Christmas in Michigan

Duo of Mousses with Candied Hazelnuts

I brought a dessert to take to my sister, Margaret's luncheon. She made a beautiful lunch with soup, salad and delicious bread. She can dish out some lovely desserts herself, but she had her hands full with the lunch and all of us. My neice Julie was there and she was about to deliver her baby any day. She doesn't want chocolate or alcohol, so I made her a white chocolate raspberry version of a tiramisu. I used lady fingers soaked in a raspberry simple syrup, a mascarpone cheese mousse and plenty of raspberries for color and flavor. I decorated with white chocolate plaquettes and grated white chocolate, then raspberries. It was super light and everyone dug in.

Mini bouche de Noel filled with hazelnut cream and topped with hazelnut buttercream (not the same thing). I topped with chocolate cigarettes (extra thin) and cocoa powder.

Apple Tart on puff pastry. It is filled with frangipane, an almond cream (with a touch of dark rum). When plated, it had caramel sauce that melts in your mouth. It was supposed to have cinnamon ice cream, but somehow that was not the case. I ordered this particular dessert with my dinner and upon seeing a component missing, entered the kitchen and spent some time reillustrating the proper plating technique. Ugh. I hate that. It was so uncomfortable.

These are the flaky tarts filled with a vanilla pastry cream whipped with a little cream to lighten. I added the fruit (couldn't find a single raspberry up there...ugh again) and piped some whipping cream around the edges. Christian had this that night and said it was great. Bow here.

I worked for a few days at Forest Dunes Golf Club preparing for New Years Eve. They had 132 reservations so we wanted to prepare enough, of course. I made a duo of mousses, dark chocolate hazelnut and white chocolate, flaky tarts with vanilla cream and fruit, vanilla cheesecake with caramel sauce, mini bouch de noel with mini meringue mushrooms,and two types of creme brulee (Tia Maria and Grand Marnier with candied orange peel). The Chef was going to use the delicious resulting simple syrup, which was golden orange and rich in flavor, to candy his mandarin orange segments to accompany his Duck a L'Orange. I was tempted to make a martini out of it, so it was good he spoke up.

We plan on spending most Christmases up at the cottage. It was quiet and peaceful. I wish I could live there. But, alas, it is good to have something to dream about.



You just can't beat a blizzard in Northern Michigan. When you have the chance to get snowed in, do it. The snow just kept coming and we didn't mind a bit. The four wheel drive came in handy when we had to retrieve our camera from a party we were at the night before. This pic is from Stephan Bridge Road where apparently the plow hadn't visited. When you aren't in a rush, it is glorious to be out in it.