OK, THIS MAY be another Christmas of limited catch-up and early shutdown hours, but that doesn’t mean we can’t eat well, relax and enjoy good food for each other at home when it does. is possible.
Right now, most people have an idea of ​​what kind of main course they expect to serve on D-Day, but desserts can often be left to the last minute.
It is of course tempting to add a few store-bought pavlovas or trifles and forget about it, because you feel like you won’t be able to make some yourself or you won’t have time. But let’s be honest, packaged desserts just aren’t the same as homemade ones.
So have faith in yourself and why not try one or both? The recipes are rich, tasty and the final serving will wow anyone who sits at your table:
Shane’s recipes
Milk chocolate honeycomb mousse
Source: Shane Smith
For 8 people
Mousse
450g milk chocolate
150 ml of cream
3 egg yolks (60 g pasteurized egg yolk)
3 egg whites (90g pasteurized egg whites)
50g caster sugar
250 ml whipped cream
Honeycomb
100g caster sugar
10 ml of water
25g of honey
1 level teaspoon of bread soda
Method
For the mousse, place the chocolate and cream in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and mix until well blended, remove from heat.
Beat egg white and sugar until thick and shiny.
Add the yolk to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine.
Stir in the meringue and finally stir in the whipped cream.
Pour this mousse into your serving glasses and chill for at least three hours.
For the honeycomb, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Put the sugar, water and honey in a saucepan over low heat and cook until it begins to brown.
Carefully remove from the heat and add the soda to the bread and stir with a wooden spoon.
The mixture will foam, so you need to work quickly. Once the soda is added, stir and pour onto the baking sheet and let cool.
Do not move the tray as this will cause the air to come out of the honeycomb.
To serve, place a little cream on the refrigerated mousse, bite honeycombs on it and enjoy!
Crispy cheesecake
Source: Shane Smith
It is not an exercise. I repeat, this is NOT an exercise. If you’re still undecided on what to do for Christmas dessert, this cheesecake is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. You can find a video version of the recipe below here.
Servings: 10
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooling time: overnight
Based
320g of chocolate digestive cookies
125 g of melted butter
Filling
700g of whole cream cheese
100g icing sugar
300 ml double cream
dash of vanilla essence
150g crunchy bars, chopped
Accompaniement
100 g dark chocolate, chopped
50g cream
4 crunchy bars, chopped
Method
Line the bottom of a 20 cm loaf pan with parchment paper.
For the bottom, mix the blitzed cookies with the melted butter and press on the bottom of the mold. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
For the garnish, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip cream cheese, sugar and vanilla for a few seconds until blended.
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To do this, start slowly pouring the cream while mixing. Continue doing this until all the cream is added and stir for about a minute until the cheesecake filling is thick. It is important to whisk until thick, but do not over mix and the mixture may split.
Add the chopped crispy bars and fold.
Pour this filling over the chilled base and spread it with a spoon until smooth.
Place it in the fridge overnight to firm it up.
The next day, for the filling, heat the cream and pour it over the chopped chocolate and let stand 2 minutes so that the chocolate melts.
Stir with a spatula until combined and melted.
You can run a sharp knife around the edge of the mold to release the cheesecake.
To serve, spread over the melted chocolate filling and top with the chopped crispy bar.
Shane Smith has nearly 22 years of experience in some of the world’s most famous pastry kitchens. During these years he received numerous awards ranging from ‘Best Bakery Manager in Ireland’ by Shelf Life Magazine to ‘Top 10 Pastry Chefs in Ireland’ by Food & Wine Magazine. Shane also has a regular cooking niche on RTÉ’s The Today Show. Check out more recipes on her Instagram or at www.chefshanesmith.ie.
