Mousses get their lightness from the whipped cream and meringue that is folded in, that’s why in French mousse means foam. Mousse’s can be flavoured with either chocolate for fruit purees, which provide a rich flavour. The whipped cream and meringue help to set the mousse when left in the fridge to set. However, some mousse recipes use gelatine to help set the mousse instead of meringue. Here I will show you some of my mousse recipes.
Chocolate Mousse
I like to use Cadbury Bournville for this mousse as it contains 36% cocoa solids. This is a nice mix between milk and dark chocolate, which makes the mousse not too sweet or not too bitter.
Ingredients:
Chocolate Mousse:
450g Cadbury Bournville Chocolate
680ml Double Cream
1. Place a pan of water on the hob and heat the water till simmering. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl.
2. Place the bowl on top of the pan water and slowly melt the chocolate. Make sure the water does not boil as this can cause the chocolate to become grainy. Once melted take the chocolate off the heat and allow to cool.
3. Whisk the double cream till the cream reaches soft peaks. Fold the cooled chocolate into the cream carefully until the mixture is streak free and smooth.
4. Place in the fridge to set for 1 hour and then the mousse is ready to be used.
White Chocolate Mousse
This mousse is a bit different compared to the chocolate mousse recipe as it contains gelatine instead of meringue. Using gelatine instead of meringue will allow the flavour of the white chocolate to stand out more since the flour is not diluted now.
Ingredients:
White Chocolate Mousse:
350g White Chocolate
600ml Double Cream
3 x Sheets of Gelatine
1. Start by blooming the gelatine sheets in a bowl of water for 5-10 minutes.
2. Next break the white chocolate into small pieces and place into a large bowl. The smaller the pieces of the chocolate the quicker the chocolate will melt.
3. Next whip the rest (400ml) of the double cream until soft peaks form and leave in the fridge.
4. In a pan, heat 200ml of the double cream until simmering. Make sure the cream does not boil.
5. While the cream is simmering, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine sheets and place into the bowl with the chocolate.
6. Pour the simmering double cream over the white chocolate and gelatine. Allow the mixture too cool for 5 minutes.
7. Next fold in the whipped cream using a balloon whisk. Mix all the ingredients together until complete incorporated and smooth.
8. Place the mousse in the fridge to set.