firby (03/28/83)
First, we'd like to thank all the people who answered our request about
heavy cream. It really was a lot of help.
There were also quite a number of requests for the mousse recipe in
question. Since there seems to be an interest in mousse in general, we
thought we'd post our problem recipe.
MOUSSE AU CHOCOLAT
5 egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 2/3 cups heavy cream
1. THE DAY BEFORE SERVING,
-in a large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat egg whites
with cream of tartar until soft peaks form when beater is slowly
raised.
-gradually add 3/4 c sugar, 2 tbsp at a time, beating well after each
addition
-continue beaing until stiff peaks form.
2. -in a small bowl, with same beater, beat egg yolks with salt until
thick and lemon coloured.
-gradually add remaining sugar, beating well after each addition.
3. -gradually beat in lemon juice, melted chocolate, and 1/3 c cream until
mixture is smooth and thickened.
4. -beat remaining cream until stiff.
-fold with chocolate mixture into egg whites.
-gently turn into 2-quart serving dish, spreading evenly.
5. -refridgerate 24 hours.
6. THE DAY OF SERVING,
-decorate top of mousse with additional whipped cream and semisweet
chocolate curls, if desired.
There you have it. We have tried more than once to make this with
ordinary whipping cream (32% b.f.), and have run into the same problem
each time. The top 1/3 to 1/2 of the mousse is perfect, but them it gets
more and more watery the farther down in the dish you go, until at the
bottom, there is nothing but a chocolate flavoured water. The only
conclusion we can make is that the water is coming out of the cream.
We'd be interested in hearing from anyone who actually makes this
mousse, so we can compare notes.
Thanks again,
joanne