OK, this started with a recipe I spotted in Cook’s Country magazine for easy chocolate ice cream. You know I’m a sucker for unusual, short-cut recipes that promise delicious results. I couldn’t resist giving it a whirl.

This stuff is delicious, alright, but I wouldn’t call it ice cream. It’s more like frozen chocolate mousse, minus the eggs. Which in my book almost makes it better than ice cream. (Almost.) If you make it, let me know if you agree.

At any rate, whatever you call it, this stuff is to die for.

Because it’s made with whipped cream, it’s light and airy. (And because it’s made with whipped cream, it’s also ridiculously creamy and rich.) Sweetened condensed milk contributes to the velvety texture and adds subtle caramel-y notes that pair really well with the chocolate.

The basic process for Frozen Chocolate Mousse

So here’s what we’re doing for this one: Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Stir in the condensed milk and a little espresso and vanilla. Fold in a bunch of whipped cream. Freeze. Inhale.

I made a similar strawberry ice cream (no cook, whipped cream folded into berries in sugar syrup then frozen) a while back, but I processed that in my ice cream machine.

This is even easier. Just make the chocolate mousse mixture, then pop it into the freezer. No ice cream maker required. It really does take about 10 minutes.

Let it thaw a little before serving

This is important.

Straight out of the freezer, this stuff hard to scoop and a little bit chalky in texture. Let it sit on the counter for 5 or 10 minutes, however, and it softens up *just* enough to scoop.

Condensed milk versus evaporated milk

I’m sorry if this is obvious, but I’ve made this mistake a million times. It’s really easy to grab the wrong can at the market if you’re in a rush.

What you want for this recipe is sweetened condensed milk—NOT evaporated milk, which is thin and unsweetened. Sweetened condensed milk is used in all sorts of baked goods and candies. I like Eagle Brand, but use your favorite.

Sweetened condensed milk is whole milk that’s been mixed with a lot of sugar, then heated til it evaporates by a little more than half. The resulting mixture is syrupy, slightly caramel colored…

…and very, very thick. Once it’s opened, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It’ll keep for about 5 days.

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

Adapted from Cook’s Country

1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 Tbls. hot water
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Yields about 1 quart

Rehydrate the espresso

Grab your instant espresso powder. I keep mine in the freezer.

Put it in a small bowl.

Add the water and stir to dissolve. Set it aside for a sec.

Melt the chocolate with the condensed milk

Chop up the chocolate into smallish pieces. Put them in a large, microwave-safe bowl. Add the sweetened condensed milk.

Toss in the espresso, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

Mix it all up with a spatula or wooden spoon until it’s fairly uniform.

Zap it in the microwave on high for a minute or two, stopping it every 10 or 20 seconds to stir. (If you don’t have a microwave, melt these ingredients together in a heatproof bowl over a pot of gently simmering water.)

When the chocolate has completely melted, you’ll wind up with a very thick paste, like this. Set it aside for a minute while you make the whipped cream. (As it sits, it will thicken a little. That’s just fine.)

Make the whipped cream

Put the cream in the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl if you’re using a handheld electric mixer, or are whipping by hand). Beat on high until it thickens and eventually forms soft peaks.

Wait, what’s a soft peak?

Good question. When your whipped cream is starting to get thick, stop your mixer for a sec and pull the beater out of the bowl. Hold it up. If the whipped cream on the beater is kind of thick but still flops over, you’ve got a soft peak. (If you kept beating, you’d reach stiff peaks, which means your whipped cream would stand straight up.)

You want it to look about like this:

Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate

When your whipped cream is ready, take about one third of it and put it in the bowl with the chocolate mixture.

Gently whisk it into the chocolate mixture until uniform.

The mixture should have thinned out considerably.

Put the rest of the whipped cream into the bowl.

With a rubber spatula, gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. (You don’t want to squish all the air out of the whipped cream.)

Keep folding…

When the whipped cream is totally incorporated, you’ll wind up with a fluffy bowl of chocolate bliss. Of course, at this point, you need to be a responsible cook: Give it a taste to be sure that it’s, um, up to par.

Freeze the chocolate mousse

Transfer the chocolate mousse out into a freezer-safe container. I used a one-pound loaf pan.

