"Marquis Au Chocolat" Recipe

Marquise Au Chocolat

Preparation time: 50 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Cooling time: 2 hours

Chilling Time: overnight

CAKE LAYER

Melted butter (about 2 tbs)

1 Tbs. ground almonds (plus extra for dusting)

Two 3.5 oz bars of dark chocolate (60% cocoa content or more)

One 3.5 oz bar of Maya Gold (or good-quality orange flavored chocolate)

1 ¼ C. sugar

2/3 C. plus 1 Tbs. unsalted butter

pinch of sea salt

5 large eggs

MOUSSE

9  oz. dark chocolate (60% cocoa content or more)

¾ C. confectioners sugar

¾ C. unsalted butter

5 large eggs, separated

2/3 C. whipping cream

cocoa powder for dusting

CREAM

1 C. whipping cream

3 Tbs. confectioners sugar

1 1/2  tsp. orange extract

plus fresh oranges for the garnish

Preheat oven to 350*

Brush the pan with melted butter and dust with the ground almonds, shaking off any excess.

To make the cake, melt the chocolate, sugar, butter, and salt in a large, heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, then remove from heat.

Whisk the eggs with the ground almonds and fold into the chocolate mixture.  Continue to fold until the mixture thickens.  Pour into the cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for at least two hours before starting the mousse.

[But be careful where you set your mixing bowl down, especially if it's after midnight and you have 2 sleeping kids upstairs!]

To make the mousse, melt the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl sitting over a saucepan of simmering water.  [Just try not to eat it...]  Remove from the heat and add half the confectioners’ sugar, stir, then whisk in the butter.  Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Set aside.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks start to form.  Add the remaining confectioners’ sugar and continue to whisk until glossy.  Whip the cream until stiff peaks form.

Add one-third of the egg whites in a large bowl to the chocolate mixture and carefully mix to blend.  Gently fold in the remaining whites, alternating with the whipped cream.  Do not overmix, but ensure that the mixture is well blended.  Pour the mousse over the cooled cake in the cake pan and refrigerate overnight. [If it hadn't been 5am, I might have remembered to snap a pic of the "finished product" before chilling!]

Remove the pan from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving.  Dip a butter knife into boiling water, dry it, and slide it around the sides of the cake to loosen it from the pan, then gently smooth the sides of the mousse.

For the cream, whisk together the whipping cream, sugar, and orange extract together until stiff peaks start to form. 

Serve each slice with a dollop of the orange cream, and garnish with orange.

[enjoy]

Day 8- Enter a Chocolate Dessert contest

I spent a lot of time in the month of January doing research, planning and preparing for all my adventures.  One chilly morning I walked into the daycare center where I teach my music classes, and on the front table, there were a stack of pink papers that caught my eye.  They were entry forms for a dessert contest.

A DECEDANT CHOCOLATE DESSERT CONTEST!!!

Didn’t take much convincing.  Once I read over the entry form (and learned that it was not necessary for the recipe to be original), I was sold- I knew I had to do this as one of my challenges!

I spent a long time searching through recipes and trying to find the perfect, most decadent chocolate dessert out there!  I landed on a recipe from Green & Black’s chocolate cookbook that had me drooling.   I spent more money on good, quality dark chocolate than I care to worry my husband about, but anything for chocolate, right?!?!  Besides, the chocolate contest was a part of Medina’s Chocolate Festival, which benefits “Faith In Action,” so it’s all for a good cause!  I had to make it the night before because it needed to chill overnight, but my sweet little Tasmanian Devils were such messy, mischievous little goofballs that night, that until they went to bed, I had no choice but to give them all of my attention.  I didn’t hate it one bit!  Well… not until the wee hours of the morning rolled around and between rocking my precious T back to sleep a couple times and the complicated recipe I chose, I was still baking.  

I took a 2 hour “nap” while the cake portion cooled, and before I could start on the mousse.  When I finally finished, it was 5:00 a.m. in the morning of the next day.  A day in which I had a music class, and then, of course, I had to decorate the cake and deliver it!  But even throughout all this craziness- my busy schedule, the lack of sleep, the mounting stress of “do I stand a chance?”- I still loved EVERY SECOND of the baking process!  It must just be in my blood (thanks mom!).

