Mousse and Biscuit Petit Four

By: Pete on 10:10:00

One thing I had never tried before was mousse, and more specifically a gelatin-set one. There seems to be a lot of different ways of making mousse, though the 2 main versions are either a whipped cream base, or a whipped egg white one. I decided to try a fruit-based cream one, using gelatin to set the shape.

I've not really used gelatin before, and it's something I should have a good grasp of really. I bought some powdered stuff, as it seemed faster to use, based on what I've read. The first mousse flavour I went for was strawberry, and then then second one was orange.

The core concept of the mousse was simple...purée the fruit, mix in some cream and gelatin, then mix into a whipped cream. The whipped cream provides the air, the fruit provides the flavour, and the gelatin provides the strength, and the core theory worked fine. I made a slight mistake on both fruit purees...for the strawberry I forgot to run it through a sieve, so had seeds. For the orange, I had been reading a recipe for St. Clements Muffins, which uses the entire orange blended, so thought I would try that...unfortunately some of the sourness of the pith comes through...next time I'll zest and peel it.

For the biscuit cup, I used a biscuit recipe I did back in January, but without the cocoa. The first batch I put the baking powder into, and they puffed up way too much...the second batch I rolled thinner, and missed the baking powder out. I used a mini muffin tray to form the cups, and after a bit of experimenting a 48mm cutter was best, though pushing them in was a bit fiddly.

I think the next mousse step is a mousse cake, probably using a fatless sponge to layer it up.

Mousse and Biscuit Petit Four Recipe

Biscuit Ingredients

• 100g butter (softened)
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 250g plain flour
• ½tsp salt
• ½tsp vanilla essence

1) Put the butter and sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment

2) Cream the butter and sugar into very light and soft

3) Add the egg and vanilla essence, and beat in thoroughly

4) Add in the sifted flour and salt, and mix until a dough is formed

5) Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill

6) Roll out to 3mm thickness on a floured surface (I use batons)

7) Use a 48mm cutter to cut out circles (you'll get a lot)

8) Use the circles to line a mini-muffin tray

9) Pre-heat the oven to 160'C

10) Bake the biscuits for 10-11 minutes

11) Cool on a wire rack

Mousses Recipe

• 150g Blended Fruit (see 1-3 below)
• 175ml double cream
• 3g powdered gelatin
• 2tbsp hot water

 1) Take the fruit, and prepare it (remove heads, seeds, pith etc)

2) Blend in a food processor until smooth

3) Push through a sieve to remove seeds lumps etc

4) Place 150g of the fruit puree in a bowl

5) Add 50 of double cream to the fruit, and whisk in

6) Take the remaining 125ml of cream, and whisk to soft peaks

7) place the 2tbsp of hot water in a ramekin

8) Add the gelatin and stir in

9) Once the gelatin is dissolved, whisk the gelatin into the fruit mixture

10) Add the fruit mixture to the double dream, and whisk in

Assembly

• Strawberries (hulled and sliced)
• 50g Dark chocolate

1) Spoon the mousse into a piping bag with a medium-sized nozzle

2) Fill the biscuit cups

3) Place a slice of strawberry in each cup

4) Melt the chocolate, and put in a small piping bag

5) Snip the end, and drizzle over the mousse