Saturday 27 March 2010

.And once again she fails at making chocolate mousse.

Failures in the kitchen disappoint me. A lot.

About 2 years ago I tried making chocolate mousse and it was a total and utter disaster. It has taken me this long to try again and tonight it was once again a total failure.

Chocolate mousse...WHAT AM I DOING WRONG???!

It is flat. And small. And has little chocolate chunks through it. This is NOT how chocolate mousse should turn out.

I used this recipe with 58 reviews and most of them giving it a 5-star rating!!! What the heck am I doing wrong? Any experienced chocolate moussers out there have any advice (or better recipes) to share?

19 comments:

Rose said...

I'm no expert, i have had my fair share of failings with chccie mousse aswell, but, if you let the chocolate cool too long while you do the other steps then it will form the chocolate chunks/flakes you are talking about, it really needs to be only slightly cooled, as for the flatness, you may have either not thickened the cream quite enough, or folded it in too much or or too roughly, a gentle hand is needed.
Your Mousse looks yummy still and as long as it tastes good it really doesn't matter how it looks :)

Fiona said...

Whip the cream in a cold bowl??

Melissa said...

Haha!!! At least I'm not the only one having failures!! I think Linda has a good recipe! It does look pretty funny! But I'm sure it still tastes as good!

Renee said...

ditto what Rose.W. said and also - have the eegs at room temperature, so the still warm chocolate is not going into refridgerator cold eggs.

I must admit though - I do like a choc chip mousse!

Unknown said...

I have no idea, but I bet it still tastes good.

rachelmp said...

Poor you Toni... but you should see the sideways muffins my son made today..

Anonymous said...

Toni,
Ask Auntie Margaret about the mousse. She makes a lovely one, and she may be able to give you a few tips.
I know it is a horrid thing to say, but you have made me feel so much better about my many failures in the kitchen.
Love Auntie Lorraine.
xxx

Anonymous said...

Well, i have a solution it starts with a T and ends with ermomix ;)

Unknown said...

I am hanging to try the recipe from Materchef, BUT, am a little worried about using the amount of oil it suggests, plus it has to be served up straight away! I know I have a recipe I have used will hunt it out and email you.

Anonymous said...

Hi Toni,
Like Auntie Lorraine, I'd say try Auntie Margaret's recipe - her's never fails and is yummy!

Ali Christie

Erin said...

Hey Toni, you don't like chocolate do you??? I have a Gabriel Gate recipe I have made a couple of times... very yummy! I'll send it to you.

Jess said...

OK, OK -- lol, its not you.. its your recipes (trust me) it shouldn't be hard to make good tasty food it should be easy! First of all normally a restaurant quality mousse recipe would call for the eggs to be separated ALSO I don't ever never put cocoa in with anything like a mousse recipe because it doesn't blend well and it doesn't matter how hot your chocolate is because there is a formula for mousse which means have everything ready and add everything in the right order and it doesn't matter if something is hot or cold.

I PROMISE to blog THE BEST chocolate mousse recipe for you ASAP with pics to help tomorrow (thus not Sunday) trust me, it is fail safe.

Best of all there is only 3 ingredients!!

Marnie said...

O.K don't quite know how you can ail at it especially since you are so clever at everything else, but I am assuming perhaps your recipe called for whipped egg whites and perhaps you didn't whip them enough?

Try this for a very easy mousse

Get a big thing of thickened cream (I think 600mL) and whip it until just before it starts to turn into butter. Don't buy light or long life cream it won't whip. In a separate bowl crack one egg and beat it with a fork to mix the white and yolk together and then gently fold into the whipped cream. Then get one of the middle size toblerone bars (or get a big one, on special at Target this week) and melt it in the microwave (do it in 20 second lots and stir between lots to make sure you don't burn it). THen fold it into the mix, you don't need to let it cool. Put it into whatever you are serving ti in and put it in the fridge for about two hours. It is very yummy, especially with fresh strawberries and bananas

Julie R said...

cadbury's website have a good one. Or on their packets of cocoa they have a reliable one too. http://www.cadbury.com.au/Cadbury-Kitchen/Teatime-Treats/Chocolate-Mousse.aspx
Good luck!

Suzi said...

Ah forget it! Go the Nigella short cut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCCRPqH1Gso

sooo good!

Miss Amy said...

I use a packet mix... :p

Erin Littlewood said...

I agree entirely with Suzi. I make the Nigella mousse all the time. It is rich, velvety and divine. Oh it's also foolproof, I even make mine in the microwave, and it's still luscious, every single time.

Linda said...

I made some at Christmas time...actually 2 times and to my suprise it was easy and turned out great. I used a recipe that I found on the Donna Hay website.

Kayla Christie said...

have you mastered the chocolate mousse yet toni? If not, when you have Bub Ill make you a batch :) I use my mums recipe always have, and shes used this recipe for as long as I can remember and it's never failed on me or her before!

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