The thing is for many years our friend Carol has been in charge of providing him with cake and his birthday is no exception. As I fully expected she did make him a cake but, here’s the rub, it has a note attached saying
"Needs a few days maturing (like you)”
I didn’t panic; I just calmly made his
favourite chocolate mousse. This is a
recipe I have been using pretty well since time began and it has always been
popular with punters and friends alike. What took it to new heights, however,
in the selling department was my adding a description to the menu …
... the reason I said "inexplicable" is because I have no idea why they happen. Every time I make this mousse I wonder if they'll be there and they always are!
Dark Chocolate Mouse marbled with Cream & Brandy (as it happens) ~ with inexplicable etc. etc. etc.
285g
dark chocolate – broken
85g
butter
5
egg whites
5
egg yolks (convenient!)
50g
caster sugar – divided into 2 x 25g
480ml
double cream
tot
of brandy, rum or whatever
~ Melt the chocolate together with the butter in accordance with the
instructions here (where there are also lots of delicious chocolate recipes!)
~ Whisk together the egg whites and 25g of caster sugar till stiff.
~ In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar till creamy.
~ In yet another bowl whisk the cream and brandy together till thick.
~ Fold together the yolks and whites then fold in the chocolate. Folding is essential here, not stirring, as you need to keep all the air that has been whipped in earlier.
~ Fold in the cream – I do it partially for a marbled effect.
~ Put into a pretty bowl and chill till needed. This keeps for several days if you don’t test it too much – see below. ***
~ Whisk together the egg whites and 25g of caster sugar till stiff.
~ In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar till creamy.
~ In yet another bowl whisk the cream and brandy together till thick.
~ Fold together the yolks and whites then fold in the chocolate. Folding is essential here, not stirring, as you need to keep all the air that has been whipped in earlier.
~ Fold in the cream – I do it partially for a marbled effect.
~ Put into a pretty bowl and chill till needed. This keeps for several days if you don’t test it too much – see below. ***
*** At one time, when I ran a very busy restaurant kitchen, I made what felt like gallons of the stuff every day. Having always been a stickler for quality
control, especially where chocky is concerned, I used to assiduously check the
mousse every time I went into the cold room (several times an hour) till I
developed borderline high cholesterol and decided it was probably keeping OK on
its own!
This afternoon we went to Charlestown
Whilst moseying about we came upon a
friendly chap running a mobile farm shop from an old electric milk float. Seems to extend a warm welcome to everyone!
I nicked that picture off their site!
He had some tempting local fruit and veg
for sale, homemade breads, plus my favourite Spicy Red Onion Marmalade, Raw
Chocolate and all sorts of goodies.
Might have to pop down to Charlestown
2 comments:
The little lumps most likely happen because you're folding melted chocolate into a fluffy mix.
Try this: Stir the chocolate into the yolk/sugar mix until smooth, then fold in the whites into that mix (about a quarter quite roughly to loosen the mix and then the rest gently in stages).
However, I love having bits of solid choc in my mousse, and will actually add chopped choc into the finished mousse (before chilling).
I relish the lumps of chocolate too - a real boon!
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