I finished the cake and decorated it with just moments to spare.

   

J and T were so tired, I knew they’d fall asleep the second we started driving, so I asked my little brother came with me to deliver the goods!  He drove my car for me while I held the cake, and then stayed in the car with the sleeping beauties while I ran the dessert in- what an angel!  He’s such a great help!  

The dessert delivery was very “professional” and even uneventful…. Except for this picture I asked them to take for my mom to see!  You can tell I hadn't gotten much sleep... 

The next day, we went to the Chocolate Festival to find out if I’d won!  It was very crowded and I was so confused on where I was supposed to go, but I'll save you the drama; I found out pretty early on that I did NOT win first place, at least.  They were selling slices of the “First Place” dessert- a brownie…. I’m sure a very fancy and delicious brownie, but folks…. It was a brownie.  I should just be honest with you instead of trying to mask my emotions.  I was REALLY disappointed!  I'm a very sore looser, and actually that's in my blood too (thanks Dad!).  Found out later that my dessert won an “Honorable Mention” award, which is kind of cool except that the man who told me kinda winked at me too… so I wasn’t sure if he was just trying to be nice and give me a leftover ribbon or something?  Because it DID say “Chocolate Cookie Contest” when I actually entered the “Decadent Chocolate Dessert” contest…. hmmmm... it was all just bizarre…

                    

But we had an awesome time at the festival, and not all of us came out losers- Tucker won a teddy bear in a raffle!  :)

As hard as it was for me to not be… irritated (that I lost... to a brownie.), it was a GREAT lesson to share with J, who wanted to know where my “birthday cake” went, and why I didn’t win.  But really though… I couldn’t possibly have expected to win a contest my first time entering with a cake that I had never made before!  And it’s DEFINITELY something I’ll do again next year if the timing works out.  But next time, I’ll practice a recipe or two and know what I’m doing.  Instead of winging it I’ll be winning it! 

By the way, there is supposed to be some sort of “recognition” for the winner and they’re also supposed to be printing the winning recipe!!!  SO you can bet that I’m going to make that winning brownie recipe to see if it REALLY was more decadent than my “Marquise Au Chocolat”… and if I have to eat my words in the end, so be it.  I’m sure they’ll be delicious.

(Recipe will be posted soon!)

Day 7- Mall Makeover

I can’t really say that I’ve always wanted to get a mall makeover.  It was just something that came to my mind when brainstorming for 30 things I’ve never done before.  But I thought it had a lot of potential to be really fun and useful.  After all, Sephora is filled to the brim with beauty products that I know nothing about, and while it’s fun to shop around in that store, it’s pretty overwhelming.

The makeover was nice- there were things I could complain about, but I don’t like to complain, so I won’t! J  

Wanna see?

Here is my “clean face” before picture:                          And here is my after picture:

It took All of this product to get me looking like the finished product!:

There were definitely a few things that I really liked, and bought or put on my “wish list.”  I bought this under-eye corrector for dark circles- a MUST HAVE for those sleepless nights dealing with teething, nightmares, congestion, “lost my blankie/paci" and other emergencies.  I’m excited about this one, I noticed a significant difference right away!  

I also bought an eye shadow pallet, plus eye shadow brushes, because you know, when you buy fancy eye shadows, they don’t come with the little spongy brushes!  I wasn’t SUPER crazyabout her technique with the eye shadow: if you look, it was really light on the bottom part of the eyelid and didn’t look like I had any shadow on there, and then it was darker on the outside corners and creases.  I just would’ve preferred some color on the visible part of the lid- don’t you think?  That being said, I really liked the shades and the fact that they were all matte colors (as opposed to shimmery eye shadow), so I bought it!  

On my wish list: I liked the foundation that she used (although she let me pick it out), which was an Urban Decay liquid foundation.  It surprised me!  It felt pretty light, not cake-y at all, and seemed easy to wash off at night.  Good stuff, although I'll probably stick with Bare Minerals for everyday.  And I liked that she actually used a brow brush to fill in my eyebrows (I don’t ever do that!).  

      

She used a “bronzing blush” that I wasn’t crazy about, but later on I found a product that had bronzer, highlights, and blush right in a row.  I think I might try that sometime so I can blend the brown, white and pink to get the shade I want that day.  Forgot to snap a picture of it tho!

