Mousse not Moose!

I grew up in Maine, the land where wild moose roam. Contrary to popular belief, moose are quite rare. You don't see them on every street corner, or eating your grandmother's blackberries. When you do see a moose it is a moment of majestic delight. The giant animal peeks up at you through a grove of ferns or lifts it head from a bath in an icy lake. It is a quiet moment, often filled with silence and awe.

But this blog post is about mousse (not moose) - you know the culinary kind, made of cream and chocolate. But I have to say, diving into my first culinary mousse, the experience is quite similar. It's filled with a little bit of magic, and the hope that one might get to see another one soon.

Making mousse is actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. In fact, it's really all a matter of mixing and folding followed by a good cool down in the chill chest. And the fun part is your mousse will hold its shape once refrigerated. So if you wanted, you could make moose shaped mousse! (Note to self: Self make moose shaped mousse! Because yes, I am that kind of dork.)

For my maiden mousse mission I decided to make a white chocolate coffee mousse with a cake base and a chocolate glaze. Perhaps not quite as stunning as a moose in the wild, but you can bet it's a whole lot tastier!

Chocolate Coffee Mousse Towers
(makes six)

Foundation: The Cake
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 tbsp flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 oz. unsalted butter (4 tbsp)
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 tbsp buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1)Preheat oven and prep 8-inch square pant with cooking spray.
2) Sift together cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt.
3) In mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
4) Add eggs to creamed butter and sugar one at a time.
5) In a small bowl stir together buttermilk and vanilla.
6) In mixer, add to contents the dry goods (step 2) and the wet goods (step 5) in alternating additions.
7) Spread batter into pan and bake for 25 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Filling: The Mousse
9 oz. white chocolate
1/4 cup strong coffee
2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder
1 and 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

1) Melt the white chocolate, coffee, and espresso powder together in a medium bowl.
2) Whisk until smooth.
3) In a separate bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form.
4) Fold the white chocolate into the cream.
5) Divide the coffee cream between prepared tomato paste cans and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Note: To prep for step 5 - clean six tomato paste cans, cut off both the top and bottom, and line with parchment paper. These will help the mousse to hold its round tower shape.

Top: The Glaze
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
4 tsp corn syrup
1 oz. unsalted butter (2 tbsp)
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1) Warm the cream, corn syrup, and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges.
2) Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate.
3) Cool till glaze is thick but still pourable.
4) Now get ready to assemble your towers!

Tower Assembly:
1) Cut out six cake circles (use a clean tomato can to have the correct size)
2) Remove mousse from cans and place them on top of the cake circles.
3) Place on wire rack or display plate and pour glaze over the top of each tower letting it run down the sides.
4) Refrigerate towers for at least one hour.
5) Indulge!

Enjoy some mousse madness! Or...moose madness (whatever that might be...)