Cake balls and cake bites: two ideas for using leftover chocolate cake

This month we went to many children birthday parties and, by coincidence, ten days ago it was also my son's birthday. As an obvious consequence, I saw and tasted a number of cakes and also made one for celebrating my son's third year with us.

To be honest I am not a fan of traditional decorated birthday cakes and, if not explicitly asked for, I will continue to make my kind of cakes as I did this year (but I don't know how long this would last).

This time I made one of my favorite cakes: a delicious three chocolate mousse cake with a chocolate pastry base. In particular for the base I made a so called chocolate marquise, a sort of sponge cake that is perfect for frozen and chilled dessert as it keeps soft even after chilling.

Unfortunately I didn't take any nice pics of the final result and couldn't post neither on Instagram nor here, but I'm sure I'll make it again and hopefully share the recipe!

I didn't have any leftover of the finished cake (that anyway couldn't have been reused) but the dose of marquise I prepared was excessive for the size of the cake I decided to make.

Sablés chocolat à la fleur de sel

I've already confessed my addiction to chocolate, which also explains why most of the sweet recipes I make (and of course share on the blog) have chocolate in it. And today's recipe is no exception.
But these cookies are so good and I have baked them so many times that the recipe has to be published on my blog. Even if, to be honest, these cookies are already renowned all over the world (and the world wide web too). Their story begins in France, where they were created by the famous pastry-chef Pierre Hermé (the recipe is featured in his book "PH10"); the American cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, who worked in France with Hermé, included the recipe in her book "Baking From My Home to Yours" and let them know also on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean; then the web made the rest of the story and these cookies have become iconic, and not just for chocolate lovers. If you google you will find that they are also known as World Peace Cookies, and if you are curious to know why they have been so named you can read the whole story on Dorie Greenspan blog (follow this link). What I can say is that, even if they probably cannot bring peace in the world, for sure they are able to make happy anyone who eats them. Because they are absolutely amazing and (I am afraid) addictive, due to a mix of factors: first of all they have a peculiar, unique texture - like sablés, they are sandy and melt-in-the-mouth but lightly chewy thanks to the presence of brown sugar - then they have a strong chocolate flavor - the dough contains cocoa plus is packed with chunks of hand chopped dark chocolate - and finally they are salty, since there is a relatively high amount of salt, and in particular fleur de sel, which is a white, moist and coarse French sea salt, typically used to garnish and finish dishes just before serving. And the salt enhances the already profound chocolate taste, making these cookies particularly attractive.

Cocoa and vanilla braided cookies

December has arrived...the last month of the year, the month of Christmas. And when Christmas approaches, for many people it's normal to start baking: cakes, traditional Christmas sweets, rich breads and, of course, cookies. Cookies are probably the most simple and versatile of all: can be made also with help of children, can be served to relatives and guest coming to visit us, but also given as a sweet, homemade present (that I always appreciate much actually). And there exist so many varieties of cookies that it can be fun to bake different types, so as to serve or give a nice assortment during Christmas season.

So it's time to share a new recipe for cookies, not a traditional Christmas cookie, but a pretty, nice, simple cookie that can be a good addition to your baking repertoire.

I find them perfect for afternoon tea, but they go very well also with a cup of coffee.

Yogurt cocoa muffins

These muffins had originally to be a cake, a yogurt cake. In fact, with a sort of childhood nostalgia, my initial intention was to prepare the cake which probably represents my very first approach to baking. Actually this yogurt cake is very popular in Italy (and in France also), probably all moms make it and let their children help, as it is super easy. The peculiarity, if you will, is that all ingredients (to be precise most of all) are measured using the yogurt cup, in particular the "Italian" yogurt cup which is 125 ml (actually now things are a bit different than when I was a child and it is possible to find also other sizes but most yogurts still come in a 125 ml cup). To be honest this way of measuring ingredients is not much different than the US cup-based method...Anyway, even if not so precise (especially if children do the measuring) it is very very easy: no scale needed, no grams, ml or other units of measure; even younger kids can do it. And it's funny too.

Light chocolate mousse with shiny cocoa glaze

I think that any special dinner, be it a birthday or anniversary for one member of the family, a formal occasion, a dinner with guests, or even the simple wish of having a special meal, deserves to be closed with a dessert; but I don't mean some scoops of ice-cream or an industrial cake well presented on a beautiful plate. I mean a real dessert, home-made with the same care reserved to all the other courses of the dinner. In fact, since dessert comes at the end of a meal, sometimes we don't give it the right attention, thinking that after many other good things it may be superfluous; but it is not: a good dessert, at the end of a special dinner, is the piece necessary to complete the puzzle. But of course it must be coherent with the rest of dinner, as well as all the dinner must be conceived so that guests can enjoy all the courses and do not arrive at the end feeling too full to have also a dessert. If a four layer chocolate cake with butter-cream frosting comes to the table after an assortment of appetizers, followed by grilled sausages and ribs, stuffed roasted turkey with french fries and mixed sauces, one cannot expect that guests crave nothing else but a generous slice of it!
Today I want to present a dessert which I consider perfect for several occasions: from a romantic dinner, to a formal invitation, to a buffet dinner. It is a chocolate dessert, but comes in the form of a light mousse with no eggs or butter and is served cold (so it can be successfully served also in summertime); and, not less important, it is also very beautiful, served as individual mini-desserts coated in an elegant shiny glaze.
I admit that they require a little work, but they are easy to make and with a little bit of organization you will be rewarded by your guests compliments (who for sure will not believe that you made everything by yourself). Actually, it is possible to save a little time making one big mousse cake instead of individual ones: same ingredients, same technique, only less molds to fill. In any form you decide to make it, this dessert is worth trying, especially if you and your family / guests love chocolate.
I know, the recipe is very long, but trust me it takes longer to read than to make.