Little Sis Turns 30

My little sister turned 30, and we had the honour of opening up our home to her for this celebratory event. My sister did most of the planning, but I wanted to make it special, instead of it being a normal lunch with close family and friends.

My sister was in charge of the snacks and lunch, but I couldn't resist to make the dessert. While planning this delicious chocolatey dessert - as per my sister's instructions - I decided to use the theme of black and gold throughout. 

For a celebratory welcome drink, I served a non-traditional Top-deck shooter. The glasses were decorated with white and chocolate sprinkles, making the drink even more sweet! The shooter consisted of two parts chocolate vodka, and one part Amarula cream liqueur. I was very proud of myself of getting the layers done perfectly, as my previous attempt of the Springbokkie shooter did not look so good - more details here. The Top-deck was just the right amount of sweet to start the afternoon of with.

For snacks, my sister served homemade meat pies (one of the best I've ever tasted), a variety of chips, pretzels, crackers and cheese. And don't forget about the chocolates, for the sweet tooth!

For lunch, my sister did an exceptional job with the menu. Three types of meat - boerewors, chicken kebabs and pork rashers, two choices of bread - buttery garlic bread and olive ciabatta, and a choice of two salads - creamy potato salad (with a touch of bacon) and beetroot and feta salad (thanks to my mom).

Now for the dessert I built my whole theme around! After assembling the dessert in the food moulds, I realised it would be a struggle to get the desserts out (palm-to-face moment), hence the disastrous look of my dessert. However, it was absolutely divine. This dessert consisted of many, many chocolate layers. The layers comprised a moist dark chocolate cake, topped with caramel treat and covered with dark chocolate ganache. The next three layers were dark chocolate mousse, milk chocolate mousse, and caramel infused cream. Topped with chopped almonds for a crunchy effect. 

For a fresh element, I served home made strawberry sorbet, finished off with a fresh mint leaf. The sorbet melted quite quickly on the warm spring day, but it surely added freshness to the rich and creamy chocolate dessert.