Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!!!

I Can't believe that Christmas is only a few days away.   This year has brought so many changes.  I am a new grandmother...Gammy for short and I am loving every minute of it.  I can't wait for the day when baby Jack will want to eat Gammy's goodies and maybe even be interested in stirring the pot.  At the least, I know he will want to lick the spoon just like his father did when he was a boy.  Come to think of it, he still loves to lick the spoon.  Here is a photo of my little bundle of pure love and joy!

I am having my annual Christmas Cookie/Candy Baking and Sharing Party this Sunday....I would love for some of you to send me some new recipes to try.  I always stick with some of the same good recipes that my family loves and requests each and every year.  It would be wonderful to incorporate some new goodies.  Chocolate Chip Cookies, Buckeyes, Fudge, Divinity, Bourbon Balls, Date Nut Cookies, Mississippi Mud, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, and Rice Crispy Treats are some of the all time favorites.  Very traditional I know, but when you have men in your family, they seem to love the "tradition" of it all by eating their favorites and reminiscing of years past.

I'm going to post photos of the party and ALL of the goodies next week.  Maybe we will be able to give you some great ideas.  One of the best things about foodies, is that they like to share recipes with one another and love to experiment with new things. 

I am posting a new recipe that a fellow blogger and amazing woman, Shannon Imlay, shared with me. Many of you know Shannon and are followers of her blog, Shannon's Shanonigins.  I met Shannon through The Real Women of Philadelphia and we became instant friends.  Shannon and I both went to visit a mutual friend, Nancy Judd, last February and had the best time ever.  Shannon, Nancy and I cooked for two weeks...sharing recipes and lots and lots of calories.  Nancy was an amazing hostess and showed us around her town and we hit all of the very best places.  How would you like to make this very special cake?  Isn't it beautiful?  Shannon has agreed to share the recipe with all of us. 

Here is the recipe for Shannon's 
New Years Wishing Star Chocolate Mousse Cake

 

Tools
9 Inch Spring form pan
Electric mixer



Ingredients
7 ounces semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate
(chips, or chopped)
1/4 pound unsalted butter
7 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Whipped Cream Frosting  Recipe Below

 

Instructions

1). Preheat oven to 325 degrees

2). Melt butter and chocolate together either in a double boiler, or in 30 second intervals in the microwave until melted, and combined. Stir in vanilla, set aside.

3). In large mixing bowl beat egg yolks and 3/4 cup of sugar until doubled in volume, pale yellow and thick enough to leave a ribbon on itself, this will take 3-5 minutes

4). Fold the egg yolk mixture into the melted chocolate mixture until combined

5). In separate clean mixing bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Once soft peaks form, slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until mixture is glossy and stiff peaks form.

6). Fold egg white mixture gently into chocolate mixture. Reserve 1/4 of the mixture for filling, cover the 1/4 chocolate mousse mixture and refrigerate.

7). Put 3/4 of the chocolate mousse mixture into a 9 inch spring form pan. You can line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper to make cleaning the pan easier. Cover and refrigerate 1/4 of the chocolate mousse.

8). Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes, do not over bake. When cake is done baking, let it cool completely

9).The cake will fall as it's cooling (like a souffle) take your 1/4 remaining chocolate mousse and fill the top of the cake

10). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let mousse set, you can let this set in the refrigerator overnight

11). Frost with Whipped Cream Frosting

Whipped Cream Frosting
2 Cups of Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Once soft peaks have formed, slowly add sugar, then vanilla until stiff peaks form. Once it has formed stiff peaks it is ready to use.

To Decorate your cake for New Years Eve I placed Glitter Stars at the 12,3,6, & 9 o'clock positions (these are not edible but can be easily removed. You could bake sugar cookie stars and sprinkle them with edible glitter.

 

Place edible pearls on hour positions

 

Place edible silver dragees in minute positions, make the clock hands out of silver dragees and place them at the midnight position.

 

Place seven (lucky) candles in the center of the clock face

 

Sprinkle cake with edible star glitter

 

Right before midnight, light the candles and have everyone make a wish for the New Year, count down from 5 and have everyone blow out the candles.

 

This is a nice family alternative to making a toast because it doesn't include alcohol and everyone can participate. I wish you a Happy New Year and hope all your wishes come true.
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