half a bean at a time, slice down the side of the bean, flatten it with side of knife, and scrape beans out.

Sugar and beans into yolks. Helps to have the yolks at room temperature. You get more volume that way.

Kahlua in.

Cup of melted dark chocolate in. Set aside and start on whipped cream.

Starting at low speed and gradually increasing speed, beat heavy cream. Slowly incorporate the sugar. When beating cream, you want the cream cold for best results. When I have time, I'll chill the beaters and the bowl before beating. Beat until you have soft peaks.

Add in about a teaspoon or so of vanilla. Set aside and prepare the egg whites.

Start at a low speed. Room temperature for eggs for best results. I like to tilt the bowl while beating to get more aeration and volume.

Gradually beat in the sugar.

Some vanilla. Set aside. Let's make a mousse!

Gently fold the whipped cream mixture into the chocolate.

Gently. Fold. If you're folding properly, the pattern should look like this.

Now fold in the egg whites.

Gently.

Sloppily half-way fill a pretty glass Daughter Hawthorne gave me for Mother's Day. Add some toffee bits. Fill with mousse and top with more bits. Oh. May I interject something here? It's something that's always bothered me. It's the Heath bits o' brickle bag. They incorrectly put the apostrophe before the o. The apostrophe goes after the o, because the f is not there. It should be Bits O' Brickle. Not Bits 'O Brickle. Had to get that off my chest. Sorry, but I digest.

Set in fridge and let chill several hours.

Chocolate cloud is the only way I can describe this.

Dixie's easing her way down.

If you use vanilla beans, don't let the beans go to waste. If you're not going to make your own vanilla extract

(And sadly I haven't done that, YET.) then at least make vanilla sugar.

Simply add sugar and beans to a jar and add more beans next time you use some. And you have vanilla sugar. Which I'm betting would be really good on a creme brulee. I'll let you know.