culinary institute of aristocrat

Chef Joey's Chocolate Mousse to die for

A month ago, members of the new and traditional media were invited to be a Chef for a Day at the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat. There, we met sibling chefs Joey and Gabby Prats. Chef Gabby taught us how to cook some French dishes, while Chef Joey shared a simple, yet rich dessert: Chocolate Mousse that he swears is to die for.

Chef Joey gave his consent to post the recipe in our blogs, to share with our readers.

Chef Joey’s Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

For the Mousse:
500 grams bittersweet chocolate couverture
300 grams heavy whipping cream
5 grams instant coffee powder dissolved in 10 grams hot water
800 grams heavy whipping cream, chilled

For the Assembly:
500 grams whipping cream, chilled
50 grams confectioner’s sugar, sifted
Bittersweet chocolate couverture shavings

Chef Joey stirring the chocolate and hot cream mixture

Procedure:

For the Mousse:
1. Chop the bittersweet chocolate couverture and place in a large bowl.
2. Combine heavy whipping cream and coffee solution in a heavy saucepan and bring to boiling point over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour hot cream mixture over chopped chocolate in a bowl. Allow to stand for a minute or two, then stir mixture until smooth and glossy. Cool to room temperature.
4. Place chilled heavy whipping cream in a mixer bowl. Using the wire whip attachment, whip cream to medium peak stage.
5. Gentle fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture
6. Spoon approximately 100 grams of mousse into each of sixteen dessert goblets. Chill for at least 4 hours to set the mousse.

Piping whipped cream on the Chocolate Mousse

For the Assembly:
1. Combine chilled heavy whipping cream and sifted confectioner’s sugar in mixer bowl. Using the wire whip attachment, whip mixture to stiff peak stage. Do not overwhip.
2. Transfer sweetened whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a large open star tip. Pipe a large rosette on each goblet of mousse and decorate with bittersweet chocolate couverture shavings.

Yield: Serves sixteen

“The perfect dessert is a sensual experience that catapults you to a state of sheer pleasure, where mind, body and soul merge into paralyzing ectasy” — Chef Joey Prats

This recipe is copyrighted to the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat, and is intended for personal use. For more information about CIA, inquire at any branch of Aristocrat Restaurant or email culinaryinstituteofaristocrat@yahoo.com. The CIA is located at MH del Pilar cor. San Andres sts, in front of Remedios Church, Malate, Manila (right behind the huge Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard).

How to Truss a Chicken by Chef Gabby

Chef Gabby Prats of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat shows us how to truss a chicken for baking.

Chef Gabby Prats is the assistant vice president of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat (CIA). For more information about CIA, inquire at any branch of Aristocrat Restaurant or email culinaryinstituteofaristocrat@yahoo.com. The CIA is located at MH del Pilar cor. San Andres sts, in front of Remedios Church, Malate, Manila (right behind the huge Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard).

Hi, I'm Nina. I'm a writer, web designer and cookie baker

That’s not exactly how I introduce myself, but I that’s what I wrote under Occupation in my Friendster profile five years ago. You see, I used to bake cookies for a living (well, shopping money). Back in college, someone taught me how to bake cookies. After countless trials, I managed to make decent looking and fantastic tasting cookies. One of my classes required us to sell something and my group mates decided to sell the cookies I baked.

Part of the challenge of selling what you create is sourcing the raw materials and costing. Thanks to friends who are also into baking, we found where to buy good quality ingredients that doesn’t cost as much. And, thanks to my course, we were able to sell the cookies at a price that enabled us to break even and even earn after the course.

After college, in between job interviews, I baked and sold cookies so I’d have money to go out with my friends. It’s a great sideline, plus, I already have someone selling them for me: my sister. For some reason, her officemates are crazy over the cookies, and come Christmas, each one order as much as 20 boxes of 10 cookies. It was a fairly easy way to earn extra money, provided that you have the equipment, time and energy. The great thing about this is that you don’t really need a full blown bakeshop to make baked goodies like cookies.

Chef Gabby Prats of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat

Chef Gabby of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat basting a bell pepper for roasting. This was taken during the Chef for a Day event at the CIA.

The Culinary Institute of Aristocrat is offering short courses for young professionals, housewives, hobbyists, and students, to further hone their craft and build their own business. One such course is the Home Bakeshop: From Concept to Operation. This course covers a wide range of topics including an introduction to the home bakeshop industry, legal aspects of home bakeshop operations, marketing, product-costing and profit analysis, food safety and sanitation, basic principles of baking, ingredients and equipment identification, as well as various types of baked goods.

For more information about CIA, inquire at any branch of Aristocrat Restaurant, call 524-7671 or email culinaryinstituteofaristocrat@yahoo.com. The Culinary Institute of Aristocrat is located at del Pilar cor. San Andres sts, in front of Remedios Church, Malate, Manila (right behind the huge Aristocrat restaurant along Roxas Boulevard).