This three-ingredient chocolate mousse is made in five minutes using a simple technique to turn melted chocolate into a fluffy mousse. It’s a recipe by Heston Blumenthal and is pretty genius. make sure you use the best chocolate you can here as this is the main ingredient. I have included an adaptation of this recipe which adds depth of flavour.
I havehadthis recipe at the back of my mind since first pinning it onto my ‘recipes I like‘ board on Pinterest a few months ago. It claims to be ‘thebest chocolate mousse of your life in under 5 minutes so Iimmediatelyknew I would have to try it.Apart from water (which cannot be considered an ingredient), theoriginalrecipe has only sugar and chocolate in it.
To makesomethingdelicious out of only 2ingredientsis a pretty challenging feat.
With this, it’s all aboutthemethod, so last week I got my molecular gastronomy on and gave this recipe a whirl.
I followed it down totheexact ingredient,includingthe Valrhona Guanaja which Ihappenedto both love and have on hand. At the end of the process, I added a good glug (about 30ml) of brandy because I felt it needed it, but you could leave this out.
*Verdict:
I thoroughly enjoyed the process of making this interesting recipe, and the flavour of the chocolate is lovely and intense. I did however missthecreamymouth feelof a chocolate mousse made with cream, butter and eggs, so for me, this is not the best recipe ever. If I ever made it again, I would experiment with folding whipped cream into the mix as the chocolate starts to thickenand consider including chopped preserved oranges, orange zest or ginger to add flavour.
** I have made this mousse a few times and played around with improving the flavour and texture. This is my latest version and I love it. I have used Earl Grey Tea instead of water which brings in a little more depth and of course the subtlebergamot flavour. The whipped cream adds the necessary creamy mouthfeel which I think the original version lacks, and the liqueur adds that lovely boozy touch which can only improve a chocolate mousse.
5-minute chocolate mousse with Earl Grey tea.
270g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) – broken into pieces
250ml (I cup) strongly brewed Earl Grey tea
4 Tbsp sugar
300ml whipped cream to serve
1/2 cup roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts to serve.
1 – 2 Tbsp orange liqueur/brandy – optional
Brew just over a cup of Ear Grey tea and allow to steep for 5 minutes.
Place the tea, chocolate and sugar into a double boiler and gently heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from the heat and place the bowl with the chocolate mixture directly on top of a bigger bowl of ice.
Using the whisk attachment of a hand handheld mixer,whisk the chocolate mixture on medium speed continuously until it starts to thicken. This will take between 3 – 5 minutes. As it starts thickening, fold through half the cream, ¾ of the nuts and liqueur. Scoop the mix into either individual serving dishes or one larger dish. Place in the fridge to further firm up.
Decorate with the remaining whipped cream and remaining nuts.
2Tbspof brandy or any other liqueur of your choiceoptional
Instructions
Melt the chocolate, sugar and water together in a double boiler or a bowl placed over a pot of boiling water.
Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and then place another, smaller bowl on top of this and keep to one side.
When the chocolate has melted, empty this into the bowl standing on top of the ice (I simply placed the bowl I had melted the chocolate in directly onto the ice).
Using an electric hand-held mixer, start beating the mixture until it thickens. As it cools it starts to thicken. This takes about 3 - 5 minutes, so be patient.
Once it starts to thicken it very quickly goes very hard, so I suggest spooning it into your serving dishes while it is still fairly soft. If you find the chocolate is grainy, you can heat it over the double bowler again and repeat the process until it is the texture that you like.
I added the brandy towards the end of the mixing.
It can be served immediately.
Notes
To make give this mousse a delicious mouthfeel, stir through some whipped cream at the end before it gets too firm/
Author: Sam Linsell
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Mousse has three basic components: base, binder, and aeration. The base provides the body, color, and flavor for the mousse. Bases can be meat, fish, cheese, or vegetables. Binders are what hold the mousse together and give it structure.
Traditionally, mousse is made with gelatin. The gelatin should be bloomed in cool water or 5 minutes, then melted before adding to the base. The amount of gelatin can be altered depending on the desired texture.
