Chocolate Espresso Mousse Food

CHOCOLATE BABKA

Steps:

• Make the dough: Sprinkle the yeast over the milk in a liquid measuring cup; add a pinch of sugar and set aside until bubbly, about 7 minutes. Combine the flour, the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, the eggs, yeast mixture, salt, vanilla, nutmeg and lemon zest in a large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until soft and smooth, about 5 minutes. Knead in the butter in three additions, dusting the dough with flour if it's too sticky. Transfer the dough to a large bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down the dough, re-cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the fridge overnight.
• Make the filling: Heat the sugar, heavy cream and salt in a saucepan until scalding. Pour over the bittersweet chocolate chips, butter and vanilla in a bowl. Whisk until smooth and shiny. Let cool to room temperature.
• Make the topping: Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt in a separate bowl; work in the butter with your fingers until the mixture is sandy and chunky. Stir in the mini chocolate chips; set the topping aside.
• Form the loaves: Cut the dough in half with a bench scraper or chef's knife. Using a rolling pin, roll each half into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread the filling on both dough rectangles, all the way to the edges. Starting from a long side, tightly roll each rectangle into a log. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes. Unwrap the logs; cut each in half lengthwise with a bench scraper or chef's knife. Twist the halves together a few times, starting from the middle. Coat two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and line with parchment, then spray the parchment. Place a dough twist snugly in each pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 1/2 hours.
• Finish and bake the babka: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush each loaf with butter and sprinkle with the topping. Bake until browned, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, make some simple syrup: Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan; simmer, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Let cool. Pull the loaves out of the oven and immediately poke a bunch of holes in each with a wooden skewer. Pour 1 1/4 cups simple syrup evenly over the loaves.
• Let sit 10 minutes, then remove the babka from the pans, remove the parchment and let cool completely on a rack.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Steps:

• Place chocolate and hot water in the top of a double boiler, set over simmering waster, and heat and stir until chocolate is melted. Lightly beat yolks, add a little hot mixture, then stir back into pan and heat and stir over simmering water 1-2 minutes until no raw taste of eggs remains. Off heat, mix in vanilla. Beat cream until very thick and glossy (it should almost form soft peaks)and fold into chocolate mixture. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and fold in, a little at a time, until no flecks of white show. Spoon into a serving dish, cover and chill at least 12 hours. Scatter with chocolate curls, if you like, just before serving.

CHOCOLATE CHIP WALNUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift the flour, kosher salt, baking powder and baking soda together into a large bowl.
• Beat the butter and brown sugar in another large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. (Use the paddle attachment for a stand mixer.) Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and walnuts by hand.
• Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the dough and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Use a 2-ounce ice cream scoop to scoop half the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart (you should have about 8 cookies, roughly 3 1/2-ounces each, per baking sheet). Sprinkle the flaky sea salt on top of the dough balls.
• Bake, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until the cookies are golden around the edges but still soft in the middle, 18 to 20 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• Store the cookies in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

THE BEST CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Steps:

• Whip 1 cup of the heavy cream to soft peaks in a medium bowl (see Cook's Note). Set aside.
• Add the egg, egg yolks, sugar, espresso powder, vanilla extract, salt and 1 tablespoon water to a medium heatproof bowl and whisk to combine. Set the bowl over a medium saucepan of gently simmering water (do not allow the bowl to touch the water). Whisk constantly until the mixture is pale, hot to the touch and has almost doubled in volume, about 4 to 6 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula, if necessary. Remove from the heat and continue whisking until cooled, about 2 minutes.
• Put the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl and set over the saucepan of gently simmering water (do not allow the bowl to touch the water). Stir occasionally with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and gently stir for about 3 minutes to cool slightly.
• Whisk the egg mixture into the melted chocolate in 3 additions until combined. (The mixture may get very thick.) Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture in 3 additions until it is fully incorporated. It is important that the chocolate mixture is not warm to ensure that it combines smoothly with the whipped cream without seizing up.
• Divide the chocolate mousse among four 4-ounce ramekins and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
• Whip the remaining 3/4 cup cold heavy cream to stiff peaks. Top each chocolate mousse with whipped cream and serve. (For a softer texture, allow the ramekins to sit at room temperature while you whip the cream.)