Chocolaty affair: no-fuss, no-bake, no-eggs

Please don’t skip this page thinking “oh, just another food blog”. Trust me, it is not, for the three recipes I am about to share are foolproof and there is no way you can go wrong with them (provided you follow exactly what I say 😉 ). They are super easy and can be whipped up in a jiffy, ideal for those nerve-racking impromptu dinner parties. The ingredients these desserts demand are also very simple and are generally available in neighbourhood grocery stores. So no imported, expensive fancy stuff and therefore no trip to high-end supermarkets. As the title of the blog suggests, all the recipes are completely vegetarian and do not require an oven. Just follow the steps and I guarantee your friends and family will not stop gushing about your exceptional culinary skills. Soon, your dishes will become the talk of your social circle and you will be crowned as ‘The dessert expert’.

Brigadeiro–

Brigadeiro is a popular chocolate candy from the land of sun-kissed beaches and skimpy, barely there bikinis ‘Brazil’. These delightful soft, fudgy chocolate balls will lend a sinful decadent angle to your  dinner spread. There are several creative ways of serving them, you can either serve them up individually in cute colourful cupcake liners or just line them up on a plate of your choice.

Ingredients:

1 tin condensed milk

1/4th cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 tablespoon butter

Method:

Cook all the three ingredients together in a heavy bottomed pan/pot over low to medium heat. Stir continuously till the mixture thickens and you can see the bottom of the container for a good 3 to 4 seconds when running a spoon through it. The whole thickening process takes nearly 8 to 10 minutes (approximately).Once thickened, tip in the mixture onto a greased plate and refrigerate, do not chill, for about an hour.

Shape the cooled chocolate mixture into smooth balls and finally roll them on a bed of chocolate jammies/multi-coloured sugar sprinkles/coconut shavings/nuts. Go ahead, be innovative, surprise everyone by adding different textures to these dark tiny balls of bittersweet sin.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars–

This is a distant cousin of the popular American chocolate peanut butter cup but minus the flour, additional sugar and eggs. These tiny bars playfully tease your taste buds with a crispy top layer of dark chocolate and a soft chewy bottom layer of creamy peanut butter. These squares are a hit among children and adults alike. Do give it a try when you feel like putting your cooking skills on display before your loved ones.

Ingredients:

For the bottom layer-

1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy texture)

200 grams digestive biscuits

1/4 cup melted butter

For the top layer-

1 cup bittersweet chocolate (50% to 70% cocoa content)

2 tablespoon peanut butter

Method:

Process digestive biscuits, peanut butter (1/2 cup) and melted butter till the mixture holds together. Tip in the mixture in a square baking pan lined with aluminium foil or parchment paper. Press and level with an off-set spatula or a wide flat spoon.

Melt the chocolate and the remaining peanut butter (2 tablespoon) on a double boiler. Pour the mixture on top of the biscuit, peanut butter layer and refrigerate for 3 hours. Once set, take out the tin and very carefully remove the aluminium foil/parchment paper. Cut them into squares or rectangles and serve. When stored in freezer,the bars remain fresh for a month.

Chocolate mousse–

Now this sounds like a really delectable luxurious recipe. And, most of us shy away from trying to make this fearing an imminent disaster. This sounds too good and too difficult to make…right ? Not anymore, as I am going to share an amazing recipe which I learnt from a very talented lady and a dear friend of mine. Can’t thank her enough for sharing this delicious quick fuss-free dessert recipe with me 🙂

Ingredients:

1/2 litre milk

5 tablespoon sugar (or as per your preference)

4 tablespoon custard powder (vanilla flavour)

150 grams dark chocolate (50% to 70% cacao)

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup whipped cream (stiff peaks)

100 grams plain chocolate cookies (crumbs)

Electric hand beater or a hand whisk (if you have lots of muscle power)

Method:

Mix custard powder and 1/3rd cup of milk to make a slurry. Add to the remaining boiling milk and make custard (little thick in consistency). Let the custard cool down to room temperature and then start whisking it vigorously (incorporating as much air as possible into it). Melt the chocolate and butter on a double boiler. Once completely melted, pour the chocolate into the custard and continue whisking till the mixture becomes light and airy. Lastly, fold in whipped cream very gently into the mixture (making sure it is on room temperature). Serve them in individual glasses or any decorative transparent tableware by alternately layering them with  mousse and biscuit crumbs or any other way you wish. Tap in your inner creativity to enhance the flavour of this gooey sweet dish by mixing orange essence and rind.

P:S- All the pictures, barring the featured image (header), have been taken by me with my humble phone camera. So please pardon the poor quality of images. I can assure you that the desserts taste way better than they actually look like in these pictures. Alas, photography was never my forte 😦