Strawberry mousse cake with chocolate chip cookies bottom

Bleh! I've been nursing a cold for the passed week. You know, the slow torturous one that starts two weeks in advance, with muscle pain and headaches, then "BAM!" just like that, it hits, and you're completely thrown off balance.

Left with no energy & no appetite, I lost the desire to cook. I KNOW! It's soooo wrong!!! Everything tastes mediocre or yucky, so I haven't cooked or baked ANYTHING at all... except for birthday cakes. Ya, this is the third one in 7 days. LOL!!!! It was a friend's birthday dinner yesterday, and so I made what I was told to be his preference, Strawberry Mousse.

I didn't want to turn on the oven, so instead of making a cake base, I made it with crushed chocolate chip cookies & cream cheese. The rest is simply strawberries, cream, a bit of sugar and gelatin.

The base:

• 16 chocolate chip cookies (I used the Compliments ones, but Chips Ahoy or anything similar is fine)
• 1/2 block of cream cheese (4 oz)

Line bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with
Crush the cookies in a big bowl. Soften cream cheese in the microwave for 1 minute on medium power. Mix cookies & cream cheese together, using your hands to mash them together well. Press in bottom of baking pan. Refrigerate.

The mousse:
(adapted from Joy of Baking Strawberry Charlotte)

• 1 bag 600g frozen strawberries, no sugar added, thawed
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 pouches of Knox gelatin
  
• 250 ml whipping cream

Puree the strawberries in a blender, add the sugar according to your taste. Reseve 1 cup in the fridge.

Sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup of strawberry puree, let sit for a few minutes. Stir and microwave for 15 seconds or until the gelatin has dissolved. Add it to the rest of the puree and mix well.

Beat the cream with a mixer until soft peek form, then fold the puree into it and continue beating until stiff peak. Spread over the cookie base and refrigerate a few hours.

The glaze:

• 1 cup of strawberry puree
• 1.5 Tbsp of Knox gelatin

Sprinkle the gelatin on top of the puree and let it sit for a few minutes. Microwave for 15 seconds or until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Mix well and spread over the top of the mousse.

Decorate to your desire & enjoy! I am off rolling myself in the blankie & fry like an imperial roll... (Oh yeah... I'm s.l.o.w.l.y getting my appetite back)

Strawberry rhubarb sherbet

Dad: What's that in the tub???
Me: It's strawberry & rhubarb coulis
Dad: Oh cool! But... that's a whole tub, what are you gonna do with all of that?
Me: Well, I can decorate dessert plates, pour it over ice cream & cake
Dad: Right. But... that's a whole tub...
Me: Well, I can freeze the rest into ice cubes you know!
Dad: ... (still staring at the tub)

3 days later

Me: (pulling out the tub from the fridge) Ok, fine dad! I'll make sherbet with the coulis.
Dad: What's that in the tub?

Strawberry & Rhubarb sherbet

• 2 cups of chopped strawberries
• 2 cups of sliced rhubarbs
• 2/3 cup of sugar (the coulis I made only had 1/3 cup, but it'd be sour so add 1/3 or more)
  
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp of Ice wine cider (optional)
• 1 cup cream
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Put the first four ingredients into a sauce pan over low heat. Cover and let cook for a few minutes. Turn off heat. Cool, then blend until smooth and add Ice wine. Add the cream and chill in the fridge a few hours or over night

When ready, churn mixture in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instruction, add the chopped strawberries in at the last 5 minutes of churning.

Serve with home-made waffle bowls, some chocolate-covered almonds or an Oreo cookie :) Yummy!

3 layers panna cotta: honey, mango & strawberry

It's supposed to be end of spring here in Montreal, yet the weather is still extremely moody. Yesterday was crazy hot and sunny. Today was cold & cloudy most of the time.

The only good things that remain stable so far are the yummy fruits & vegetables. The vibrant colors, the ripe smells & the feel of them in your hands. I love everything about spring and summer (except for my allergies and the wasps that like to hover in my face)

So let's pretend it is hot outside, and indulge in this cold creamy & fruity goodness of panna cotta. A lot of the time it is made with cream ("panna cotta" means "cooked cream") but I went with whole milk instead. I started out with this recipe & then got carried away and made 2 other layers, lol!!!

Honey panna cotta
(recipe taken from Diary of a professional eater who got it from Giada D.L)

• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 packets of Knox gelatin
• 1/2 cup honey (more or less depends on your taste)
• a tiny pinch of salt
• a tsp vanilla extract

In a sauce pan, mix milk & the packets of Knox, let sit for a few minutes, then put on medium low heat & stir constantly until heated through. Add honey, salt & vanilla extract, stir to blend, thwen take off heat and pour into glass. Refrigerate a few hours

Mango layer
(I didnt cook the milk, so it can't be panna cotta... but what is it then? Mango mirror?)

• 1 Ataulfo mango, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 packet of Knox gelatin (I used only half and it wasn't set enough)

Put mango & milk in blender and work it until smooth. Sweeten it if you want but I didn't. Take about 1/4 of the mango mix, sprinkle the gelatin on top & mocrowave it for 10 seconds. Stir until everything is well blended and add the rest of the mango mix into it. Stir again.

Layer on top of set honey panna cotta. Refrigerate for an hour


Strawberry layer

• 1 cups of washed, hulled & chunked strawberries
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 packet of gelatin

Repeat the same steps as with the mango. Then layer it on top and refrigerate a few more hours.

I had some strawberries and a bit of the white chocolate Cointreau custard left, so I made another plate of dessert. All were greatly enjoyed by my parents and their friends.

TGIF!!!! Oh and Zesty Cook is giving away a blog make-over!!!! It's such a great idea!!!! Go visit & subscribe, u get recipes sent to you EVERYDAY! :O

Strawberry frozen yogurt pops

Today was the first day of 2009 that I was able to walk outside without a jacket. The sun was out and about doing its thing. It was wonderful!!! The bar terraces were completely packed with people drinking & staff running around like chickens without heads.

I literally had to duck and hop through a sea of mini micro skirts and "wifebeater" tank tops on my way home.

So let's celebrate the nice weather with a really quick & simple-to-make treat.

Strawberry frozen yogurt:

• 1 cup Greek yogurt (If you can find any, if not just drain the water out from full-fat yogurt)
• 1 cup strawberry, chopped
• 1-2 tbsp of honey, depending on how sweet the strawberries are

Whiz everything together in a blender and pour into molds. Keep in freezer for an hour or two before serving.

You can also use other fruits. I think berries are best.

I got these pop molds from the dollar store. Good stuff!!!