Croissants, take one.

Laminated dough has always been the pinnacle of baking to me, which is probably why I've been scared to try it. But when I came across a 20 minute croissant dough from The Boy Who Bakes, I figured I put it off long enough.

The traditional way to make croissants is to make a yeast dough, roll it out, and place a butter slab thing on top. It's then covered with the dough, rolled, and turned multiple times to create the thin, flaky layers.

Edd's version can be made in a food processor. Chilled butter is pulsed into the flour mixture and refrigerated overnight before beginning the rolling and turning process. Easy enough, right?

It certainly was easy. Between turning, I refrigerated the dough 25 minutes to keep it chilled. This also seemed to relax the gluten, making it easier to roll the dough out. After the third turn, the dough lost its raggedy edges and was pretty smooth with visible butter chunks remaining.

Then, my lack of technique came into play. I didn't roll the dough out wide and long enough, so the croissant triangles were smaller and didn't have as many rolls when shaped. I think that's why my croissants puffed out too much. Also, instead of leaving them plain, I brushed each piece of dough with a butter cinnamon-sugar filling left the insides a little soggy.

As Edd noted in his recipe, the croissants don't appear to proof very much, but they do expand while baking.

While I didn't miserably fail my first attempt, my croissants leave much to be desired. They're a little flaky but nothing like a real croissant. Armed with just a little bit of experience, I hope my next attempt is a little better.

Until then, I'm off to meet up with Emily from Sugar Plum Blog.

G Series Energy Chews Winner

Hi folks, it's time to pick the winner of the energy chews giveaway. Without further ado, the winner, chosen by random.org, is:

Aimee Porter06 June, 2012 15:31

I am training for my 4th half marathon. I would use these during my daily runs and especially during my long runs on Sundays:) Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

Congratulations, Aimee! I hope the chews come in handy during your training. Please send me an email with your shipping info to christinaATrunningfoodieDOTcom.

Thanks for entering, everyone!

Incredibly Easy Chocolate Mousse

It's been about 1 1/2 years since I last ate chocolate mousse. Micki made it for me and it left a lasting impression. Mousse, unlike custard and pudding, requires no cook time and has a very silky, spongy texture. Depending on the type of chocolate you use, it can taste pretty rich. I used half semisweet and half bittersweet. Wowee.

I remember all of that, yet I've never bothered to make it myself. Forget about the simplicity of brownies, mousse is the easiest dessert of all time. As an added bonus, it requires no bake time and ingredients you most likely have on hand. Eggs, chocolate, extract, hot coffee. Got all of those?

Here's how to do it. In a blender (or a bowl with a whisk, like I used), pour hot coffee over the chips, blending (or whisking) until melted. All that blending cools the mixture down for the next step.

Whisk in the yolks and liqueur or extract into the chocolate mixture until thick.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Pour the chocolate over the whites and fold until blended.

Pour into serving dishes for a fancy presentation, or into one big serving bowl. Although you don't have to bake mousse, you do need to chill it for at least an hour prior to digging in. Good things come to those who wait.

To keep busy, I made orange-flavored pizzelles to dip into the mousse. Wow, that little maker gets hot; you'd have thought the oven was on!

And that, folks, is how you make mousse. If you're a guy, this should be your go-to dessert to impress family, friends, and dates. For everyone else, you'll still impress everyone with this dessert. I mean, I impressed myself.

Disclaimer: If you're young, pregnant, or elderly, you might want to steer clear of this dessert unless you use pasteurized eggs.

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Incredibly Easy Chocolate Mousse
Recipe from Chocolate On The Brain: Foolproof Recipes for Unrepentant Chocoholics by Kevin Mills and Nancy Mills

Yields 6 servings

Ingredients -

1 cup (6-ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup very hot coffee or 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 1/3 cup boiling water, plus an additional tablespoon or two if needed
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract or liqueur of choice
Whipped cream

Directions -

1. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl and pour the hot coffee over them. Whisk until mixture is very smooth. If necessary, add the additional hot coffee to melt any remaining chips. Whisk again for another few seconds.


2. Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a large metal bowl with no traces of grease and the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture. Set the whites aside. Add the vanilla or liqueur to the chocolate mixture and whisk for 15 seconds, or until the mixture is thick and smooth.


3. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer just until they form stiff peaks. Do not overbeat.


4. Pour the chocolate mixture over the beaten egg whites and mix them gently with a rubber spatula, scooping up egg white from the bottom of the bowl and turning the spatula over repeatedly until no white is visible. Pour the mousse evenly among six small dishes or into one serving bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight. Serve plain or with whipped cream. Store leftovers, covered, in the refrigerator.