Reading:Mary Oliver / Present Over Perfect By Shauna Niequist
Wild Geese
"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."
Since becoming a mama, my lunch hour at work has become sacred time to work on things like this site, read, knit (WHATEVER I WANT - YESSSS).
I have become a master at utilizing my time very efficiently out of necessity like most other moms or heck just "busy" people - it is the key to
keeping life moving in any sane fashion.
Although it takes it's toll and can leave you (well me) foggy and dead-eyed. The irony is not lost on me
that I am listening to Shauna's book on my strictly scheduled "me-time" about living more meaningfully and less frantically. However, I had to
stop listening to it because she was striking all of my chords and I was tearing up (hand to the sky murmuring "yaaasss, Shauna I feel you!").
I work with all men in my immediate physical space for the most part, so there can be no tears, although the talking to myself would probably pass.
So I had to shut it off and leave it for time more appropriate to be potentially emotional. I did however make it past the part of the reference to Mary Oliver's poem Wild Geese (excerpt above),
which is one of my favorites. I really love Mary Oliver period, so I am pretty sure I am going to also love Shauna's book.
And not so coincidentally, this dessert is quite perfect for the emotional (eat your feelings) moment I was describing; it is all indulgence. A fudgey, rich brownie
topped with a slightly tart fluffy mousse. I have been doing a lot of experimenting with mousses and molds to hopefully achieve a few complicated
desserts I have on my list and this recipe was created out of some basic trials for that. The currants are completely optional as they are hard to come by
fresh, jam is often available and lends a bit more tartness to the mousse.
Raspberry Currant Mousse Brownie
Recipe for raspberry, currant mousse brownie. By Marysmaking
Prep time: - Cook time: - Total time: Yield:6-8S
Ingredients
For Brownie
- 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate
- 9 unsalted butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 6 T cocoa
- 1 pinch salt
For Ganache
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate
- 1 cup cream
Raspberry Currant Mousse
- 4 sheets of leaf gelatin or 1 envelope of powdered gelatin (like Knox)
- 2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam
- 1/2 cup sugar
- juice from 1/2 lemon or about 2 T
- 1/4 cup currant berries or 1/8 cup currant jam (optional)
- 1 vanilla bean or 2 T vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2/3 cup plain (full fat) greek yogurt
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
Optional
- Fresh raspberries, currants and edible flowers for decoration
Directions
For Brownie
Preheat oven 350F.
Melt chocolate and butter over double boiler.
When melted, remove chocolate from heat and beat eggs and sugar until pale yellow and slightly fluffy, then fold in melted chocolate.
Stir in flour, cocoa, and salt until just combined.
Pour batter into greased round 9" springform pan.
Bake 16 - 18 minutes, then prepare ganache.
For Ganache
Melt chocolate over double boiler, remove from heat.
Heat cream until tiny bubbles form around the edge, but do not let boil.
Pour cream into chocolate and stir until glossy.
Pour over brownie and chill overnight in fridge or at least 4 hours.
For Mousse
Bloom gelatin in ICE cold water:
If using powder gelatin, sprinkle over 1/4 cup water.
For sheets, cover completely in a shallow dish, then when ready to use gently wring out excess water.
Combine jam, sugar, lemon and currants in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil while stirring constantly then remove.
Stir in your gelatin until dissolved and then set aside until lukewarm. The temperature has to be just right - if it is too hot you will melt the whipping cream
and too cool it will be chunky and not mix well with the whipping cream. It will be more forgiving if it is warmer than colder and if you do melt the whipped cream slightly it will still set up.
Once gelatin mixture has reached correct temperature, mix your heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form, add vanilla and then fold in gelatin mix.
Place raspberries evenly around the bottom of the 7-8" springform pan and pour mousse over to completely cover them and freeze at least 4 hours to overnight.
When ready to assemble, unmold brownie and mousse from springform pans and gently set mousse on top of brownie and decorate edges with fresh fruit and/or flowers.
Let dessert sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours to allow the mousse to thaw.