The 3 secrets of successful mousses
When you make a traditional mousse, that is to say without using a siphon, whatever the recipe, it's always the same principle: on one side you have a dense mixture, very tasty, and on the other side egg whites beaten until stiff.
All the difficulty of the success of a mousse, it will be to mix the two preparations which are of a very different density, without breaking everything, to obtain the famous mousse, subtle balance between lightness and taste.
All the difficulty of the success of a mousse, it will be to mix the two preparations which are of a very different density, without breaking everything, to obtain the famous mousse, subtle balance between lightness and taste.
7,120 4.6/5 (18 reviews)
Keywords for this post:MousseChocolateFruitTrickMeringueLast modified on: April 3rd 2021
The 3 secrets of successful mousses
For a chocolate mousse for example, the classic of classics, on one side you have chocolate melted in cream and added yolks, and on the other the whites beaten to snow.
The whites are gently incorporated into the chocolate mixture, which is mainly air, no secret, this is THE most delicate part of the recipe, let's see some tips to get it right.
According to your recipe, you will put more or less things in it, and sugar or not, I remain a fan of simple things: dark chocolate melted in cream in a bain-marie, smoothed with a whisk, egg yolks are added, smoothed again with a whisk and that's it.
Associated tip: add the egg yolks only when the chocolate mixture is smooth with a whisk, and not too hot, just lukewarm, also with a whisk, then smooth carefully again.
Related tips: It's not about making meringue, but you'll get much nicer whites if you "tighten" them by adding 20g of caster sugar (for 3 whites) halfway through. Their texture will be smoother, more creamy, and they will be easier to fold into the chocolate.
Intuitively, you would perhaps pour the chocolate over the whites and mix? This would be a mistake, you would risk "breaking" the whites.
It's a bit long and tricky, but that's where all the work is done. Stop when all the whites are well incorporated, there are no more "bundles of whites" not incorporated, be patient, in the end it is long to finish this incorporation ...
Divide into individual moulds and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
The above example is based on a chocolate mousse, but you can make all kinds of mousse on the same principle (whites + mixture) with instead of chocolate a (custard) cream with the fruits of your choice, or even a fruit coulis, but in this case you have to put a little gelatine in it while it is hot otherwise your mousse will not take.
A mousse is always a light and pleasant dessert, which finishes a meal in beauty, especially if it was a little rich.
In summary: The 3 secrets of a successful mousse are :
1) Adding the yolks with a whisk in a not too hot preparation
2) Whip the whites until they are stiff with a little powdered sugar
3) Incorporation in 2 steps, first we relax the mixture with a little whites with a whisk, and only then we incorporate gently with a maryse.
The whites are gently incorporated into the chocolate mixture, which is mainly air, no secret, this is THE most delicate part of the recipe, let's see some tips to get it right.
The chocolate mixture
According to your recipe, you will put more or less things in it, and sugar or not, I remain a fan of simple things: dark chocolate melted in cream in a bain-marie, smoothed with a whisk, egg yolks are added, smoothed again with a whisk and that's it.
Associated tip: add the egg yolks only when the chocolate mixture is smooth with a whisk, and not too hot, just lukewarm, also with a whisk, then smooth carefully again.
Whipped egg whites
Related tips: It's not about making meringue, but you'll get much nicer whites if you "tighten" them by adding 20g of caster sugar (for 3 whites) halfway through. Their texture will be smoother, more creamy, and they will be easier to fold into the chocolate.
Mixing the 2As
I said, this is the difficulty, because you want to mix something very light, airy, with a very thick cream, and above all you want to keep the light side of the whites, to find it in the chocolate and form the mousse. So you can't go at it like a brute with a spoon, everything would fall back, it wouldn't be a mousse.Intuitively, you would perhaps pour the chocolate over the whites and mix? This would be a mistake, you would risk "breaking" the whites.
How do you do it?
You have to proceed in 2 steps:
It's a bit long and tricky, but that's where all the work is done. Stop when all the whites are well incorporated, there are no more "bundles of whites" not incorporated, be patient, in the end it is long to finish this incorporation ...
Divide into individual moulds and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
The above example is based on a chocolate mousse, but you can make all kinds of mousse on the same principle (whites + mixture) with instead of chocolate a (custard) cream with the fruits of your choice, or even a fruit coulis, but in this case you have to put a little gelatine in it while it is hot otherwise your mousse will not take.
A mousse is always a light and pleasant dessert, which finishes a meal in beauty, especially if it was a little rich.
In summary: The 3 secrets of a successful mousse are :
1) Adding the yolks with a whisk in a not too hot preparation
2) Whip the whites until they are stiff with a little powdered sugar
3) Incorporation in 2 steps, first we relax the mixture with a little whites with a whisk, and only then we incorporate gently with a maryse.
Lasts posts
Should potatoes be washed twice?
Let's say you have to make a recipe that includes potatoes, let's say sliced, you'll most likely proceed as follows: Peel the potatoes, wash them, slice them, wash them again, pat them dry and add them to your recipe. But there's a "but": depending on the recipe, the second washing may be a bad...May 19th 2025945 15
Grilled bacon is much better in the oven
Some recipes call for thin slices of bacon to be cooked and added to the recipe, or to prepare one of those delicious breakfasts known as "à l'Anglaise".April 25th 20251,4735
The thermometer is your friend
There are many recipes or foods that require a (very) precise cooking temperature: foie gras, sugar for caramel, meats and fish, and not forgetting pastries. For these few examples, getting the cooking temperature wrong can spoil the whole recipe or dish: undercooked, it's no good or misses the...April 10th 20251,7795
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.January 27th 20253,263
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...December 25th 20243,7305
Other pages you may also like
The different cooking modes
In cooking, cooking means bringing food into contact with a source of heat, to transform it: improving its taste, and sometimes its texture. This contact with the heat source can be achieved in a number of ways: these are the cooking methods, and let's take a look at the main ones.July 24th 20245,7244.7
Butter doesn't make you fat, unless you eat too much of it.
Whenever I'm discussing cooking and recipes, there is one idea which comes up frequently, like this: "Oh no! But that's got butter in it" (I should add, for the sake of accuracy, that this is something I hear more frequently from women, who are almost all concerned with keeping their figure). ...March 26th 201241 K4.5
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021140 K4.5
Egg yolks and caster sugar
We often come across recipes where we need to mix egg yolks with caster sugar. This would appear to be a very ordinary and simple thing to do but, be warned, these two ingredients can behave oddly together.February 15th 201878 K 24.3
A memo of utensil weights
You will no doubt have come across this problem while cooking: after starting a recipe, when you already have some ingredients in a pan and have maybe cooked them, you need to know the weight of the pan's contents so that you can take half out, or add the same weight of sugar, for example.May 9th 201125 K4.6
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.