Smooth the top down with a spatula.

Freeze the chocolate mousse

Cover it up with plastic wrap. Pop the pan in the freezer for at least six hours, preferably overnight.

Thaw, scoop, and serve your frozen mousse

When the chocolate mousse is frozen through, it’s ready to serve. Set it on the counter for 5 – 10 minutes to knock the chill off of it before you try to scoop it.

Enjoy!

A reader photo!

Update, March 22: Reader Jaclyn Breinlinger just made this recipe the other night and said it was so good! Here’s her mousse (thanks for the pic, Jaclyn!).

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Now, I know that I’m treading on hallowed ground for some, discussing how to make espresso.

Like beer and good wine, espresso is one of those things that folks are very particular about. (Espresso afficionados out there, please be kind!)

I’m not an expert barista—or a super fussy coffee person—by a long shot. I’m just a girl who likes a strong cup of coffee. I drink my coffee and espresso black. And as long as I start with a quality ground espresso, I’m generally very happy.

This how I make espresso at home. (In fact, it’s how I made the espresso that went into my Gentlemen’s Brownies.)

It doesn’t yield quite the same brew that you get from a professional machine or coffeeshop, but this is the way that a lot of us know espresso: Made at home, by an aunt or a grandmother, on the stove, using what’s traditionally known as a moka pot.

I love my trusty stovetop espresso maker. I’ve had it for years and it never fails to make delicious espresso. Mine is made by Bialetti and looks like this:

The Moka Pot: What does it do and how do you use it?

This little guy is basically a stovetop percolator designed especially for espresso.

Simply fill the bottom with cold water, fill the filter with ground espresso, and set it on the stove to boil and bubble away. As the water heats, it’s forced up through the ground espresso in the filter, and into the empty pot above.

Stovetop espresso makers generally don’t make enough pressure to produce a thick, top layer of crema—that mocha-colored, foamy emulsion that you see at cafes. For homemade, that’s just fine with me. It’s still a mighty fine, strong cup of coffee.

One thing to note about this kind of pot. Depending on how hard your water is, this type of pot can develop a mineral buildup on the inside. Italian specialty stores sell little tablets meant specifically for getting that deposit off.

If you make your espresso differently, I’d love to what you do. (Do you only use spring water? What’s your favorite brand of espresso?)

Here’s my method.

A step-by-step guide to making espresso on the stove

Disassemble your pot. It’ll come in 3 pieces: the bottom chamber that holds the water (left), the filter basket that holds the ground espresso (center) and the top part which holds the brewed espresso (right).

Fill the bottom part with cold water.

Don’t fill it past the steam valve (that little round brass thingie):

Next, nestle the filter basket into its place on the bottom of the pot.

Fill the filter basket with ground espresso.

Fill it right to the top, then smooth the espresso down so it’s fairly level.

Set the top of the espresso pot on the body and screw it tightly into place.

Set the pot on the stove over high-ish heat. Because it’s a smaller pot, I turn the heat up high enough so that the gas flames cover the bottom of the pot, but don’t lick up the sides.

Keep the lid closed. (I opened mine a few times to snap these pics.) It will take a few minutes for your water to get hot enough to start brewing the espresso.

After a few minutes, the espresso will start to pour out of the center of the pot.

It will trickle out at first.

And then pick up in speed and volume.

When your pot is a little less than halfway brewed, it should be pretty much gushing.

Peek a little if you like, but do keep the lid closed as it brews. Once it gets going, the pot fills up very quickly and can spit, sputter and let off a fair amount of steam.

How to Make Espresso on the Stove: How do you know when the espresso is done?

Good question. Use your ears—then your eyes.

When the espresso is brewing, you’ll hear it bubbling and splashing about in the top of the pot. When those happy sounds taper off, lift the lid and take a peek. If the espresso has stopped pouring out of the center, your pot is done. It’s really that simple. Remove the pot from the heat immediately.

How to Make Espresso on the Stove: Serve and enjoy!

Now, what you do next depends entirely on how you want to serve your espresso. You can pour steamed milk into it for a cappuccino. You could add hot water to it for a cafe americano (one of my favorite things to do).

Or, you can serve it straight in demitasse cups.

