So I decided to go off sugar.
As of this morning.
After Halloween I am sugared out. Actually it’s not even me. It’s my children.
They are driving me crazy with the candy.
I thought we were safe and it was gone and I didn’t need to worry about it anymore…
Then yesterday I came inside and found all 4 children in the boys room.
Surrounded by candy wrappers.
This was bad for two reasons.
- They aren’t allowed to have food in their rooms.
- They had just consumed a disgusting amount of sugar and were completely bouncing off the walls of said bedroom.
It was sooooooo bad.
That being said. Because I think I just needed to tell someone. It was that insane, I am still slightly shocked by the whole ordeal.
This may be my last decadent dessert for a while. Lol.
My word.
I make no promises.
This dessert though, I tell ya. It’s pretty epic.
I bought this incredible dessert book, like forever ago. I don’t even remember where I bought it, but it’s called, The Essential Dessert Cookbook.
Best dessert book ever if you are looking to expand your knowledge a bit. It certainly is NOT the book for quick easy recipes.
But it is beautiful and I love it.
I’ve made this many times over and it is a hit anywhere you take it. Ya it’s a little more work than say, a brownie mix, but it’s not ‘technically’ difficult. As in, anyone really should be able to get this one right.
If you can beat egg whites you should be able to manage and people will think you are completely amazing.
You are essentially just going to whip up a chocolate mousse and then make merengue and bake. No big deal.
You can do this.
- FOR THE MOUSSE
- 2 ounces dark chocolate
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup granulated sugar
FOR THE MERENGUE - 4 egg whites at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Start by making the mousse because it will need to chill before assembly.
- Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit.
- Whip the cream and granulated sugar to soft peaks.
- Mix ⅓ of the cream into the chocolate, folding until totally combined.
- Then add the rest of the cream and fold until homogenous.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Once you have that in the fridge, go about making the merengue.
- First preheat your oven to 300˚.
- Beat the egg whites to soft peaks.
- Add the sugar a little at a time until the mixture is thick and glossy.
- Place a sheet of parchment on a baking sheet and spoon about a tablespoon of the merengue into a disk about ¼" thick, repeat so there are 8 disks.
- Put the rest of the merengue into a large piping bag with a star tip fixed and pipe the 'walls' of the nests onto each disk.
- Bake until lightly golden, about 30-35 minutes but do not remove from the oven (this will cause them to crack) simply turn the oven off and close it, allowing them to cool completely in the oven.
- Once the nests are cooled, spoon a generous amount of the mousse into each nest, top with some chocolate shavings or curls and serve. (I tried to do the chocolate curls but it was too hot here in Florida and the chocolate wouldn't harden enough...oh well)
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