Sweet...

by Karolina, 31st March 2012

...and for the end of my book-party theme some sweets. Actually desserts galore :)

Yes, I told you it was quite a lot of sweetness there:
- black and white cheesecake
- quick chocolate mousse (more on it below)
- licorice cupcakes
- chocolate cake
- Earl Grey madeleines
- home-made Raffaelo
- chocolate clouds
- variation on Polish cake called "Karpatka"
- not visible on the picture but still there: kiwi pops and home-made Rocher

I hope your sugar levels are still in norm :)

OK, I do like sweets. If ,by now, you haven't noticed :P
I composed this dessert table to keep the book-theme of the party.
So, first of all it's all black & white - which is not that difficult to obtain in desserts while using loads of chocolate, coconut, whipped cream etc.
I added french madeleines - because they remind me of the book-theme (famous Proust's madeleines) but as well these contained Earl Grey tea which is my boyfriend's favourite.
Following his tastes I created licorice cupcakes (check Sweetalopita's ones) but because I didn't have anise flavour,I actually used star anise finely grounded in mortar. I got a few compliments on these- as they combined sweetness of vanilla cupcakes and whipped cream with strong flavour of licorice - give it a try (if you like licorice of course).
My favourite dessert thought was the simplest but the most attractive one (at least for me)....
Chocolate mousse shots.
I made it previously for my sister's bridal shower and it was a hit. Couldn't be simpler though...
Whipped cream + cocoa powder + sugar + alcohol (in this case whisky). Really!

Ok, I'll be more specific if you need:
1 cup of heavy cream (at least 30%)
2-3 spoons of cocoa (good dark chocolate one)
2-3 spoons of sugar
1-2 spoons of alcohol - I used whisky but you can try any liqueur or just omit is it's for children

Whisk the cream until well set - about 3-4minutes. Be careful not to make a butter out of it though.
Slowly add sugar and cocoa powder (make sure you don't make a mistake of adding all cocoa at ones and having it all on your face and apron, as I did ;)). Add alcohol (if using). Done :)

For party presentation:
- use piping bag to divide cream between little shot glasses
- for easy eating and nicer presentation I used ribbon to attach little spoon to each glass with mousse

How do you like this dessert table?