Nigella's Instant Chocolate Mousse

If you are panicking about a last minute desert to whip up tonight then look now further than then decadent chocolate mousse! As with all of Nigella's recipes, it is truly delicious! And the best part is....it only takes a few minutes to make. If you are cooking just for two I would half the recipe below, or do as we did and save the left overs for the following night! We decided to personalize the recipe just a little by adding a white chocolate mouse topper (my favourite!) and a sprinkling of some rose salt! Enjoy xxx

Ingredients : (serves a generous 4!)

150 grams mini marshmallows

50 grams soft butter

250 grams good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids) chopped into small pieces

60 ml hot water (from a recently boiled kettle)

284 ml double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rose salt (optional)

4 White chocolate mice (For decoration only)

Method

1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.
2. Put the saucepan on the hob, over heat, though keep it fairly gentle, to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.
4. Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml / ¾ cup each in capacity, or 6 smaller (125ml / ½ cup) ones, and chill until you want to eat. The sooner the better!

Queen of Tarts

Today myself and Louise lunched at the cosy Queen Of Tarts café on Cows Lane. This café has been a long standing favourite of ours and I am delighted to be doing a blog post about it. As the name suggests, Queen of tarts holds the crown for having some of Dublin's most delicious sweets and deserts. It's always a chore to decide on which desert to choose after your meal, deciding between the biggest, fluffiest meringues you have ever seen or the to die for carrot cake amongst other options. (Louise would argue its the best carrot cake in all Dublin!) The café also has delicious savoury dishes and today we shared a feta, courgette, red pepper and olive tapenade tart, and a butternut squash soup with a devine ham, brie and apple chutney sandwich. Yum! If you are looking for somewhere cosy, tasty and homely to have lunch or while away a cold afternoon...pay a visit to Queen Of Tarts and you won't regret it :-) .