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Bulletin Mousses
Bulletin Mousses
chocolate mousses
Part I
The Science
by
Ramon Morató
Collaboration
Scinnov (Scientific advice)
Decoding chocolate mousses
In this new bulletin, we are going to take a look at the world of chocolate mousses, more
specifically, chocolate mousses used for assembling desserts.
What are the differences between a crème anglaise-based mousse and one made with
chocolate ganache?
How does using egg products affect the final texture and does it matter whether they are
beaten or not? How is stability affected if cream is not used as an aerating agent?
To carry out this experiment, we went to the University of Barcelona, more specifically
to the Mineralogy department, and looked at the texture of the chocolate mousse
under a scanning electron microscope. We also worked with Anne Cazor from Scinnov
(R&D company based in Paris) to obtain a scientific explanation on mousses.
To put theory into practice, we took six classic recipes for creating chocolate mousse with
different techniques but used the same chocolate, the exceptional Fleur de Cao™ dark
couverture chocolate from Cacao Barry®.
Since the techniques used vary greatly, the results were very diverse, but they all shared
a common element. We wanted to ensure that the texture of the final product and the
product stability were identical, so the mousse could be used in a display or piped into a
dessert, an entremet or a serving glass.
Mix various liquid or semi-liquids by hand Mix various unwhipped ingredients Similar to siphons, all the ingredients are
Crème anglaise base Egg white base with aerating agents and stabilise the together and pour into a container mixed together as a liquid, added to the
whole mixture with a gelling agent or fat. incorporating gas, which will be machine. The machine settings are then
responsible for giving the mousse or foam adjusted to pipe the product with the
the airy texture when piped. desired proportion of air.
Focusing on chocolate mousses for assembling desserts, the mechanisms for obtaining mousses are always the same, no matter the
technique chosen:
Optimum zone
22ºC
Lower threshold Lower threshold
18ºC
Lower threshold Lower threshold
Solidifies the fat content and increases Solidifies the fat content and increases
the mousse’s viscosity. The air bubbles the mousse’s viscosity. The air bubbles
formed burst. formed burst.
Leaving the final temperature aside, the final texture of the mousse can be more or less dense according to the air incorporated. If
the viscosity of the mousse so allows, such as in the case of a bavarois-based or a crème anglaise-based mousse, the desserts can be
assembled using a ladle. In other cases, it needs to be done using a piping bag.
Ramon Morató
Creative Director Cacao Barry®
Scinnov
Scientific advice
Cacao Barry®