All in all, it was a worthwhile experience, because I found new products and learned how to use them.  However, next time I'd like to try one of their technique classes.  Makeovers are fun, but I need to learn how to do the eye shadow blending, the contouring, the “smokey eyes,” or whatever else, on my own!  And I think it would be great to practice there with the experts, so they can critique my skills (or lack thereof).  Otherwise, what’s the point in makeovers if you can’t replicate the work?!

The only thing that I’m still a little stuck on is this.  Take a look at my “before” picture with my typical, everyday makeup on, next to the “makeover after” picture:

I don’t feel like there’s a huge difference.  A little here and there, glossy lips and heavier eye makeup, but I think what I’m realizing is how LITTLE my makeup matters.  I will definitely continue to use more of it when I need to/want to (for auditions, jobs, date nights, etc.)  But that said, I’m really content with feeling like I wasn’t far off to begin with, and remembering that true beauty is on the inside (cliché, I know, but get over it because it’s true), and while the outside is fun to play with and it’s nice to feel pretty, I still feel even prettier when I’m with my babes, making play-doh, going for walks, baking cookies, pushing them on the swings, or whatever else- regardless of what I look like! 

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and gold jewelry or fine clothes.  Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight."

1 Peter 3:3-4

Day 6: Blue Hair

Today, I got my hair cut and colored...BLUE!!! Well not, ALL blue.  And it's actually not even my hair.... okay, let me explain:

For YEARS I've been dying to get a fun colored peek-a-boo highlight in my hair.  Problem is, I always talk myself out of it because I worry that I wouldn't be able to hide it well enough for auditions, and that if/when I ever book jobs, I'd have to get it dyed back.  I don't really want to spend the time and money on something that could end up being so short lived.


So today, I took a short cut!  Call it "cheating" if you will, but I call it fun!  After my fabulous haircut by the lovely and talented Sheila (at Salon Rootz), she taught me how and where to put in my blue extensions, so that I can have this great "blue hair don't care" look whenever I want... but still take it out so that it won't jeopardize my chances of booking!

And... I LOVE IT!!! I am usually not a fan of anything "fake."  (For example, it drives me nuts when a shirt is patterned on the front and then solid colored in the back.  And "white chocolate" isn't chocolate, it's an imposter. You get the gist.)  But in this case, I'm making an exception because it's the only way I could have some fun with my hair.

So I'm going to just carry on with the advise of my little sister, "You do you!" and the wise words of my mother, "I do what I want!" (:  It was such a small "task" but a really great excuse to do something that I've been wanting to do for a while, just for me!

Which leaves me with a question for myself... kind of a common theme among these 30 tasks so far... do I really need an excuse to do these things I've been wanting to do all this time?  What has been holding me back for so long?

I have 24 more days to discover my answer.

Day 5: Raincheck- Hot Air Balloon Rideb

Today started with what I thought would be an easy-breezy challenge: letting Joey pick out my outfit, and wearing whatever she chose, in public.  This girl has a thing for dressing to the nines, so it had potential to be pretty fancy (re: embarrassing). 

But guess what?  My little fire-cracker did NOT want to pick out my outfit today.  She was all about it when I asked her at breakfast, but then I just couldn’t get her to care!  Sure, I could’ve forbidden her to watch TV until she picked out my clothes (and we tried) but then she grabbed a shirt out of the nearest laundry basket and said “Here mom, just wear this!”  We tried to persuade her in every way possible, but she eventually asked K, “Why can’t mommy just pick out her own clothes?!?

FAIL. 

She just didn’t give a flying you-know-what, and I couldn’t make her.  I wasn’t about to wear the top she picked and call it a challenge- it was one of my favorites so I wear it all the time anyway! 

So I went about my day, having no clue what I’d be able to pull off- if anything.  I scrolled down to the very bottom of my list and noticed one of my favorites- go on a Hot Air Balloon ride- that I've been ignoring because, well, it's winter.  So, I had to take a step back and consider a few things: first of which, I'm the mommy to two very beautiful and VERY busy young babes.  A raincheck wouldn't be the worst idea, especially if it allowed me to move on with my day, spend my precious time letting the little rascals play in the bath before bed, and sing them to sleep!  And second... I REALLY want to go up in a Hot Air Balloon!  Like, REEEAAAALLLLLLYYYYYYY BAD!  But that just couldn't happen in the chilly days of February, so the only chance I had was a Raincheck!  I have no fear of heights, and I experience "flying" dreams all the time, so to bring that to life would just be unreal.  So what better excuse could I come up with to ask for a ride, but trying to experience 30 ADVENTURES to welcome in my 30's?!?!  As soon as I saw the situation in this light, it made perfect sense. 

