Vegan Truffled Chocolate Covered Cherries and Mousse

Hey guess what? Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday. Oh you didn’t know? Well then you’ll need something special to make.

Whether you are looking for something special for you and your significant other, for a girls' night in, or a dinner party, they will all be impressed. But it's another thing if you have allergies, are gluten-free, or vegan. No matter your diet, you deserve some decadence too.

So when Enjoy Life Foods sent me a bag of their Dark Chocolate morsels for baking, I knew it was time to make a treat everyone could enjoy. Pun.

The morsels not only contribute to my chocolate coconut cream mousse but also to my chocolate covered cherries. They can be made separately or be put together. Either way you have enough decadence to last you the whole season.

You know I love Enjoy Life's products and since their 69% cocoa chips are gluten-free, vegan, and free of the eight most common allergens, you don’t have to be afraid to have your mousse and eat it too. Oh, and they melt perfectly. 

Likewise, cordial chocolate covered cherries were one of my favorites growing up. But if you don't buy carefully, they can taste quite artificial. So instead, I used fresh Bing cherries that are only in season for a couple weeks in Chile. I know, but forgive me it’s Valentine’s Day. Here, Enjoy Life’s dark chocolate morsels were essential.

I wanted to combine fresh, sweet cherries with decadent dark chocolate so you have a nice crunch with the soft flesh of the cherries. And hey, this is America so might as well stuff the cherry with vegan chocolate coconut cream mousse. This step while totally worth it can be skipped for time’s sake. I do hope you make the chocolate mousse. It is so rich and creamy you won’t believe it is actually vegan…but I promise it is!

Coconut cream is an extra thick version of coconut milk, basically without the water and really cannot be substituted. You can find it at Trader Joe’s (of course,) Whole Food’s, and probably any Asian markets or well stocked grocery will carry it. Just make sure you refrigerate the can overnight so it remains thick and won’t melt as much while you are working with it.

FYI: this mousse is very decadent, so small amounts go a long way. This recipe should be enough for 4 small portions. If you aren’t used to coconut cream, you don’t want to over eat or you might get a tummy ache!

This is perfect for a the modern Valentine’s Day dinner party as you won’t get any complaints from your vegan or gluten-free guests. Get ready to impress some people with this! And you will have a lot of cherries left over….but not for long.

Vegan Chocolate Covered Cherries with Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Makes 4 small cups of mouse and 40 cherries

Ingredients:

For the Mousse

1 cup coconut cream or about ½ of a can, (refrigerate can overnight before use so it hardens)

3 tbsp. vegan sugar

3 tbsp. Cocoa powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

Coconut or other vegan milk in case you need to adjust the consistency

For the Truffled Chocolate Covered Cherries

40 fresh bing cherries, carefully pitted

1 cup Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels

Coconut chips or flaked coconut for garnish

About 1/2 cup chocolate mousse

1 plastic bag

40 toothpicks

Directions:

Use a double broiler or sauce pan and glass bowl for melting.

Fill a saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Place glass bowl over top trapping the steam and take off heat immediately.

Add 1/4 cup chocolate morsels into the bowl and continue stirring until all morsel chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. If it isn't melting, cover with lid for a minute and the chips should start to melt around the edges.

Meanwhile add all ingredients including the melted chocolate, for the mousse into a stand mixer or bowl with beaters until completely mixed and air enters mixture making light and creamy. Spoon into individual glasses for serving, reserving about 1/2 cup mousse. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours up to one day.

Separately arrange pitted cherries on a plate and carefully spoon reserved mousse into the plastic bag. Cut the edge of the bag to make a very small slit.

Using the opening of each cherry made by pitting, pipe a very small amount of mousse into each cherry and a little on the opposite side. (This may be a bit messy, so keep a paper towel handy.)

Refrigerate stuffed cherries for about 30 minutes to 1 hour before dipping in chocolate. Before dipping them into the chocolate, carefully place 1 toothpick into the side of each cherry without squeezing mousse out of the cherry.

Meanwhile bring your saucepan with water back to a boil and remove from heat once boiled. Melt the remaining cup of chocolate morsels over your double broiler or bowl and saucepan. Continue stirring until all morsel chips are melted and chocolate is smooth. If it isn't melting, cover with lid for a minute and the chips should start to melt around the edges.

(If you are a slower worker like me, it might be easier only to work with a 1/2 cup of morsels at a time as the chocolate will re-harden very quickly.)

Working very quickly dip each skewered cherry into the melted cherry to cover completely and scrape any drip off the side with a spoon. Place each dipped cherry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

Refrigerate the dipped cherries for at least 30 minutes and don’t remove until ready to serve.

Before serving, carefully remove the toothpicks from each cherry. Once ready to serve, place several cherries on top of the mousse and top with coconut flakes. Serve immediately.

Variation: Use a little bit of the melted chocolate to attach coconut flakes to cover the hole made by the toothpick in the chocolate shell.

Enjoy!

Small Town: Birthday Coq Au Vin

Maybe it was the inspiration of our wine tasting trip that prompted me to make coq au vin for my mom’s birthday on Tuesday night. Her birthday was Wednesday but since we were still home for break on Tuesday I decided to make her a special birthday meal since we weren’t going to be there for it.

