School’s Out

Who hasn’t felt the euphoric end of the school year or the victory of having achieved an important milestone?

My desserts for this month   take on a fun quality as I celebrate the end of school and give tribute to graduates. We’ve all been there. Who hasn’t felt the euphoric end of the school year or the victory of having achieved an important milestone? It’s whimsical with the symbols of schooling: the sharpened yellow pencils, the pink eraser. The minutes of details, such as the pencil shavings are and add realism to your design, so my advice is to never lose your childhood imagination. I made a note pad mille feuille. It’s not a straightforward cream and chocolate combination as there is a a burst of cherry when you bite into for the older graduate, perhaps the more elegant chocolate desserts are in order. The medals and the chocolate truffle rocks are a treat no matter what your grades are. These are also fairly easy to make, although tempering chocolates takes a bit of practice. Anyway, School’s out, you earned it, so treat yourself!

A B C  MILLE FEUILLE

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

• 250g heavy cream
• 170g melted white chocolate
• 1 cup cherry compote or jam
• 200g melted dark chocolate
• Acetate film

1. In a mixing bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks. Melt the white chocolate and fold it into the whipped cream. Chill the mixture for 3 minutes.
2. For the chocolate notepad, melt the dark chocolate and spread the chocolate on the acetate with an offset spatula. Try to get the chocolate as even and as thin as you can, but not to the point where it breaks easily. Cut the chocolate in 3″x4″ squares using a metal ruler and a clean cutter. You will need at least four pieces to make your layers.
3. On a chocolate square, spread 1 tablespoon of strawberry compote or jam, and then pipe the mousse on the top. Layer with another chocolate square and repeat the process, and then top with a chocolate square. If you have extra white chocolate, you can pipe anything on top, which in my case is ABC to keep with the school theme.

CAKE MEDALS

• 1 8-inch round baked cake or cake scraps
• 1/4 cup chocolate ganache
• 30 pcs small white mallows
• 30 pcs toasted whole almonds
• 30 pcs raisins or dried fruits
• 500g melted dark chocolate

1. Using the paddle attachment of the electric mixer, put the cake bits in the bowl and  and mix for 2-5minutes until you get cake crumbs.
2. Add frosting to the crumbs and mix until loosely incorporated. Form the mixture into a small ball (around 30g) and flatten it into a disc.
3. Fill the center with mallows, nuts and fruit, and reform it into a ball.
4. Chill the filled treats for 30 minutes and dip them in melted chocolate. Lay it gently on wax paper and wait for it to set. You can top it with a thin ring of chocolate (see photo on the left) to make it look like a medal.

TRUFFLE ROCKS

• 500g bitter chocolate
• 3/4 cup cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp rum
• 200g melted bitter chocolate (tempered)

1. In a small, heavy saucepan bring the cream to simmer. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Mix until the chocolate incorporates with the cream.
2. Put inside the chiller for 30-40minutes until you can handle the chocolate enough to shape them.
3. To make it really look like rocks, make rough, uneven shapes with the mixture and then dip it in the tempered chocolate.  When the chocolate coating sets, you can dust them with edible silver powder for that wonderful effect.