All of you probably know that I have a huge sweet tooth. MM does not share that kind of dental issue. 🙂 I can usually persuade him to try one of the treats I make, just to have another vote on how it tastes, but he’s just not the cake and cookies kind of guy.
Cheese plates are more up his alley.
For dessert? Blech.
However, he’s a fan of mousse – and I found a recipe in one of Grandma’s books: The Joy of Cooking. I’ll tell you about the experience on the other side of the recipe…
French Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 2 c milk
- ÂĽ c baker's sugar
- 3 oz bittersweet chocolate finely chopped or grated
- 4 egg yolks
- Âľ c cold whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine mil, sugar, and chocolate. Heat over medium-low heat until steaming, and whisk to ensure chocolate has melted.
- Place the egg yolks in a small bowl, and using an electric hand mixer, whisk until beaten. Set aside.
- Prepare an ice bath (bowl full of ice and cold water, with another bowl over top of the ice).
- When the chocolate has melted, and the mixture is fairly smooth, pour about ÂĽ cup into the egg bowl, and mix for a few seconds. Pour the egg and chocolate mixture into the saucepan, and over medium-low heat, whisk constantly, until it thickens slightly. (I think letting it thicken to a custard state is best. This may take a few minutes.)
- Pour the mixture into the bowl over the ice bath. Place in the refrigerator and cool for at least 45 minutes (between 1-2 hours is advisable). At this point, it should feel similar to a custard or pudding.
- Place cream in a medium sized bowl. Whisk cream until soft peaks form – be careful not to over whisk. Fold in vanilla.
- Add â…“ of the cream into the bowl with the chocolate mixture. Gently fold until mostly combined. Add the remainder of the cream, and gently fold until well blended, but not completely deflated. Spoon into 6 custard cups, and chill thoroughly.
Notes
So here’s the thing. Despite having this cookbook since shortly after my grandmother passed away, I’ve never made a recipe out of it. But it really looks like the book has been well used…
If you remember in a previous post, I decided to try something new using my grandmother’s notebook or the recipe books I got that were hers. Flipping through the Desserts section, I found the mousse recipe, and given how short the recipe is, thought I’d give it a try.
My first attempt wasn’t so great – it was very, very soupy. Since the recipe in the book doesn’t provide any kind of times, and I’ve never made a mousse, I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for. And it’s been a while since I’ve made anything even close to it.
A few days after my failed attempt, I ended up looking up mousse methods online, and most of them utilized not just the egg yolks but also the whites – creating a meringue to increase the lightness of the mousse and provide more stability. The problem was that my recipe didn’t include egg whites. But then it clicked – the first portion of this recipe is pretty close to the method to make custard, or crème patisserie. I’ve made both of those before – the first for chocolate ice cream, and the second during my experiments to make eclairs.
Now I know what the consistency of the cream and egg mixture should be! A hint – if the mixture still looks frothy after you’ve combined the tempered eggs/chocolate mixture with the original chocolate mixture, you need to keep whisking and cooking – it’s not thickened enough yet.
That, along with a reduction how long I whipped the cream and relearning how to fold mixtures, and I think I’ve got it!
So for those of you who would like to try, I’ve added a bit of my findings to the recipe above. Try it out, and see how it goes!
Full disclosure – after setting in the refrigerator overnight, it’s still not quite the right texture. I think I need to thicken the chocolate even more (updated the recipe to reflect what I plan to do next time), and let it set in the fridge for 1-2 hours (instead of 45 minutes) before folding in the whipped cream.
Otherwise, it’s a bit like melted chocolate custard. Which is still good! It’s just not what I’m looking for… 🙂
And MM’s take?
He agrees that the texture isn’t quite right, but otherwise, YUM!