Our Second Easy Peasy Video

The first video showed you how easy it is to make Zabaione or Zabaglione – an Italian dessert-  so we next decided to demonstrate the classic approach to French Chocolate Mousse.  This is a case of showing you that simpler is better — as true for this traditional dessert as it is for the Italian one  

Chocolate mousse is yet another example of a traditional dessert that’s become unnecessarily complicated over time, so our Easy-Peasy Video shows you how deliciously simple it is.  No whipping cream, no extra butter, same amount of yolks as whites, and just use a top quality chocolate (I used Valrhona’s Oriado). This mousse is a recipe that I did with my daughters when they were little and I now am  showing my grandsons how to make it too.   Again, it is one found in the iconic Flavor of France by Narcisse and Narcissa Chamberlain. 

Copper Bowl & Whisk Vs Mixer Bowl

I found it actually easier and as quick to hand-whisk egg whites in a copper bowl as it is to do it in a mixer. Using a balloon whisk also speeds it up.   The copper actually does  make your whites creamier, and here is a very thorough scientific explanation from Dr. Anne Marie Helmenstine for Thoughtco.com

“The bowl you use makes a difference when you are whipping egg whites. Copper bowls produce a yellowish, creamy foam that is harder to overbeat than the foam produced using glass or stainless steel bowls. When you whisk egg whites in a copper bowl, some copper ions migrate from the bowl into the egg whites. The copper ions form a yellow complex with one of the proteins in eggs, conalbumin. The conalbumin-copper complex is more stable than the conalbumin alone, so egg whites whipped in a copper bowl are less likely to denature (unfold).

“When air is whisked into egg whites, the mechanical action denatures the proteins in the whites. The denatured proteins coagulate, stiffening the foam and stabilizing the air bubbles. If the foam is overbeaten in a non-copper bowl, eventually the proteins become completely denatured and coagulate into clumps. There is no going back from the clumpy mess to nice foamy whites, so overbeaten whites are usually discarded.