Gummy Mousse

So this blog entry is in chocolate brown type, because we here at the garden have been experimenting with Mousse. I have made many Moussi? Miesse? Mousses? in my cooking life. Some were the Atkin's high fat, no sugar, no carb type. And the regular Melted chocolate and whipped cream type. What I wanted was one with flavor, texture, some sugar, mouth appeal, aroma, and moussey appearance and lower fat, but not fat free.

So, I will start with the failures. Gummy Mousse. My first try had coffee, milk, chocolate, sugar, whipped cream, egg yolks, egg whites, vanilla, and gelatin. A whole tablespoon and a half of gelatin. This was due to a mis-print in a recipe that I took to alter. Jeri's test kitchen suspected that this was going to be a problem at first glance, but the use of gelatin has been spotty in my life, so I wasn't sure. Then the mixture started to get rubbery while it was still kind of warmish. That should have been a real red flag. But after mixing stuff together, it set up as a solid mass with a distinct bounce -- almost a boing sound. It had great taste, though. The color was right, smell was good, mouth texture -- way off. We ate it anyway, because we are brave and foolish. But we were sure that it would not be a success even in the little kid world. So we went on.

The second failure was the chocolate soup. I repeated the recipe with 1 "teaspoon" of gelatin instead of the 1 1/2 tablespoons. Even after chilling the mix before adding the final ingredients, it would not set up or even get thick enough to tease me. After blending in the whipped cream and whipped egg white, it was syrupy. After chilling for hours, it was soupy. Chocolate flavor was good, like melted ice cream, but the texture and eye appeal was a total loss. It is hard to toss the ingredients out. We sampled a bowl full each and washed the containers.

The third try got me what I wanted in texture and eye appeal (and of course flavor). I will continue to work on the carbs and fats, but we are on the right track.
Here is the recipe:
3/4 cup cold coffee sprinkle on top 2 teaspoons plain gelatin to soften for about 30 minutes.
1 cup milk and 3 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate ( I used Trader Joe 72% dark). Heat this over med/low heat, stirring constantly until the chocolate melts.
Continue heating and add
1/2 cup sugar, stir until dissolved.
Continue heating and add
Softened gelatin in coffee, stir until dissolved.
Continue heating until mixture reaches about 130 f. Nowhere near boiling, but hot to the touch. I use a meat thermometer. Reduce heat to low.
Separate the yolks and the whites of two large eggs. Place the whites in a whipping bowl with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Leave on the counter to come to room temp.
Take the 2 egg yolks and stir them gently, adding a couple of tablespoons of the hot chocolate mix to temper them. Then stir the egg yolks into the hot chocolate mix stirring constantly for three minutes. Turn off the heat. Let this sit for 10 minutes, then refrigerate until it starts to thicken (20 minutes or so). It needs to be cool to the touch or cold, but not too solid. Like a thick syrup.
Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form.
Using the same beaters (don't need to wash them yet),
Beat 1 cup of whipping cream until soft peaks form, then add 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the chocolate into the whipped cream until well incorporated, then fold the whipped egg white into the cream mixture until well incorporated. Pour all this into a 2 quart pretty serving bowl and chill for three hours. If you are not going to eat it right away, put plastic wrap over it to keep it from drying out.
Now I need to find the calorie count on
2 eggs, 3 1/2 oz chocolate, 1 cup milk, 1 cup whipping cream, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons gelatin. This is divided into 4 or 6 servings depending on your diet.
My next plan is to try it with fat free whipped topping or a sugar substitute. And I want to see how it works with Agar instead of gelatin for my vegetarian buddies. Not all at once, but over a period of time I will test out these different ingredients.
Ok, so you have guessed the truth. I am just having a chocolate craving and I want any excuse to eat lots of chocolate mousse. No really, I am trying out these recipes to see if I can make something that tastes really good and doesn't trash my blood sugar. I think I am getting the texture part down and will be moving to the lower sugar and fat part soon. Wish me luck and try the good recipe if you are in the mood for a chocolate treat. It really is lower in sugar and fat than straight mousse, already, and it is quite tasty.