Quick And Easy Chocolate Mousse I Made It

Quick And Easy Chocolate Mousse

pointsevenout 9 years ago
Recipe by Debra47: Quick And Easy Chocolate Mousse/saved
Nice and sweet. But I did use milk chocolate chips in order to give mother the flavor she desires.
The melted chocolate thickened up very rapidly to a paste on the addition of the first yolk. I am thinking "seized-up". Continued adding the yolks one at a time and the chocolate finally started to loosen up. With the addition of the water it started looking like a mousse base.
Never could get the whites past the soft peak stage. Which meant the final product never set up to that spoonable stage.
I consider myself an "old hand" at making egg whites stiff peaked.
It beats me what went wrong.
This recipe deserves further investigation to find out what went wrong. Debra47's recipes always turn out well for me. This is the first flop.
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frankieanne 9 years ago said:

I wonder what went wrong with the egg whites. I've never heard of adding salt to egg whites though. How was it after this much time has passed? Or did it last that long? :-)

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pointsevenout 9 years ago said:

After 24 hours it was more set-up, or should I say colder. Still a little gooey-drippy while fishing out spoonfuls. The salt should be cream of tartar, an eighth of a teaspoon per white. So whenever a recipe says salt they really mean cream of tartar. I did follow the recipe per spec for the salt. And the whites do need to be at soft peaks before the sugar is added, not just thick foamy.
Mousse was quite sweet so next time I will use the semi-sweet chocolate morsels, per spec, since there is so much sugar added to the whites..
I'm more mystified about the chocolate going very thick on the addition of the first yolk.

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mommyluvs2cook 9 years ago said:

Glad it kind of set up a little better for you Points. Did Mother like it at least since it was sweeter than the others you made? :)

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pointsevenout 9 years ago said:

She liked it just fine but it is on the slow side being eaten.

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frankieanne 9 years ago said:

That's what it is! Cream of tartar! I knew I hadn't seen salt before.

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pointsevenout 9 years ago said:

Bought a new bottle of cream of tartar today. Will give this recipe a go in a couple of days.

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pointsevenout 8 years ago said:

Been almost a couple of months before I got back to this one.
Subbed out the salt for cream of tartar, 1/8 tsp/white and only half the sugar in the whites.
Reversed the order of chocolate mix so it wouldn't seize up: Whisked water into beaten yolks, then chocolate into water/egg mixture a little at a time.
Whites beat up wonderfully. Folded in. After a good chill there should be not the first problem.

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gourmetana 8 years ago said:

I always add salt to my egg whites and they always turn out perfect.
I make my mousse in a similar way, but I don't use water or sugar. I just melt bitter chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa) with a nob of butter, add the yolks after has cooled off (yes the yolks thicken the chocolate and it looks scary) then fold in the egg whites gently. It makes the most airy mousse ever.

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gourmetana 8 years ago said:

I could never find cream of tartar in Portugal. Now, since I am in London I've seen it at the supermarket, but never bought it. What uses does it have other than adding to egg whites?

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pointsevenout 8 years ago said:

It helps the whites keep their volume. I've used it in a couple other recipes but don't remember what it did for the recipe.
On an interesting note, the cream of tartar is made from the residue of wine making barrels. Also tartar crystals can be seen in grape jelly at the bottom of the jar if the grape juice wasn't refrigerated and filtered correctly. There's nothing wrong with the crystals in the bottom of the jars. It is just visually off-putting to the consumer.
It's also used as a component in baking powder.
Reading off the 'net it is a good GP cleaner.

From Wikipedia:
Potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, with formula KC4H5O6, is a byproduct of winemaking. In cooking it is known as cream of tartar. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic acid).
In food:
In food, potassium bitartrate is used for:
Stabilizing egg whites, increasing their heat tolerance and volume
Stabilizing whipped cream, maintaining its texture and volume
Anti-caking and thickening
Preventing sugar syrups from crystallizing
Reducing discoloration of boiled vegetables
Additionally it is used as a component of:
Baking powder, as an acid ingredient to activate baking soda
Sodium-free salt substitutes, in combination with potassium chloride

From Thekitchn.com:

One more way cream of tartar gets used in the kitchen is when we're working with sugar. Where cream of tartar is a stabilizing agent for egg whites, a pinch added to boiling sugar is actually an interfering agent. The cream of tartar gets in the way of sugar's natural tendency to bind together and prevents those dreaded sugar crystals from forming.

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gourmetana 8 years ago said:

Thank you for this Points! :)

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pointsevenout 8 years ago said:

Kids can also use a cream of tartar mixture as play dough. Two tablespoons of cream of tartar, a cup of salt, a tablespoon of cooking oil, and 4 cups of flour can be mixed to form an all natural play dough.

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pointsevenout 8 years ago said:

That first recipe didn't sound right. Here's another one:

Play Dough Recipe:

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

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mommyluvs2cook 8 years ago said:

Lovin' the play dough recipe! So cool!

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debra47 8 years ago said:

Just reading through all the comments regarding the chocolate mousse recipe. I will look back at my recipe as I never had any problems and wouldn't have posted it if it hadn't turned out perfect for me. Will get back to you as soon as I can.

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pointsevenout 8 years ago said:

I look forward to your analysis.

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pointsevenout 8 years ago said:

Researching on the 'net for chocolate seizing shows that the yolks should be room temperature and a little bit of butter stirred into the melted chocolate should keep it from seizing. Does that sound like what could be happening?

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