Verrine ~ A Blend of Cream and Chocolate

As a kid, I had a bad habit of wasting food. My mother would scare me saying if I waste food, satan is gonna come and grab my leg and take me off. The days I would waste food, I happen to meet satan (the one in Onida ad) in my dreams, who would drag me off, mercilessly.

But now, I do make a conscious effort to not waste food and to cook/eat that is enough for us. I had some mascarpone cheese and whipping cream left over after I made the Tiramisu and Black Forest Cake. While in a hunt to figure out how I could use them to make another variety dessert, before it hits the expiry date, I came across the French Dessert called Verrine. Verrines translate to glasses in french. Originally from France, these are made by forming layers of ingredients in a glass. Since these are made in transparent glass, the highlighted colors of the ingredients gives a tempting look. Moreover, we can customize a verrine with ones own recipe.

The verrine I tried, was indeed a quick dessert - sounds exciting ? Here is the recipe for the verrine that was made in less than 15 mins and did leave our tastebuds craving for more. I think you should definitely give it a try.

Ingredients

1. 1 1/2 cup of whipped cream
2. 2 tbsp of mascarpone cheese @ room temperature
3. 1 1/2 cup of crushed brownies/ chocolate cake
4. 6 tbsp of sweet wine
5. Transparent glasses for serving

Method

• In a bowl, beat the mascarpone cheese and 2 tbsp of wine with a spatula to form a smooth paste. 
• Fold in the whipped cream just enough to blend in with the mascarpone. 
• Line the crushed brownies in the glass. Drop in 2 tbsp of wine to moisten the brownies. (Refer Tips)
• Add a layer of whipped cream and mascarpone mixture.
• Repeat the above two steps.
• Pop it into the refrigerator(preferably overnight).
• Garnish it with chocolate and serve it chill. Here is the trick to make chocolate garnish.

Tips

1. You could substitute brownies with crushed chocolate cake/crackers/marie gold biscuits.
2. Drop in the wine just enough to make the brownie layer moist. Too much of wine would make it bitter. 
3. You could substitute wine with simple sugar syrup, if you would want to replace wine. Also adjust the sweetness of the sugar syrup based on the sweetness of the base (brownie/crackers/digestive biscuits), so that it does not leave you with a dessert that is bland nor make you sugar high :).