Menu:

Coq Au Vin

Parsley potatoes

Arugula salad with grapefruit, cucumbers, and homemade vinaigrette

Strawberry Lemon cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

I obviously had no idea how much I had my work cut out for me! I thought coq au vin was easy!! But in no way was it simple. Good thing is was incredibly delicious though. One regret, I should have added peas, (Julia forgive me!)

The Dinner "guests" were my mom, Aaron, Amanda, my Aunt Jeanna, and my cousin Reaghan. There was just enough for everyone.

This is probably one of the most intense meals I have ever made. It was simpley time consuming, but oh was it good!

When looking at the recipe you might notice that I use “real” bacon instead of turkey like usual. Honestly, we only had smoked pork bacon and I didn’t want to ruin the intended flavor so I simply sucked it up and dealt with the after-meal stomach ache. It was worth it.

Another note, I used big chopped pieces of split chicken breasts for the most flavor with the skin on. You can also use boneless skinless chicken breasts.

If you decide to make Coq Au Vin, be warned that it is very time consuming (took me over 3 hours with everything else as well.)

This is definitely what I would classify as a “special occasion” meal.

I followed this recipe pretty closely only doubling the amount of mushrooms (trust me you need at least 16 oz. I would even suggest more!)

Note: I did use a flambé technique in this recipe so be aware and don’t do this step without anyone else around. (Aaron took the picture!) I was terrified but it wasn’t that bad.

I have also been told that it is even better to cook Coq Au Vin the day before and just reheat so the flavors are completely settled.

P.s. the recipe called for “4 oz. of bacon” and not knowing how much that was I used 8 slices. Trust me, it was good especially since the bacon is used mostly to render the fat. Yum!!

Good Luck!

Coq Au Vin: about 4 servings (we served six and in my opinion you need more!)


(Adapted from WhatscookingAmerica.net)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 to 3 pounds cut-up frying chicken, skin on and thoroughly dried

4 ounces lean thick-cut bacon (I used 8 slices)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup cognac

2 cups red wine (I used Pinot Noir but you can use Burgundy, Beaujolais or Chianti)
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, mashed or minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Brown-Braised Onions (see recipe below)
Mushrooms (see recipe below)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Parsley sprigs

Directions:

NOTE: Both Onions and mushrooms may be cooked in advance, set aside in separate bowls, then reheated when needed.


Brown-Braised Onions:
2 medium white onions cut into large pieces.
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

Drop onions into boiling water, bring water back to the boil, and let boil for 1 minute.

 

Remove from heat and drain. Cool onions in ice water.

 

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil, add parboiled onions, and toss for several minutes until lightly browned (this will be a patchy brown).

Add water to halfway up onions and add 1/4 to1/2 teaspoon salt. (I used garlic salt for extra flavor.)

Cover pan and simmer slowly for 25 to 30 minutes or until onions are tender when pierce with a knife.

Set onions aside ina bowl.


Mushrooms:


1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, quartered if large
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil

In a large frying pan over medium heat, heat butter and olive oil.

When bubbling hot, toss in mushrooms and saute over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned.

Remove from heat and place in bowl.


Chicken and Sauce:

Dry chicken thoroughly in a towel. Season chicken with salt and pepper; set aside.


Remove any rind off the bacon and cut the bacon into lardons (rectangles 1/4-inch across and 1-inch long).

In a saucepan, simmer the bacon sticks in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes; remove from heat,
drain, rinse in cold water, and pat dry.


In a large heavy frying pan over medium heat, heat olive oil until moderately hot.

 

Add the bacon and saute slowly until they are lightly browned.

Remove bacon to a side dish.

Place chicken pieces into the hot oil (not crowding pan), and brown on all sides.

Return bacon to the pan, cover pan, and cook slowly for 10 minutes, turning chicken once.

After browning the chicken, uncover pan, pour in the cognac. Flambe by igniting with a lighted match. Let flame a minute, swirling pan by its handle to burn off alcohol; extinguish with pan cover.

 Pour the red wine into the pan and add just enough chicken broth to completely cover the chicken pieces.

Stir in tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme.

Bring the liquid to a simmer, then cover pan, and simmer slowly for about 30 minutes or until the chicken meat is tender when pierced with a fork or an instant-read meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

When the chicken is done cooking, remove from the pan to a platter, leaving the cooking liquid in the pan.

Increase heat to high and boil the cooking liquid rapidly until approximately 2 cups of liquid remains.

While the liquid is boiling, in a small bowl, blend the 3 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons softened butter into a smooth paste; beat the flour/butter mixture into the approximately 2 cups hot cooking liquid with a whisk. Simmer and stir for a minute or two until the sauce has thickened (the result will be a sauce thick enough to lightly coat a spoon - just thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables lightly). If sauce is too thin, boil down rapidly to concentrate; if sauce is too thick, thin out with additional spoonfuls of chicken stock. Taste the final sauce, adding more salt and pepper only if necessary.


Before serving, reheat the onions and mushrooms (if necessary).

Serve chicken on a large platter. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Arrange the Brown-Braised Onions on one side of the chicken and the Mushrooms on the other side.

Decorate with sprigs of parsley. Accompany with parsley potatoes, ( or rice, or noodles; buttered green peas) and a green salad; hot French bread; and the same red wine you used for cooking the chicken.

And definitely make cupcakes too!
 

Enjoy!

Love,

The College Cuisner

What is your favorite meal for a special occassion?