Friday, January 28, 2011

Chicken B'Stilla and Michel Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

Mousse Cake

Chicken B'Stilla
Such great flavors and joyful cooking projects...great for all the senses:  These dishes are visually beautiful, aromatic, have great texture, are flavor sensations, and the spoken enjoyment rang out loud and clear.  They give real meaning to the term "culinary arts" as they are truly works of art and are the kinds of foods that enrich life.

Bottom Layer (baked without the pan bottom) has been Baked...Making a Great Texture that is Different from The Top  (and no leaks!)
I apologize for not being current on my posts, but I’ll catch up today.   I was in Frigid Northeastern Idaho where I  loved helping my daughter with her new baby.  I had packed the recipes that were assigned for January FfwD and I baked the Michel Rostang’s Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, but did not report on this baking project.  Before getting into today’s post assignment, I will let you know about the cake...  It was DELICIOUS!!!   My new-mother-Emily, who is a cookie monster but not a cake person, announced that this is her favorite cake and she would, for sure, bake this cake and wants the recipe.  That is quite a complement! 


Top Layer Added and Ready for Baking...Due to Refrigeration, it is Not Smooth, but Will Even Out as it Warms in the Oven
My cake most likely earns the ugly cake award for this baking project, but this time, I will boldly say that looks do not count.  Baking in my college daughter’s apartment reminds me of camping out cooking...one must just make due with what is available.  The weather was horrible...I did not want to venture out too often to get needed supplies, and shopping is, well, not what “Spoiled me” is used to...not much selection or availability of items I am used to with in my convenient home kitchen and with my variety of very close by shopping choices.

When it came time to get the cake out of the oven, it looked great and smelled delish.  But then there was not a platter to place it on, and for baking we had to use foil instead of parchment paper under the baking ring...so the poor little cake got crammed into a pie plate that was a bit smaller that the cake which cracked it up...and the foil just got left on as we moved the cake from oven to pie plate....well, you get the picture...oh well, it was wonderful anyway.  So moist and chocolatty and wonderful enough to make me want to bake it again for Valentine’s Day...for my Arizona crowd (and, of course, for my sweetheart!”)

Instead of coffee, I used watered down raspberry Italian soda flavoring which gave the cake just a delicious hint of raspberry.  When I bake this recipe again I plan to garnish the cake with some chocolate dipped fresh raspberries...see, I already have plans for my next baking of this cake.  I would also like to try it with hazelnut flavoring, and I’m dreaming about other toppings and presentations for this wonderful dessert.

I could not enter a timely post for this recipe  as I was on the road...almost 3000 miles round trip.  Just think, I could have driven to somewhere like New York City or Boston with all these miles.  But instead, I followed my heart and spent precious time with my new baby grandson and family. Totally worth every long mile on the road!

Upon returning home I had lots of catching up to do...quarterly business taxes, W-2 forms and 1099's, etc...all that required office work that must be done before the end of this month.  I stayed up all night and felt really great that I could then relax and do some fun things, like cooking projects, before payday on the 31st.  But, time to relax never happens in my life.  We had a break-in at our office building last night, so I was up all night again cleaning up broken glass, making police reports, taking inventory of stolen property and property damage...and now my brain is totally fried.  I am worthless when it comes to real life stuff today...and I’m sure this post sounds quite tired too, so...I decided to cook.  Baking and cooking are stress relievers for me, they bring joy, and bring family, and all this puts life back into perspective and energizes me.   I got busy on the Chicken b’stilla.

All Ingredients Added Together...Ready to Fill the Pie
I had chicken breasts in the freezer...thighs would have been more flavorful, but I don’t trust myself to be a good driver today due to lack of sleep...so I allowed myself no shopping.  I had all the other ingredients, some of which seemed quite odd to me as I added them to this dish...they were spices and ingredients that I had used just last month baking Christmas cookies...and now they are in the chicken.  Interesting!


Sprinkled With Cinnamon and Sugar this Pie is Ready for the Oven
Cinnamon, ginger, honey, etc are unusual additions to my chicken  (well, I do add fresh ginger to my Asian foods)  (and maybe I can find a few Mexican meat dishes with cinnamon).  But I told myself that we all like BBQ, we like sweet and salty, and we like to try new things.  This is what FfwD is all about.  New experiences.