Enjoy!

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The other day, The Angry Chef headed into the city for his monthly cigar night. I wanted to make something extra special for him and his buddies, who are some of the nicest guys I know.

These brownies are rich, dense, and extra chocolate-y from melted chocolate and cocoa powder.

Their texture is creamy, almost bordering on fudge.

A drizzle of Johnnie Walker Black and brewed espresso balance out the sweetness. They’re filled with a scotch-infused take on my tangy, old-fashioned cream cheese frosting.

Serve with a glass of scotch or a cup of fresh expresso.

Gentlemen’s Brownies

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
8 Tbls. butter, softened (that’s 1 stick)
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 Tbls. brewed espresso, room temperature or cold
2 Tbls. Johnnie Walker Black, or other scotch you like
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
spray oil

Scotch-Infused Frosting

1 recipe old-fashioned cream cheese icing
2 Tbls. scotch

Bake in either an 8 x 10 or a 7 x 11 pan

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Prep your pan

Don’t skip this step. Seriously. It only takes a minute, and it will help really your brownies come out of the pan easily.

Spray your pan lightly with oil. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Press the paper in place. Spritz with oil lightly again. See how to do this step-by-step on this post. You want your pan to look about like this.

Set your pan aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Chop & melt the chocolate

Grab your chocolate. I used Baker’s Chocolate, but by all means use any bittersweet chocolate you like.

With a knife, break the chocolate up into small-ish pieces.

Fill a pot with an inch or two of water. Set it on the stove over high heat. Bring it to a boil. When it’s boiling, drop the heat to low and set a large, heat-proof bowl on top of the pot of water. Put your chopped chocolate in the bowl.

Stir the chocolate with a spatula. It should start to melt almost immediately.

Stir until the chocolate is completely melted.

When it’s melted, remove the bowl from the stove. Set it aside to cool while you start the brownie batter.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Make the brownie batter

Put the softened butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl if you’re using a hand-held mixer).

Mix on medium-high to cream the butter and sugar together.

You want to create a uniform mixture that’s light and fluffy looking, like this:

Crack in the eggs.

Mix on medium-high until well combined. (Start the mixer on low and gradually speed it up, so your egg doesn’t fly everywhere.)

They should look about like this:

Pour in the espresso and the scotch.

Mix to incorporate. Then toss in the flour and cocoa powder. (If you like, sift the two together in a separate bowl before adding to your mixing bowl. For this recipe, I don’t find it makes a lot of difference, so I skip it.)

Mix just to combine.

Pour in the melted chocolate. It’s OK if it’s warm, you just don’t want it to be hot (or you risk literally scrambling the eggs in your mixing bowl).

Mix on high to combine for maybe 30 seconds or so. Without overbeating it, you want the batter to look about like this.

It will be stiff, and have a texture resembling chocolate mousse.

Pour out into your prepared pan. Smooth down with a spatula to even out the surface.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Bake the brownies

Pop the pan into your preheated oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. When they’re done, they’ll have a lovely even brown color, like this.

When you insert a toothpick halfway between the side and the middle of the pan, it should come out clean. (This time, do this in the place indicated, not in the center.)

Your toothpick should have just a few crumbs clinging to it, like this:

If your toothpick is gooey, stick the pan back in the oven for a few minutes, then test again.

Gentlemen’s Brownies: Cool and fill with frosting

Now, you can stop right here. These brownies are great on their own. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before cutting. If you’re going to fill them with frosting, cool them to room temperature.

If you’re going to fill them with frosting, whip up a batch of my Old-Fashioned Cream-Cheese Frosting.

When the frosting is done, add the scotch. (If you wanted a different flavor frosting, this is where you’d add it in.)

Beat it ’til it’s well combined.

When your brownies are cool to room temperature, cut into squares.

Split your brownies in half, like this:

Drop a spoonful of frosting onto one side.

Smoosh the frosting down a little so it covers most of the brownie.

Top with the other half of the brownie. Don’t press down too hard.

Voila!

Set it aside on a plate or sheet pan. Repeat with the rest of the brownies.

When they’re all filled, pop the brownies in the fridge for a few hours to firm up the filling.

Serve and enjoy!

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