The torch was passed off to Helen of Tartelette(not Troy)…and the parade of cheesecake was gone and is soon to become the parade of mousse. That’s right, this installment of Hay, Hay it’s Donna Day is mousse…any type you would like. Since Donna is simple flavored woman that is what I tried to stick with. If you are not familiar with the whole HHDD extravaganza head on over to Barb’s (the founder of HHDD) website, winos and foodies.
I was a little torn on this one. Part of me wanted to do a more traditional mousse and the other part of me wanted to get creative. So I just did both…because two types of mousse is always better than one! I was not at all creative with the chocolate mousse, the only deviation from the recipe was to add Kahlua. This makes for a nice thick mousse that sets up nicely. I used the bittersweet chocolate instead of the semisweet. Now my other mousse is a different story. Inspired by my over zealous cheese purchase, where I left the cheese store with 9 different types of cheese. There sat two tubs of Mascarpone cheese…surely I could make something with that. I love honey with Mascarpone and I thought the speckles of vanilla dotting the creamy white mousse would be a nice touch…it was. This one is much softer than the chocolate mousse and the next time I make it I might experiment with adding a little gelatin.
And for all you waiting for the daily hockey report…I am happy to say that there was little swearing in our household today. The Sabres did indeed win and my favorite player had the game winning goal. Tomorrow, however…may be a different story…it is the Flames turn to do something less pathetic than what they have been doing! Update: I am happy to say that the Flames actually won tonight….a cuss free home tonight!
Kahlua Chocolate Mousse
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, or a mixture, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon warm water
2 TBSP Kahlua
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
Pinch fine salt
1/3 cup sugar
Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
Whip the cream in a medium bowl until it holds soft peaks. Take care not to over whip the cream or the mousse will be dense. Cover and refrigerate while you cook the eggs.
Put the eggs in another bowl that also sets over the water in the saucepan. Beat the egg yolks, pinch of salt, and sugar until foamy and light, about 30 seconds. Set the bowl over the water and whip with an electric mixer or whisk, moving in a circular motion around the bowl, until the eggs get very fluffy and hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue beating on high speed until the thick ribbons fall from the beater when lifted out of the bowl, about 5 minutes more. Fold in the Kahlua.
Fold about a quarter of the eggs into the chocolate to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the egg. Finally fold the whipped cream into the chocolate base to make a smooth light mousse. Pour the mousse into 4 serving dishes or wine glasses. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Serve.
For a dark, double-rich mousse, use all bittersweet chocolate instead of the semisweet, and decrease the cream to 3/4 cup.
Source: Adapted from the Food Network.com
Vanilla Honey Mascarpone Mousse
2 Tablespoon half and half
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
1 TBSP honey
1 vanilla bean
1 egg white
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
Cut vanilla bean in the half. Reserve the other half for later. Scape seeds from one half of the bean into half and half. Heat half and half in a sauce pan just until it starts to bubble and take off of heat. Let cool.
Blend together the Mascarpone cheese and the honey. Pour the milk in the Mascarpone mixture and combine.
Scrape the other half of the vanilla bean and put in cream, whisk to incorporate. Whip heavy cream and refrigerate.
Whip the egg white and the sugar forming a glossy but not too stiff merginue.
Pour the mixture of Mascarpone in the whipped egg white, using a spatula,
combine gently.
Fold in the whip cream and combine gently.
Refrigerate for one hour.
Ellie says
That’s some gorgeous looking mousse that you’ve got going on over there! I wouldn’t mind getting some of that in my hair…but only because it’d be a byproduct of me burying my face in the bowl to snarfle it all up!
Jenny says
Oooh how pretty!
Helen says
I love the title! You’re always so creative with them and in the competition. This is so tempting…oh sweet torture this early in the morning! I love all the ripples and folds.
Cheryl says
Oh my, oh my. I thought I would never want to see mousse again as long as I live. You have brought it back to life for me. This looks so creamy and delicious. Great job.
Patricia Scarpin says
Peabody, this is superb – look how beautiful it looks, not mention delicious. I loved it.
Lisa says
Is it wrong for me to want to just dive in that bowl??
xoxo
Mercedes says
Ohh, I adore anything with mascarpone and kahlua, it’s like the mousse version of a ‘white russian.’ Brilliant!
gilly says
Beautiful, Pea! I’ve never worked with mascarpone before, but it must have a nice texture to hold up in the vanilla honey mousse! Kahlua is also nice…
Ruthanne (a fellow Seattlite) says
The mousse(es?) look fabulous! Have to tell you that we all (4 of us) loved the Morning Glory Muffins. Yummmmmm and thank you!
Anuhea says
Ohhh Kahlua mousse? Completely sinful but what beautiful pictures…
foodiemama says
my god, that picture sends me to a happy place. it looks incredible.
Kristen says
Overachiever…just kidding! Gorgeous looking mousse. Love the photos!
valentina says
My jaw dropped. The beauty of these pictures..I could nearly taste the mousse..The title did make laugh.. ; o) You are always pushing the bar an inch taller.
Jeff says
I wish my wife liked mousse. She’s actually out there in Seattle this week!
Brilynn says
If only everything was as nice as your mousse!
keri says
ooooh girl you’re making my mouth water with those beautiful pictures!!
Heck! I don’t even like mousse!
Chris says
Oh Peabody – you’ve got me with these! It may be late in the evening, but I would “Hoover” these down in 2.2 seconds. Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elle says
It’s time for dessert here and these look wonderful. Two is certainly better than one when you make mousse.
Bea says
I would not know which one to choose! YUM!
barbara says
Yummy that is a tasty looking mousse. Did you pipe it into the dish to get the layers? Thanks for participating Peabody.
peabody says
Ruthanne- I am glad you liked the muffins.
Jeff- so it was Steph who brought the cold weather to us 🙂
Barb- yes that was piped using a large 10 point star tip.
Scott at Real Epicurean says
I’m on such a honey kick at the moment it’s great to see your mousse!
veron says
ha..ha.. what a witty title. Both mousse(s) look phenomenal. Love the waviness and the shavings on it.
janelle says
“Cuss free home” sortof sounds like a blog title, don’t you think? Yummy looking!!!!
Anita says
They look like snowy mountains the way you photographed them. Both delicious!
joey says
As usual you have goodies that make me want to dive into them! 🙂 They look and sound marvellous! 🙂 Especially the vanilla honey mascarpone combination!
arfi says
I love the sound of vanilla honey mascarpone. I adore mascarpone. Simply delicious!! Loevly entry, Peabody!
Meeta says
Kahlua baby! Anything with Kahlua has got to be a winner. Just love the combination of both mousses (mice) together.
Dolores says
Peabody, you are evil. Brilliantly, delightfully evil.
Do you do mail order? 🙂
Laura at Blame It on Paris says
This looks delicious! And beautiful. I’m a traditionalist, the darker and richer the mousse the better for me. And I’ve been looking for a good recipe, so I’m reveling in this HHDD theme!
Tiffany says
TOO FUNNY– I was looking for a honey mousse recipe and it is amazing that I would find one on your site– you just have everything.
Anyway, I will be making the same with some gelatin to hopefully make it the same consistancy as the chocolate mousse. I was thinking of a chocolate mousse (http://www.allchocolate.com/recipes/richest-chocolate-mousse.aspx) with a layer of honey mousse (orange blossom honey) in the middle (as a surprise) and then top it all of with cardamom whipped cream……I was a bit nervous about the honey mousse idea but now that I see that YOU made a honey mousse, now I am forced to believe that its actually a good idea, lol. You dont know me but I uphold you as being the culinary goddess of the web. lol