Mousse

Mousse (French mousse — “foam”) is a light, tender dessert with a characteristic airy, foamy creamy texture. This lightness is achieved by saturating the base with countless small air bubbles — with the help of whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both.

The most popular are sweet mousses. The classic chocolate mousse is a rich yet incredibly light dessert of melted chocolate combined with whipped cream or whites. Fruit and berry mousses are also made, along with coffee, caramel, and vanilla ones. For stability gelatine is often added to a mousse, and then it holds its shape well. Mousses are served as a stand-alone dessert in glasses, and also used as the base of modern mousse cakes (entremets), where several layers of different mousses are combined with sponge, a crisp layer, and a jelly centre, and covered with mirror glaze or velour. There are also savoury mousses — tender foamy appetisers of fish, liver, vegetables, or cheese. The flavour and aroma of a mousse are concentrated, and the texture is weightless, melting in the mouth. Mousse is an elegant dessert combining a rich flavour with an enchanting lightness, a favourite tool of modern confectioners.