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  • Cooking Question

    I'm trying to teach myself how to be a better cook, so I research different recipes and love to experiment with different ingredients and spices. My mother never really was interested in cooking, and rarely, if ever, included any spices in her cooking, so all of my experience had to come from my dad's cooking, Food Network, and Google.

    Tonight, I decided, for the first time, to try making a chocolate mousse with a raspberry coulis. I think I mixed in the whipped cream and meringue a little too early to the melted chocolate, because it caused the chocolate to seize up, with little bits of chocolate mixed in, giving it a grainy texture. My question is how cool does the chocolate have to be before folding in the cream and meringue?

  • #2
    What recipe are you using?

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    • #3
      The cream/egg mousse is notoriously difficult to get right. Try these. The first is without a foam whipper and the second with. Both are a lot easier to handle.

      http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...se-recipe.html

      http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...se-recipe.html
      I AM the evil bastard!
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      • #4
        I was using Bobby Flay's recipe, which tasted great. Thanks for those links; I'll have to try Alton Brown's next time I try it.

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        • #5
          looking at the recipe. rather than adding the egg whites a bit at a time about a third to quarter of the mix and then the rest.

          now you got me hungry for a mousse

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          • #6
            Your target temp for folding whipped cream into melted chocolate is 85-90 degrees. A stiff and grainy texture is more likely to result from the chocolate being too cool, or if your cream is whipped too stiff, rather than the chocolate being too hot.

            Here are two recipes.

            This one is super simple and easy. It is also very dense and very rich. It can be quite firm. It works very well as a filling for cakes, or to put in a mold or timbale, because it holds its shape well. It is powerful juju.

            Heavy Whipping Cream I: 24oz
            Dark Chocolate: 24oz
            Heavy Whipping Cream II: 16oz

            Make ganache with chocolate and cream I. Whip Cream II to soft peaks. When the ganache is at 85-90 degrees, whisk in about a quarter of the whipped cream. Then gently fold in the rest in twoish batches.

            Boom. done.



            This mousse is a tiny bit softer and more spoonable. It is not QUITE so intensely sweet and rich as the first, and it also has the most amazing mouthfeel, because egg yolks. It takes rather more effort to make, but if you're going for a fancy, spooned into cups (with or without layers of other tasty stuff) and served to guests that will marvel at your pastry skillz, this is the way to go.

            Semi sweet chocolate: 14oz
            Egg Yolks: 6oz (12ish eggs. Save the whites for the next time you need to make meringue, and yes, you CAN whip whites that have been frozen, although they won't get quite the volume as fresh)
            Whole Eggs: 3.3oz (twoish eggs)
            Sugar: 4oz
            Heavy Whipping Cream: 16oz. Whipped to soft peaks.

            Melt chocolate to 120 degrees and set aside
            Place eggs, yolks and sugar over a double boiler. Whisk until the mixture reaches 158 degrees and thickens. If you're concerned that some of the mixture has curdled, strain it before proceeding.
            Use a mixer, stand or hand, to whip the egg mixture until it cools to room temp.
            When the chocolate is about 90 degrees, whisk in 1/3 the whipped cream, then fold in the egg mixture (it's called a bombe) and then fold in the rest of the cream. Use immediately.
            My webcomic is called Sidekick Girl. Val's job is kinda like retail, except instead of corporate's dumb policies, it's the Hero Agency, and the SC's are trying to take over the world.

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