Beetroot and White Chocolate Mousse

Beautiful things certainly attract us. But what is beauty according to you?? It is rightly said beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. What makes us even more beautiful and stand apart from the world is our inner self.. our Soul!!.. It is not important to look good but whats more important is to present ourselves in the proper way with the right Attitude, Self-Esteem, Being honest, Being Affable, Optimistic, Exuberant and Reliable. What we are makes a difference in the way we lead our life.

I always say get inspired and motivated by things around you. Learn from your mistakes or from what you are seeing around you. My today's post is inspired by yesterday's quarter final match of India vs Bangladesh Cricket World Cup 2015. When Indian team were batting, in the initial overs it seemed that Bangladesh had a good bowling and fielding grip and a stand, over the match. Instead of maintaining it, the players got over-confident; a attitude that depicted they are the best. And that is when the match started turning around (ulti ginti chalu.. sounded better in local language.. :P). And when it was time for India's bowling, with every wicket of Bangladesh there was a satisfaction and happiness in Indian players face. And that is what the real victory is!!

Never under-estimate your opponents.. Be selfless in all your acts.. Instead of being a cynic try to be a idealist. With the fall of two Indian wickets, Bangladeshi team started celebrating their victory; seems that they forgot for the time-being that their opponent is the king of the Jungle. Their attitude and over-confidence is what led to their fall.

Every coin has two sides. Every situation depends upon how you see it. Look at this picture for instance, the left side indicates a very fresh, refreshing and builds up a sunny beach side mood whereas the right hand side builds up a very cold, romantic and candle-lit dinner feel in you. But the fact is that both of them are the same, tastes the same, just the way of looking at it differs. That is Life!!! It all depends upon how you look at things.. your perspective.. What is right for you is not necessarily right for the other person. Respect every individual. Change your way of looking to give a new dimension to your life... 🙂

One such humble, honest and selfless person that I have come across in recent time is Senthilkumar Rangaswamy, executive chef working in a leading hotel which has several branches worldwide. My husband used to stay as a PG with Senthil's family during his bachelorhood days. With days passing by, Senthil and his family have now become a part of our own family. We are neighbours, friends, care-taker and though not blood related but still always together as a Big Happy Family. And he was kind enough to share this Beetroot and White Chocolate Mousse recipe with me. He even helped me out in the preparations. Lucky me.. P.. He treats me like his own daughter so I wont thank him for sharing this recipe.. But all the credits surely goes to him.

I always thought mousse is something which might require extraordinary techniques or some special method to make it at home. But never knew this is that simple to make until I tried. One more lesson learnt; everything is difficult until you try it for yourself.

This beetroot and chocolate mousse is sweet, creamy and melt in the mouth delight. Of-course there is a slight bitter taste of beetroot which can be adjusted with addition of more amount of sweet. Beetroot and White Chocolate Mousse served with strawberries and whipped cream is a perfect dessert to please your family and friends. Treat yourself this summer with this special and easy to make dessert.

Lets have a look at the ingredients and how to make it..

Makes: 3-4 glasses

Ingredients:

For the Beetroot Mousse:

• 250 grams Beetroot
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)
• 3 tsp gelatin

For the White Chocolate Mousse:

• 2 egg yolks
• 25 gm cup sugar (approx 1/4 cup sugar)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup white chocolate melts
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp gelatin

Method:

For the Beetroot Mousse:

1. Peel the skin of the beetroot and then pressure cook it or steam it whichever way you prefer to cook the beetroots. I used ready to use pack available in the market so didn't do this step.
2. In a blender or mixer, blend together the cooked beetroots and half the quantity of the sugar mentioned. Blend to a thick smooth paste. Do a taste test, add more sugar if required at this stage itself.
3. Add the heavy whipping cream to the blender and blend along-with the beetroot and sugar to a smooth paste. Remove and keep aside.
4. Heat gelatine along with 2 tbsp water for 15-20 seconds in microwave. Stir. (If you do not have microwave heat water over the gas stove and add gelatine to it).
5. Add the gelatine to the beetroot mixture and refrigerator for around an hour.

For the White Chocolate Mousse:

1. Beat half of the heavy whipping cream mentioned in chilled medium bowl alongwith sugar and vanilla essence, until stiff and then refrigerate it.
2. In a saucepan, combine egg yolks and remaining 1/2 of the heavy cream and heat it over a low flame stirring continuously until thick and lemon coloured with very smooth consistency. It would take approximately 5 - 10 minutes. Let it cool down a bit.
3. Meanwhile, melt chocolate using double boiler method or microwave method; whichever way you are comfortable with.
4. Gradually stir in some of the egg yolk mixture to the melted chocolate. Mix it well and then stir back the chocolate mixture to the hot egg yolk mixture in the saucepan and mix well.
5. Heat gelatine with 2 tbsp water for 15-20 seconds in microwave. Add this to the egg yolk and chocolate mixture and mix well. Transfer it to a bowl and refrigerator for about 30-40 minutes or until chilled, stirring occasionally.
6. After 30-40 minutes fold in the whipped cream to the refrigerated chocolate mixture and your mousse is ready to be served.

To Assemble:

1. In a serving glass, pipe in a layer of beetroot mousse, press it well, clean the sides if needed.
2. Then pipe in the layer of white chocolate mousse. And alternate the beetroot and white chocolate layers. You can pipe in as many as you need.
3. Garnish with strawberry and mint leaves. Serve with some more strawberries and whipped cream.

And your Beetroot and White Chocolate Mousse is ready.. 🙂

Notes:

• In the beetroot mousse, sugar can be adjusted as per taste. But it should be adjusted right before adding the cream. If you add the cream and then the sugar, it would affect the consistency of the mousse.
• In the white chocolate mousse preparation, the egg yolk in the saucepan has to be stirred continuously; you do not want scrambled eggs.. 😛
• We stir in some egg yolk to the chocolate mixture and then stir back the chocolate mixture to the saucepan. This is done to regulate the temperature of the egg yolk mixture and the butter content of the chocolate. So it is important to follow this method; if not it will lead to crystallisation of the chocolate.
• Whipped cream and chocolate egg yolk mixture has to be combined just before serving
• It is important to use chocolate melts or any chocolate that melts quickly.
• Agar-Agar can be substituted in place of gelatine.
• Quantity can be doubled.

This summer don't just buy mousse make one. Change the way you see things or have been doing things..

Enjoy cooking!!

Do try it and give me a feedback!!