Baking: Chocolate Mousse Pie

My second contribution to the FBM Potluck (chocolate mousse pie) was all sorts of fail too. Sigh, not a good one for me. I had good intentions but the end product just didn't follow through.

The first step to the pie is to create the crust. I used crush Oreo cookies. I used about 25 of them. And the rest I ate. Hah! You can use any chocolate wafer cookie but I like eating the leftovers.

I placed them in a food processor and grinded them until very fine.

To that, I added about 1/2 a stick of melted butter.

Then I shaped it into a springform pan making sure it went up the sides as well. Then into the oven at 350oF until set, about 5-10 minutes. Remove and cool.

While the crust cool, make the mousse. Melt butter, coffee, and chocolate in a double boiler until smooth.

Smooth and shiny. Remove from heat and let cool.

While the chocolate cools, separate the eggs. Place the yolks, sugar, and water in a bowl and set over double boiler again. Continuously whip the eggs over the double boiler until very thick like runny mayonnaise. Then immediately place in a large bowl of ice water and continue whipping. This cools the egg mixture to prevent cooking but also helps thicken it up some more. Keep whipping until thick like mayonnaise.

Once the chocolate and the egg yolk mixtures have cooled, fold one into the other. Set aside.

In a clean bowl, whip egg whites and salt until frothy. Do not over whip or it can break.

Then slowly fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Be careful not to overmix or it may be flattened. The egg whites creates that light and fluffy texture that's akin to perfect chocolate mousse.

Transfer mousse to cooled pie crust and refrigerate until set. The recipe calls for at least 4 hours. I say overnight. My mistake was that it didn't set.

Right before serving, I whiped up some heavy cream with powdered sugar as a topping.

When this chocolate mousse pie was all set and done, I wasn't happy with it. First, the crust was way too hard. I had to stab at it with the cake server. Teaches me to make a crust without exact measurements next time. Second, the mousse never set properly. I left it in the fridge for 4 hours but the door was opening frequently. I think it really needed an overnight chill. And lastly, the coffee was too strong. I used espresso instead. The flavor overpowered the chocolate flavor.

I'm definitely bound to make this again. Lesson learned. Try and try again.

This recipe was adapted from Dave Lebowitz's version of Julia Child's recipe.

Chocolate Mousse
Six to eight servings

Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Knopf) by Julia Child.

I tried to reduce the amount of butter in the recipe and found it wasn’t nearly as good. Since I’m not one to argue with Julia, I stuck close to the recipe tweaking it just slightly.

6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum, optional
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)

3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.

5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don’t overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.

Serving: I like to serve the chocolate mousse as it is, maybe with just a small dollop of whipped cream; it neither needs, nor wants, much adornment.

Storage: The mousse au chocolat can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.