I’m not particularly fastidious in the kitchen.
I work with dashes, dollops and good measures instead of grams, millilitres and cups. It’s part laziness, part curiosity. It also leaves more room for the magic to happen, or so I like to tell myself.
This isn’t always a safe approach with baking. I’ve said before that baking is way more scientific than cooking and more than once I’ve had to turf a dessert because of my lack of exactitude. I remember watching my milk tart crust literally bubble away in the oven because of too much butter. I also blame it on the summer heat, but ja… Those bubbles were little pieces of my heart burning into the pie dish.
It’s true – the proof really is in the pudding. One of my favourite recipe books, Willie’s Chocolate Factory by Willie Harcourt-Cooze, is my go-to not because I’m the biggest chocolate fan, but because his recipes are simple, easy to follow and the results are always just as promised. No under-delivery here.
I’ve made his Cloud Forest Cake a few times and it is a sure-fire winner. Here’s a photo:
Yesterday I tried my hand at the El Tesoro Mousse Cake. Less ingredients, less work – and more of the result is left up to the magic.
Get the El Tesoro Mousse Cake recipe here.
While mine is hardly as neat and tidy and the picture in the book (again, I’m not fastidious), it does taste like heaven, and that’s all I really need. I dusted it with cocoa powder and icing sugar and decorated it with a few gold-sprinked rose petals. Aren’t I just too ougat?
Oven Loving 