White Chocolate Mousse Mountain Cupcakes

So everybody knows how much I *LOVE* to bake. I've often been told I should open up a bakery. I would certainly love to but this is not likely in my future. If I ever opened up a bakery, it would be a cupcake bakery. I even picked out a name...sorry, I'm not going to post it. Even if I never open a cupcake bakery, I will continue coming up with more cupcake ideas and posting my successes here on my blog.

For the Relief Society birthday dinner we had recently, I signed up to bring cupcakes because I can never pass up that opportunity. Many of you remember the original, all chocolate, Mousse Mountain cupcakes I posted about a couple of years ago. My mom and I also experimented with some white chocolate mousse and the two recipes we tried were okay. My mom really liked one but I thought the amount of egg yolks made it taste more custardy than like white chocolate mousse. So I revisited that recipe and altered it to my liking (so typical of me). The result was delightful!

I also tried making a chocolate cake batter from scratch. I love Duncan Hines but decided to get away from the box mix this time. I used another recipe my mom and I tried before and for some reason I liked it better this time. The batter is supposed to be split between three 10" cake pans which resulted in almost 40 cupcakes. One batch of white chocolate mousse wouldn't cover all 39 cupcakes so I also had to do a batch of chocolate mousse. Then of course, I had to use them together as well as separately. Here's what they looked like before the chocolate coating:

I also did all chocolate and chocolate/white chocolate/chocolate which isn't pictured here.

I didn't have enough time for the mousse to properly set before dipping so I just had to drizzle the chocolate on most of them.

They were still delicious. My favorite was the white choc./choc./white choc. fully coated in chocolate. They tasted even more scrumptious on the second day. Since then I have come up with ever so many more mousse ideas and names for the cupcake creations. Maybe one day they'll get their own little name plaque in a refrigerated display case.

If you have plenty of time on your hands and want to make a dessert to impress or just to indulge in, this would do it. I've been craving these ever since the RS dinner!

White Chocolate Mousse
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp sugar
2/3 c heavy whipping cream
1 c white baking chips (Guittard is the best if you can find it otherwise Nestle is better than most)
1 1/2 c heavy whipping cream

Beat eggs yolks in small bowl with electric mixer on high speed for about 3 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Gradually add sugar.

Heat 2/3 c heavy whipping cream in saucepan over medium heat just until hot (not boiling). Gradually stir half of the cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, then stir back into hot cream in saucepan. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens (do not boil).

Stir in baking chips until melted. Cover and refrigerate about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, just until chilled (mixture will seem like thick melted caramel when ready).

Beat 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in large chilled bowl on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in white chocolate mixture. You may need to whip for a few more seconds to give it the right consistency. You don't want it too soft so it's loose but don't over whip it either. It takes practice. Pipe it onto cupcakes and refrigerate for a couple of hours before attempting to dip the cupcakes. You may even need to freeze them for 20-30 minutes to be stiff enough to dip. The white chocolate mousse is softer than regular chocolate mousse.

Chocolate cake
3 c packed brown sugar
3/4 c canola oil
3 eggs
2 2/3 c flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c water
1 1/8 c cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350°. Oil 3 (10-inch) cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. For cupcakes, line tins with baking cups and lightly spray each cup.

In the bowl of electric mixer, combine the brown sugar and oil. Turn to low speed and mix in eggs. Let the sugar, oil and eggs mix while sifting together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Set the flour mixture aside.

In another small bowl, mix the vanilla into the milk and set aside as well. Bring the water to a boil and pour over the cocoa and whisk until smooth. To the egg mixture, alternately add the flour mixture and milk mixture starting and ending with flour. Scrape sides of bowl down after each addition. With the mixer on low, add the cocoa. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pour into prepared cake pans. For cupcakes, use a 1/4 c measuring cup to pour batter into each baking cup.

For 10-inch pans: bake approx. 15 minutes
For 9-inch pans: bake approx 22-24 minutes
For cupcakes: bake approx. 17-19 minutes
OR until toothpick inserted comes out clean (or almost clean).

This cake is very moist and feels sticky on top. That's normal. Cool for 10 minutes before moving to cooling racks. Once cooled, refrigerate until cold. It's easier to handle this way.

Chocolate Coating

2 c chocolate, chopped (I do 2/3 dark 1 1/3 milk)

3 Tbsp oil

Heat the two together until melted and smooth. I pour the mixture into a glass 1 cup measuring cup to do the dipping.

Enjoy!

A Chance of Rain

Why is it when the weather forecast predicts rain it only ever seems to start raining when you hope it won't?

For example, yesterday morning it was cloudy but the sun was shining. I set up my new art project outside so I could spray paint it. Those clouds did not start looking shifty until my finger pressed down on the spray paint can button. I finished spray painting and went inside to do some things hoping that it wouldn't start raining. I came back 5 minutes later and the rain had started. Figures. I had to carefully maneuver my freshly painted art project inside the house to dry. By the time I got it in the house it was pouring.

Later that evening, Jaren and I went bike shopping (for Jaren). When we walked into the bike shop there was no rain. When Jaren walked outside to take a bike for a test ride, no rain. By the time he made it across the street it was raining and was rapidly increasing to a heavy rain. Of course.

Darn rascally rain!

My favorite moment in church today...

...was when a little sunbeam girl opened the door and came running into the Gospel Principles class looking desperate to get away or find someone or both. I wasn't quite sure which. None of us in the class knew what was going on. She ran to one row of chairs full of people then stopped, turned and ran to the next row, stopped and finally ran to an empty row of chairs before hurrying under a chair to hide.

It was about this time that one of the primary leaders came in looking around that we all realized this little girl had made a run for it and was attempting to evade her persuers. Jaren even had to go over and lift the chair up for the primary leader to get the little girl. As they were walking out the door we heard the little girl say "But I want my daddy." Her dad wasn't in the room but she was trying desperately to get to him. We all had a good laugh before we could continue with the lesson.

Kids are just so funny!

The Boll Weevil

For those who don't know, a boll weevil is a bug that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. The building was constructed prior to 1850 as one of several cotton warehouses on the property. In fact most of the riverfront land in Augusta during the 1850’s was used for some aspect of the cotton trade. It was known as "Cotton Row" so several of the restaurants and shops that exist there today have names that are associated with cotton.



I heard about this cafe from one of the locals. I looked at the menu online and thought it would be a good place to try. After we left the Home & Garden show we stopped here for lunch. Pictured below is what generally happens when Jaren and I go to any "sit-down" place (non-fast food).



As soon as he stops for a few minutes, instantaneous exhaustion kicks in. I would make a joke about how he's so old that he can't even walk around a little H&G show without getting all tuckered out but this has been going on since we got married. What a funny guy. :)



The real reason I wanted to come to this place was because I wanted to try a slice of one of their monstrous cakes. This one seemed to be the most popular and we got the last slice. It's called "7th Heaven" and is chocolate cake with a cheesecake and chocolate mousse center. It was delicious with the caramel and whipped cream.



These cakes are just HUGE!



Anyone in the area should give it a try. I do want to go back for dinner sometime. They had a yummy looking entree I would love to try!