 Next came the hard part.

I don’t know WHY it’s so hard for me to ask for things, but it is.  I just HATE the thought of inconveniencing people, or putting them in an uncomfortable position where they need/want to say no, but feel bad.  But on the other hand, I couldn't start skipping days THIS early in the game, it's only day 5!  No, I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and ask for something a bit... selfish!  

So, I messaged a friend of mine from church who is a hot air balloon pilot!  And as you already guessed from the straight-forward title of this post, she agreed that we could work something out!  (AHHHHHH!!!! OMG OMG OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!!) I have to assume that when you’re a hot air balloon pilot, everyone you talk to throws their name in the hat for a ride, so I am just BEYOND excited right now that she would be willing to help ME out with my challenge, and treat me to a bird’s eye view, regardless of where I might fall on that list!  Of course, we’ll have to make arrangements, and it will have to be weather-pending, but just the thought that I’ll likely get to experience something so thrilling is enough to make my day today! 

 Looks like my 30’s will be something to look forward too, after all!

Day 4- Work Out With a Personal Trainer

There once was a time when life was simple.  The days began at 10am (or whenever I couldn’t lie in bed any longer because I had to get up to pee) and I was in charge of exactly one person.  I was responsible for buying, making, ordering, or mooching my meals.  I was responsible for my laundry and homework.  There came a day when I traded in my homework for a job and student loans to pay, but the nights were still sleepful and the days included something called “free time.”  It was during this seemingly fictional “free time” that I would go to the gym and work out.

This was many moons ago. 

It has been at least four years since I’ve made any lasting attempt to work out.  (Well, besides a brief Zumba class which was great, but just couldn’t keep up with it for many reasons.)  Now my life is busier, crazier, more hectic, AND more beautiful than I EVER could have imagined!  Being responsible for three human beings (and a fourth on weekends- shout out to my hubs! lol) is a lot of work, and more often than not, I find that I have put myself on the bottom of the priority list.  Anyone else?  I’m guessing I’m not alone.

I don’t know why I waited so long, but it felt great to get back to it!  The problem was, I couldn’t go back to my old work-out routines, and my go-to cardio machines won’t help me reach my goals anymore.  That’s where my personal trainer comes in!  Enter Tom Cahalan, Future Mayor of Medina: Because every town needs a little TLC!

   

Tom helped me come up with a plan that will get me to where I want be- a healthier me!  I always just assumed I should be doing cardio, cardio and more cardio, but Tom gave me a weight lifting plan (yes, weight lifting, as in picking up dumb-bells and doing stuff with them… ME!!!) to build strength and tone, and he showed me the key ab and back machines and how to use them.  THEN he pushed me to my limit when I was ready to give up, and he added weights when he suspected I was going too easy on myself.  It was AWESOME, though!  Now I know what to do and where to start the next time I walk in there.  I’m also hoping to start going once or twice a week!  It felt great last night to crawl into bed and feel a little bit sore- it meant that I DID something that day!  Next up would be adding in a leg routine, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself just yet!

 

^ Am I this big of a dork in person, or does it just come across in pictures?  

No wait, don't answer that...

Before this challenge, I had never even considered coming up with a personal “work out” plan.  But every single person is so different, so why WOULDN’T we all need our own routines?  Why WOULDN’T we want to tailor to our own individual goals?  It makes so much sense when you stop to think about it.  If you’re someone who hates working out or doesn’t see or feel the results you want, or if you just don’t know where to start, I would HIGHLY recommend setting up a few appointments with a personal trainer!  They will be able to get you on track to where you need to be, and help you learn your limits so that you can PUSH them!

I’m going to be pretty busy pushing all sorts of limits this month, but if, by March, I can make it a habit of working out once or twice a week…. I’ll be in good shape! ;)