use real butter

When I said I was done baking until I returned from Canada, I did not lie. But I decided to whip up (literally) some chocolate espresso mousse tonight. Jeremy finished his proposal and sent it off to the university grants office for review before submission. He said he was in the mood for some sort of celebratory drink or some such yummy. I love being able to think of a dessert on the fly and make it on the spot. When I was a kid and I wanted to make something like meringues, I couldn’t because we never had enough sugar (a cup!) in the house. My mom did not bake and the cupboards told that tale time and again. Not in my house, not in my kitchen. Shazaam! Like that - chocolate espresso mousse!

more like espresso chocolate mousse

I’ve had matcha on my mind lately. You just can’t make real green tea any pastry without matcha, the finely ground green tea. I even dreamt about what I was going to make, but this morning I changed my mind and opted for an opera-like cake. I could use up my earl grey infused ganache and turn some other chocolate ganache into glaze. All I needed to make was the matcha spongecake and the buttercream.

matcha

I actually learned a lot about the whole process without screwing it up entirely. I made the spongecake in a jelly roll pan thinking it would be thin enough so I could get away without slicing it. Opera requires pretty thin cake layers (traditionally a jaconde is used) and the jelly roll wasn’t thin enough. I used half a swiss buttercream recipe and added 3 teaspoons of matcha which made it mildly green in tint. The assembly is straightforward, a layer of spongecake, then buttercream, then spongecake, then ganache, then repeat and top with spongecake - wrap in plastic and press down on the cake with a flat surface. Refrigeration is the most important step. After the cakes were chilled for about 30 minutes, I poured a chocolate glaze on top (no need to glaze the sides) and refrigerated for about an hour.

matcha and chocolate opera: not a lot of yield for all of that work

Once the whole thing is chilled, carefully cut away the edges. That is probably the toughest step. I recommend cleaning a good bread knife with hot water and wiping it clean before each cut. Take care when slicing through the ganache as it is hard and can pull the whole cake out of shape. Sprinkle a little matcha on top and serve.

excellent with coffee or tea

jeremy sips coffee with the trimmings while kaweah looks on with great interest

It tastes very nice with the chocolate coming up front and the earl grey kicking in midway with a mild start to the green tea and a green tea finish. The ganache and glaze are quite sweet, so I think small servings are perfect with some strong espresso. It was quite involved and pretty frustrating, but I think I have a better idea for making it next time and prepping everything ahead but the buttercream. Still, I think it turned out okay considering.

This is the last bit of baking I do until after Whistler.

Oooh, I felt so energized when I woke up this morning! In contrast to the weather each morning this entire week, the sun was bright on the hillsides at daybreak. Not that I don’t like my overcast mornings, I really do cherish them since they are the exception rather than the norm here. But it seemed to enhance my already good mood.

In the afternoon I picked Jeremy up after all of his meetings with his students were done. We got ourselves some brand spanking new trail runners at the Road Runner sale. Then we caught a matinée showing of Ratatouille since we assumed all of the kids would be seeing Harry Potter. Oh, Ratatouille is such a delightful film - and beautiful to watch.

We did our grocery shopping after the movie and poor Jeremy was feeling hungry from the moment the film began. But I had a surprise up my sleeve for him. I plan the weekly menu and usually our first meal after grocery shopping is something fresh. Tonight, I made some sashimi rolls. Too bad Joyce (who is Japanese) and Kell (who is Japanese on the inside and Aussie on the outside - an Egg) weren’t there to either instruct or critique. That would have been fun. I requested sake belly and some lovely maguro from the Whole Foods fish counter. Oh, to have access to Sydney’s fish markets now *sigh*.

sake (salmon) and maguro (tuna) sashimi rolls

wrapped around avocado and daikon sprouts with masago (flying fish roe) and seaweed

Delish! I also procured some matcha, which smells heavenly. Can’t wait to make something with it. And in kitchen equipment news, I finally bought duplicate pastry brushes so now I have a set for pastries and a set for savory foods. It’s almost like a kosher kitchen except the concern is contaminating pastries with strong leftover flavors of garlic, butter, bbq sauce, etc. Jeremy wanted to buy a branding iron so we could label the wooden handles for pastries or savories, but I don’t think people make branding irons that small unless they are herding something like… hamsters?