Eat more dessert.

Resolution #1, Eat more dessert. Who knew dessert was so fun to make? As you know from past posts, I have never been much of a baker, and my taste tends more toward salty than sweet. But in 2010 when I made some blogger friends who turned me on to the sweet side of dessert. (Thanks, Megan!) While I will likely always go for some spicy salsa and salty chips over cookies, I can definitely appreciate a well-made, quality dessert.

Earlier this week, I made a complicated dessert that turned out to be delicious but slightly stressful to make. For our New Year’s Eve dinner party for deux, I decided on a simple dessert with a favorite ingredient: Nutella Mousse.

After some recipe research, I decided on a three ingredient mousse. Instant coffee granules, whipping cream, and Nutella were all I needed for a sweet, creamy, treat.

Of course, we didn’t have instant coffee in the house, so I made do with what I had, regular ground coffee, using the back of a spoon to really grind the granules down into a fine powder. It worked like a charm.

Most of the recipes I consulted called for 1/4 teaspoon, but I used a little more. I love a strong coffee flavor.

I started with a cold 1 1/2 cups of whipping cream in a metal bowl that had spent some time in the freezer. Adding, the coffee powder, I then used my immersion blender to whip the cream half way before folding in the Nutella. The recipes generally called for 1/2 cup, and I used a teensy bit less to ensure it would not be too sweet for me.

After I folded the Nutella in, I blended the mix a bit more until thick and creamy.

Then I put it into the fridge for several hours. It was a little less mousse-like than I would have hoped, and I think that is because I did not use an electric mixer to whip the cream. The immersion blender only does so much, and the cream could have been stiffer. I think I need to just get an electric mixer and to be done with it.

At any rate, the mousse tasted amazing with flavors of cocoa, hazelnut, and coffee. It was cool, creamy, and light, the perfect dessert to end a delicious meal. And it went great with the Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut we were sipping as we watched Roman Holiday. It was a good night!

I will be posting the rest of my New Year’s menu tomorrow. I think it is ideal for a winter dinner party, big or small.

I’ll also be working on my resolutions. Like my “Eat more dessert.” resolution, I resolve to have non-traditional resolutions this year.

Everyone resolves to work out more, eat better, etc. Do you have any non-traditional New Year’s resolutions?