use real butter

When I said I was done baking until I returned from Canada, I did not lie. But I decided to whip up (literally) some chocolate espresso mousse tonight. Jeremy finished his proposal and sent it off to the university grants office for review before submission. He said he was in the mood for some sort of celebratory drink or some such yummy. I love being able to think of a dessert on the fly and make it on the spot. When I was a kid and I wanted to make something like meringues, I couldn’t because we never had enough sugar (a cup!) in the house. My mom did not bake and the cupboards told that tale time and again. Not in my house, not in my kitchen. Shazaam! Like that – chocolate espresso mousse!

I’ve had matcha on my mind lately. You just can’t make real green tea any pastry without matcha, the finely ground green tea. I even dreamt about what I was going to make, but this morning I changed my mind and opted for an opera-like cake. I could use up my earl grey infused ganache and turn some other chocolate ganache into glaze. All I needed to make was the matcha spongecake and the buttercream.