See all the Layers...and This Pie Actually Holds its Shape Quite Well
 Hubby loved this chicken dish, a daughter suggested that it would be good folded in a flat bread with sour cream, diced tomatoes, etc...something very Middle Eastern.  And why not, since it is a “legendary dish of Morocco” that has been adapted by the French.  And, my 10 month old granddaughter,  Honey, who is just starting to try some bites of meats, just loved this chicken...kept wanting more and more.  She loved the Christmas cookie spices in her chicken!
Honey Wants More!

My Slice
My Frolicking Night Owl daughter came with her family and they brought along their freshly baked mousse cake which was doubled and made two ways...uncooked and cooked, so that we could judge the difference.  We all agreed that “cooked” is best.  The whipped up refrigerated version was just to raw eggy tasting.

I will get back to commenting on your posts...I have been reading them, but with holidays and a new baby and travel, I’ve not taken the time to enter my comments...but I’ve loved seeing your blogs and always enjoy your tips and experiences.  Thanks!  I will enjoy getting back to being more involved with all this FfwD...I’ll need lots of fun breaks as I work toward all my April 15th taxes, as I arrange office building repairs, and work hard on other gross assignments that are just part of life.  Makes me very grateful for fun projects such as FFwD and for all of you who make this cooking experience so enjoyable.

17 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you were able to spend some time with your family and share these recipes! Whenever my baby nieces are in town, they LOVE sampling the ffwD dishes! Your b'stilla turned out so nice and neat. I'm jealous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope things are getting back to normal for you. I love the idea of the raspberry flavoring in the cake. This might be my Valentine's Day dessert!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gosh u sure had some time , so muc to do + the break in , this is sure to keep u soo busy and despite it all u managed to post both the recipes up!
    I have lods of rewind posts to do too:-)

    Well i couldn agree more about the mousse cake , its sure to become a fav even with those who aint into cake:-)
    And the B'stilla rocks tOO!

    Oh the last pic of ur grand daughter is the best:-)
    Super cute!
    SO happy to meet u!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fabulous catch up! Congratulations on the new baby. It's so great you were able to be there for her! Sounds like an adventure cooking in her kitchen...also sounds like cooking in mine. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice post, a "double-whammy." I skipped the cake that week, but will try it soon. Like the almonds sprinkled on the top of your b'stilla.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks great! I too was surprise that it was so sturdy after unmolding. Thought for sure it would collapse.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Both your mousse cake and b'stilla look fantastic! I like your idea of using the raspberry Italian soda...sounds interesting and very good! Your granddaughter is so beautiful and she looks like a very happy child.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on the new baby. Although, I am sure you are glad to get back to warmer weather! It all looks wonderful - really like the concept of using the raspberry flavor with the mousse cake.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It looks great! I think the hazelnut would also be an interesting flavor to try. Most of all, congratulations to you and your daughter!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've missed your posts and am glad you're back! Congrats on your new grandson. Sorry to hear about all your office troubles this week. Your cake and b'stilla both look great. I like the almonds on top. Nice touch!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Congratulations on a new grandbaby! Both of these look delicious. I didn't make the mousse cake, but it's definitely something I want to try.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I can't believe how tall your b'stilla is. It's gorgeous! I'm so glad the little one loved it...she is beyound adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a wonderful site!
    So warm and inviting!
    Amazing recipes and photos, can't wait to come back and see more!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is my first visit to your blog...such a fun visit! Your cake and b'stilla look just wonderful...and that grandbaby is just the cutest thing ever...how would you get anything done with her around? I would be hugging and playing and forget the cooking! Cute that she loved the chicken so much. Very nice presentations of your food and the flowers are just beautiful. Lots to see on a visit over here!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Your food looks great and Honey is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  16. That's one happy baby! I can see a youngster loving this - so many flavours without too much heat. I would love to try raspberry with the mousse cake. That sounds like a wonderful combination.

    I'm sorry to hear about the break in, they're so disheartening.

    ReplyDelete
  17. yours looked great! mine didnt stay together, on top of which i didnt like it.... ugh. i really wanted to like it. How funny this was a catch up post for you, I'm catching up with the b'stilla now, obviously, the post just went up. I have made the double chocolate cake three times now, it is just SO good! :)

    ReplyDelete