A Lesson Learned While Creating Mousse au Chocolat (French Chocolate Mousse, Recipe Included)

Baking is different from cooking in a few aspects, but none more tricky than it's exacting ratios. If you add a little extra of an ingredient in cooking, it's usually an easy fix (too much salt? Add a peeled potato to soak it up!). Adding too much of an ingredient in baking can create a disaster - or, if you are very lucky, a tasty new recipe! This is how my recipe for Mousse au Chocolat was created.

The coronavirus pandemic has created shortages of almost all fresh foods, and eggs are no exception (or should I say eggception?). On a recent trip to the grocery store, jumbo sized eggs were all that were left in the cooler; since I did not want to truck on over to Walmart on the Saturday before Easter, I bought the jumbo eggs and thought nothing more of it...really, I completely forgot that I now had two different sized eggs in my refrigerator egg bin.

The following week, I decided to try a new recipe I had spotted in one of my women's magazines: a triple chocolate Bundt cake! I usually make my baked goods from scratch - the process relaxes me - but with everything on shortage this starts-with-a-mix Bundt cake recipe is perfect for the times. The recipe looked foolproof, what with all of the dry ingredients pre-measured (open box, pour contents into mixer!)...but remember what I said about my eggs being two different sizes? I didn't!

Following the recipe exactly, I added my liquid ingredients - 1/2 cup melted butter (check!), 1 cup chocolate milk (check!), and 4 eggs (che...oh no!). It was only upon adding the fourth egg, holding it's broken shell in my hand, did I realize why the last two eggs felt "different" than the first two - it's because they were the jumbo eggs; I had used my last two large eggs, and then the first two jumbo eggs without fully registering the difference in size.

"Well," I thought to myself, "size doesn't make much of a difference when cooking scrambled eggs...here's hoping it won't matter with my cake!" (For the record, when baking, unless egg size is specified, always assume large eggs).

I continued with the recipe, mixing as directed, only to notice that my cake "mix" now had the thick and creamy consistency of chocolate mousse. It stuck to the mixer paddle like soft meringue...smooth and creamy and chocolate...as I wiped the blade into the baking pan, I found myself wondering, "Did I just make mousse au chocolat by accident?" A quick taste from the batter remnant left on the blade confirmed this delicious thought.

Lesson learned: Don't quit halfway through, just because you made a mistake. Always remember that not all mistakes result in failure! 

Here's the recipe:

Mousse au Chocolate (French Chocolate Mousse)

Ingredients

1 package dark chocolate fudge cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix (I used Godiva)

1 cup full-fat chocolate milk (I used Fairlife for the reduced sugar content)

1/2 cup melted butter, cooled*

5 large eggs*+^

Extras:

Cooking spray
Shredded coconut
Fresh cut fruit

Directions

Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl in the listed order and mix on low speed for 30 seconds, until liquids have combined with solids; then mix on high speed for two minutes.

Using a spoonula, spoon mixture into a Bundt cake or other molded pan that has been prepared with cooking spray. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Once mousse is set, flip mold onto a serving plate to serve. Sprinkle with shredded coconut or fresh cut fruit

If you are not using a mold, smooth mixture inside of mixing bowl and let set for at least two hours before serving. Top as desired.



*For vegan substitutes, I recommend "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" and liquid (not powdered) egg substitute.

+Note on the use of raw eggs: The USDA requires that eggs be pasteurized before being sold, but as an extra step for safety you can mix milk and eggs in a separate bowl and warm to 160 degrees. Cool to room temperature before adding to the mix.

^To make the triple chocolate Bundt cake, use 4 large eggs instead of 5 and bake at 350 degrees in a prepared Bundt cake pan for 50 - 55 minutes. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes, then flip onto cooling rack and let cool completely.


KJM
04.18.2020

Recipe: My Gran'ma's Apple Crisp

It's been a while since I have shared a recipe, but being on lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic has given me the free time to sort through my late grandmother's cookbook as well as the time to make her wholesome recipes instead of grabbing a pre-mixed box off of the shelf at the local Wally World.

This project all started when, in an attempt to continue eating healthy at a time when everyone I speak to is gorging on convenience foods, I bought a bag of apples while stocking up at the warehouse club. A 5-pound bag of honeycrisps was only $6.00 and the frugal New Englander in me could not pass us such a deal...unfortunately, my family is super lazy when it comes to food prep and since fruit does not peel and slice itself I realized too late that I would be the only one eating these apples if I didn't bake them into something magnificent. Without further ado, I present my Gran'ma's Apple Crisp recipe!

Gran'ma Birdie's Traditional Apple Crisp

Ingredients - Topping

1/2 cup flour
1/3 light cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons white (granulated) sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature/softened, cut into 1 tablespoon chunks

Ingredients - Filling

6 medium apples (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup sugar

Directions

Preheat over to 375 degrees F (190 C).

Mix 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Work the butter into mixture until mixture is crumbly.

Peel, core, and slice apples into 8 wedges each, cut some wedges in half. Put apple wedges in a bowl separate from topping and toss with 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Let sit for 5 minutes, allowing coating to moisten and stick to the apples.

Add apples to a greased square baking dish or or deep dish pie plate, smoothing out the top so apples sit evenly in the baking dish. Top evenly with crumb mixture topping.

Bake in preheated over for 40 - 45 minutes, until apples are tender. Check after 30 minutes; if topping is browning too quickly, cover the dish with foil until it finishes baking. Cool slightly and serve warm, with vanilla ice cream if desired.


Notes on the apples: This recipe was originally made with Cortland apples. I do not recommend Macintosh apples because they get mushy very quickly; try Paula Red for a similar taste with a firmer texture. Granny Smith apples are more tart; if you use these, increase filling sugar to 1/2 cup and filling flour to 3 tablespoons.