Not fluffy enough, not chocolatey enough, too sweet, grainy, etc etc. Many “easy” chocolate mousse recipes tend to use too much cream so the end result is more like custard, rather than aerated like real chocolate mousse should be.
The whipped cream and egg whites also provide fat and protein, which give the mousse its rich and smooth mouthfeel. Additionally, the use of high-quality chocolate can contribute to the creaminess of the mousse, as the cocoa butter in the chocolate can help to create a smooth and silky texture.
This is probably the most crucial step and it's what really defines the consistency of your mousse: adding air bubbles into the mouse. There are roughly two ways to do so: Whisk an ingredient that's good at holding onto air itself, such as heavy cream or eggs. Whip the chocolate mousse as it's cooling down.
Mousse is a light and airy dessert made with eggs, sugar, heavy cream, and flavoring. All mousses have four basic components: aerated egg yolks, whipped egg whites, whipped cream, and a flavoring base. All mousses follow the same basic steps for preparing them.
If you over-whip the cream, you'll end up with a grainy mousse (although you can try to remedy it by whisking in a few extra tablespoons of cream). An electric hand mixer and a nice big bowl are my tools of choice, but a big balloon whisk and a chilled mixing bowl work well, too.
A runny mousse that won't set is caused by the opposite of the reason for grainy mousse. If your mousse won't set, it is most likely because you have under-whipped the heavy cream. Perfectly whipped cream will stabilize the mousse as it sets in the refrigerator.
For an even thicker mousse, livestrong.com suggests adding in ½ tablespoon of cornstarch and ½ tablespoon of cold milk until reaching your desired consistency. Remove from heat and cool slightly before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
3. What's the ideal texture for the chocolate mouse cake mixture? In this recipe, we will be using cornstarch instead of gelatin to thicken the mousse mixture. Compared with gelatin, cornstarch can bring the chocolate mousse cake a creamier texture, and allow it to be vegan friendly.
Don't overdo it when it comes to thickening. Try adding a small amount of cornstarch to a little water, and add it to the mousse a little at a time and see how it thickens the texture.
Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert or used as an airy cake filling. It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin. Savoury mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese, or vegetables. Hot mousses often get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites.
Temperature is one of the most important factors to consider when making chocolate mousse. If your chocolate becomes grainy when you add the whipped egg whites or cream, it has cooled too much and hardened into small grains.
The pate a bombe serves as the main body of our mousse; the proteins in the egg yolks are strong enough to hold all the air bubbles we'll incorporate, even after being mixed with melted chocolate and whipped cream. It's rich, velvety, and makes the best chocolate mousse in this chef's opinion.
Remove the chocolate mixture from the refrigerator, and stir a couple of spoonfuls of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, and then fold the remaining whites into the chocolate mixture, gently but thoroughly. Fold in the whipped cream.
mousse, savoury or sweet dish with the consistency of a dense foam, composed of a puréed chief ingredient mixed with stiffly beaten egg whites, whipped cream, or both. Mousses are almost always cold dishes, and sweet mousses are sometimes served frozen.
Aerated: Any chocolate mousse recipe has to provide us with a light, fluffy and delicate mouthfeel. To achieve that it is essential to control all the texture creating techniques, which are especially important for mousses: textures created with the use of emulsification, aeration, thickening and gelation techniques.
Mousse base + flavoring element + whipped cream = mousse. The mousse base is going to be one of two things: a custard (like crème anglaise) or a pate a bombe, which is egg yolks and/or whole eggs whipped with hot sugar syrup. I prefer a pate a bombe because it creates a richer, creamier mousse.
A polymer or resin is the most effective and important component of hair mousse, which acts as a conditioning agent. These resins are long chain molecules that form a film on the hair allowing a tighter grip on the hair strands, making it harder to brush off and form a resistant film.
mousse, savoury or sweet dish with the consistency of a dense foam, composed of a puréed chief ingredient mixed with stiffly beaten egg whites, whipped cream, or both. Mousses are almost always cold dishes, and sweet mousses are sometimes served frozen.
Introduction: My name is Pres. Carey Rath, I am a faithful, funny, vast, joyous, lively, brave, glamorous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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