Last week, we got heady with our boozy buttercream filling for my 100-days project of creating a Signature CBP. This week, we tested chocolate mousse recipes to find out: a) can chocolate mousse be a suitable filling for CBP? And b) which chocolate mousse recipe works the best for us?
What is mousse?
Mousse, I learnt, is French for “foam”. Technically, it can be sweet or savoury (although I’m yet to try a savoury mousse – I have seen it on cooking shows though!). They are usually made by incorporating air into cream or egg whites or both. As traditional mousse making does not involve cooking of any sort, there is a whole debate on the use of eggs; which formed the basis for this week’s recipe classification.
To egg, or not to egg. That is the question.
Eating raw eggs may seem icky, but I think the problem is more knowing you’re eating raw egg, and not actually eating it. Case in point, when I was going through my research process and thinking out loud, J was adamant that he will not eat raw egg. “EEYA”, he said. Until I reminded him that Tiramisu, his favourite dessert, uses raw egg. So does mayonnaise that is a fridge-staple in our house, and not because of me. Let’s not forget the Australian invention (or so they say) of Pavlova: the gooey, marshmallow centre is basically raw egg whites.
As much as I justified it, though, there was a part of me that couldn’t fully buy into the raw eggs. As my objective in this series is to create a good filling that ticks all the boxes (and not to make a traditional mousse), I decided to test out three styles of making chocolate mousse: tempered egg yolk ; raw egg; and no egg.
After doing much reading and watching and reading some more (most of it about chocolate mousse recipes – I promise), I chose three recipes for each. These were bakers whose recipes I had tried before and found to be reliable and tasty.
This week’s contenders –
- Sally’s chocolate mousse (with tempered egg yolk)
- Nagi’s traditional chocolate mousse (with raw egg)
- Nigella’s instant chocolate mousse (no egg)
While Nagi talks about adding flavour, none of the others talk about booze in mousse. As I reduced the quantities to make only a cup of chocolate mousse, I added 1/2 tea spoon of Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur to the melted chocolate mix in each instance. We need the booze: a key criterion.
Mousse was immediately assembled with layers of Maliban Gold Marie soaked in milk. Assembling before chilling makes the process easier.
The thing with chocolate mousse is it requires patience. i.e. you can’t go from making to eating, as they need to be chilled – ideally overnight. And that is what I did.
The Verdict
Sally’s
This chocolate mousse was a dream! It was fluffy, chocolate-y and simply delicious.
I might want to make it a little bit sweeter the next time, though, because J declared it wan’t sweet enough for CBP.
Sally’s recipes are yet to let me down, to be honest. Her chocolate chip cookies are a crowd favourite, and her blueberry lemon tart is my go-to quick dessert for a gathering.
Score: 4.5/5
Nagi’s
Nagi’s was the chocolate mousse that truly achieved the fluffy texture of a chocolate mousse. It was very fluffy – as you can (hopefully) see in the (hastily shot) photo.
This texture, though, was too fluffy for a CBP filling. The mouth-feel (is that a thing?) with the biscuit was a little weird. Not weird enough that we won’t eat it; just weird enough to make me not want it to be the filling.
Knowing it has raw eggs probably didn’t help.
Score: 3/5
Nigella’s
As the one recipe to use marshmallows, I thought this would be very very sweet. But it wasn’t! It was just the right amount of sweet.
J and I disagreed on the texture of this. I thought it was too hard for a CBP, whereas J though “YUM”.
Regardless of this disagreement, we agreed on the score.
Score: 4/5
The winner of the chocolate mousse filling for CBP is Sally’s tempered egg yolk recipe!
Lessons Learnt etc.
This week’s recipe testing taught me a number of things.
- Considering the number of bowls required for Niga’s recipe, she probably has a good dishwasher or loves washing up.
- I, however, do NOT enjoy washing up; especially when what I wash is sticky chocolate.
In terms of the actual CBP recipe testing, though:
- Chocolate mousse has the complexity and depth that was missing in chocolate buttercream.
- It would be interesting to add another textural element. to the CBP – chopped chocolate or candied ginger, if I’m going full Sri Lankan flavours.
- Using a denser biscuit like TimTam might work, too.
- What if I soak the biscuits in a ginger tea instead of milk?!
- Cinnamon!
Next week is what I’ve been looking forward to the most: chocolate ganache!
I’d like to use some fancy chocolate for the base, once I know a filling-biscuit-soak that works well. Must start saving up.
I shall now go eat some chocolate mousse; J just informed me he’s finishing Sally’s.
Minoli Wijetunga 
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