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Guidelines to
making chocolate mousse:
Our
Chocolate Mouse (Mousse au Chocolat) Recipes describe the basic steps for this recipe. Following are
some guidelines to avoid common problems.
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Each
recipe requires that one melt the chocolate. It is very
important that this should be done gently and that the
chocolate is not overheated (if overheated the chocolate
ingredients will separate or burn). Consequently, rather
than melting it in a pot, it is best to use a double boiler
if you have one. If you don't, a good alternative is to
place a casserole dish inside a pot of water. In both cases
(double boiler or casserole dish in pot of water), the water
should be heated to warm but not to boiling.
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To
allow the chocolate to melt quickly, with minimum heat, it
should be broken into pieces before being placed into the
dish to melt.
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The
egg white needs to be beaten into a froth, as it is the air
bubbles trapped in the froth which provides this recipe its
distinctive light and airy taste. However, care should be
taken not to beat the egg whites to the point that they
become stiff. If they are stiff, it becomes difficult to mix
them evenly into the chocolate.
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Once
the chocolate is melted, the other ingredients are added. As
the other ingredients are often cool (e.g. if cream is used
and it has just been taken out of the fridge), they will
cool the chocolate and it may start to go hard. If this
happens, it is impossible to mix the chocolate with the
other ingredients. To solve this problem, simply reheat
(gently!!!) the chocolate with whatever ingredients have
already been added, until the chocolate becomes liquid
again. To avoid the problem, either melt the chocolate in a
heavy dish (which will hold the heat and keep the chocolate
liquid) or once the chocolate is melted, leave it in the
double boiler (or casserole dish) with the stove on minimum
heat, using the boiler (or casserole dish) to mix all the
ingredients in.
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The
sugar needs to be well dissolved. For this purpose icing
sugar (known as Confectioners'
Sugar
in the USA, or Sucre Glace
in France) is best as it dissolves quickly. However,
ordinary sugar works well provided it is well stirred in.
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The
beaten egg white needs to be added to the chocolate, but it
should be "folded" in rather than stirred in. "Folding" is a
cooking term. It consists of sliding the instrument (e.g.
plastic spatula or wooden spoon) along the bottom of the
container and then lifting it up the side (keeping the spoon
horizontal). This motion is used to mix the ingredients
without losing the air bubbles trapped in the whipped egg. A
normal stirring motion would remove the air bubbles,
resulting in the moose being flat.
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After
the chocolate mousse is prepared, it should be put into the
fridge to cool for at least an hour prior to serving. As it
contains raw egg, I would advise that it is eaten the same
day as it is prepared, rather than keeping it for multiple
days.
We have more information, including a number
of recipes, at
Chocolate Mousse (Mousse au Chocolat).
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