If you don’t, then someone else will.
Yes, somebody else will come along and make that special person a macadamia & white chocolate mousse with blood orange and basil, if you won’t.
As with any worthwhile matrimony, you’ll have to splash out on rings.
In this case, get yourself six metal kitchen/baking ones and you’ll be all set for your big day.
Shopping list (serves 6)
White chocolate mousse:
White chocolate (broken into chunks) x 200g
Double cream x 200ml
Gelatine leaves (soaked in water for 5 minutes) x 2
Eggs x 2
Macadamia nuts (toasted) x 150g
Vanilla paste x 1 tsp
Oat biscuits (crushed finely) x 150g
Butter x 100g
Pinch of salt
Blood orange coulis:
Blood orange x 200g
Basil leaves (roughly chopped) x 1 handful
Icing sugar x 2 tbsp
Squeeze of lemon juice
Macadamia nuts (toasted & roughly chopped) to serve
Start the night before, if possible, by covering 100g of the nuts in boiled water. Leave them overnight to soak.
The next morning, remove the nuts from the water and blend into a butter/purée with one tablespoon of the water. Add this mixture to your cream and leave to infuse for at least four hours.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, keep chilled and set aside.
Set your oven to 200°C (fan)/180°C and grease the inside of the metal rings with a bit of butter or a neutral oil.
For the base of the mousse, melt the butter slowly in a pan, before adding the oat biscuits. Roughly chop the remaining 50g of the nuts and add into the pan. Take off the heat and mix together to form a thick paste.
Place the metal rings on a baking tray and evenly push in the biscuit & butter paste into each ring. Once neatly flattened into the base of each ring, place the tray into your hot oven for 15 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool completely.
To make the mousse, begin by melting the chocolate in a pyrex bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once fully melted, add the gelatine leaves and mix well. It’ll start to thicken at this point and you can take it off the heat.
Separate the egg yolks from their whites, setting aside the whites. Immediately mix the yolks into the chocolate with a pinch of salt and the vanilla paste.
Circle back to the macadamia cream and whisk well, and gradually add this to the same bowl. Continue to whisk for around five minutes until the mixture contains plenty of air bubbles.
Move over to the egg whites and whisk until continuously to form stiff peaks. Fold this mixture evenly through the other, and pour carefully into the metal rings. Place the rings into your fridge for at least four hours to set.
To make the coulis, simply blend together all the ingredients except the basil and around 30g of the blood orange. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, before adding the basil leaves and the 30g of roughly chopped remaining orange.
When the time arrives, carefully push the mousses upwards out of their rings. Your rings should come with a piece of kit to help with this. Take your time at this stage, avoid any rushed movements that could result in a broken heart.
Serve with the coulis and scatterings of more toasted macadamia nuts.
Enjoy!x
Food and Tunes 