I just read skiweaver9’s post and, well, perhaps sometime I will try the mousseline once more. 

You all were great inspiration last November when I was planning to make a cake with a chocolate mousseline frosting for my 25th anniversary party (especially you, Patrinca).  I had thought that I would ace it.  Geez, you’d think I’d know better by now!  Nothing like a little overconfidence!

Anyway, with all that I had to do for the party (going back, I think I’d definitely investigate catering it), I had to go with what I had made because there wasn’t time for a do-over.  Apparently, after reading about skiweaver9’s experience, perhaps I didn’t beat it enough because it wasn’t as fluffy as I would have liked, in fact it was grainy (although it tasted wonderful, chocolately and smooth and silky).  I was very careful in following the instructions.  The butter was softened, the syrup was at the right temperature (almost-new candy thermometer), etc., so I’m not sure where I went wrong.

Here’s the cake.  It was met with ooohs and aaahs, but I have to admit that none of my friends at this party bake…  So I can only figure that anything with a bunch of chocolate curls piled up on it will look good.  And I tossed a lot of little candy snowflakes as well.    But as I said, it tasted fantastic, and the light was relatively dim (this photo was taken earlier in the day), so all in all….

But, really, reading about the intricacies involved with this darn frosting, I am going to give it another try.  Maybe for my Dad’s 75th b-day next month. 

And I have to work on my chocolate curl technique, too, although I believe the kitchen and chocolate were too cold this time.

Hi Vicci - I think your cake looks utterly delicious!  Did you cut a bundt cake in half?  I absolutely LOVE your presentation!!!

That looks first rate to me!

Looks awesome!! My boyfriend just walked in as I was looking at it and said “ooh look at that thing!”

oh, one more thing…..mine didn’t look right until the last minute, but it was never grainy. More curdled and wet right before it looked good.

Vicci, i totally love your presentation, EXCELLENT work and beautiful photo.  And could not resist sharing this layering technique for Pandoro in Italy.

Thanks guys, I really appreciated your responses.  All I saw when I looked at the cake was bumpy frosting and rough chocolate curls, and it wasn’t until my friends “ooooohhhh”-ed that I felt better (I figured that DH told me it looked “awesome” just because he was being nice!).

Patrincia, yes, I used a “star” bundt pan and split it in half.  I didn’t want to fuss, this time, with icing the sides (always a challenge for me).

Now, when I said that the frosting was grainy, it just looked grainy—the tiny little bumps were actually butter and very soft.  The melted in your mouth… 

And here’s something amusing.  The kitchen area was warm as I was prepping the appetizers and dinner so I took the cake down to the entry level of the house (basically a vestibule, DH’s office, and a garage).  The cake was too high to put a cake saver or bowl over, and I didn’t want to use plastic wrap, so I decided to put it in the back of our 4Runner in the garage to keep it cool and safe.  A few hours later, we get a call from a guest that his car died just about 2 miles from our house, so DH grabs his keys to go and pick him up.  I was in the bedroom getting ready and didn’t think until I heard the garage door shut… then I ran as fast as I could downstairs, screaming at the top of my lungs!  DH, bless him, had actually remembered to remove the cake from the car…. *whew*!!!  :D

So if anyone has any advice for me, other than to “keep beating the frosting”, for the next time I try this, please pass it along.

hectorwong - 08 February 2009 03:21 PM

Vicci, i totally love your presentation, EXCELLENT work and beautiful photo.  And could not resist sharing this layering technique for Pandoro in Italy.

Wow!  I would totally love to do that sometime! 

Hi Ski (that has a nice ring to it ).  You say there were little lumps of butter in your chocolate mousseline…. did you by any chance use melted chocolate chips?

do you mean me?? I dont recall having lumps of butter in my chocolate mousseline…..?

skiweaver9 - 09 February 2009 08:55 AM

do you mean me?? I dont recall having lumps of butter in my chocolate mousseline…..?

Oops, I should have asked Vicci.

Patrincia - 09 February 2009 08:37 AM

You say there were little lumps of butter in your chocolate mousseline…. did you by any chance use melted chocolate chips?

A couple of hours ago, DH and I were walking out of the grocery store and he asked “so how much was the total?”.  I thought for a few seconds and replied that I couldn’t remember.  “You can’t remember?”, he exclaimed, “you signed the receipt and it was only a minute ago!”.  Yep, that’s me.  And that’s why…

Patrincia, I don’t remember if I used chocolate chips (2 months ago with a huge amount of baking in between) but I would guess that the chances are more than even that I did.  When a recipe calls for melted chocolate, I usually go for chips since they melt so evenly.

Why?  What would the chips have done to the texture of the frosting that melting baking chocolate would not have?  :o

yikes…

Oh boy… I know all about short term memory loss - yikes!

The reason why I asked about the chocolate chips was this - if your butter was room temp, and if you beat the heck out of your buttercream like you were supposed to, you shouldn’t have any lumps of butter in your finished product.  So I was thinking about the times I’ve made ganache with chocolate chips verses that made with bar chocolate - the chip version always has a lumpier texture due to the stabilizers which are added so that the chips hold their shape when they’re warm, and although you can’t “taste” or “feel” the stabilizers in your mouth, you can see them in a side-by-side comparison.

Well, I feel a lot more confident about trying the mousseline again!  I am pretty sure that I used melted chips, and it didn’t even occur to me that they would have added ingredients that a hunk o’ chocolate wouldn’t.  Thanks so much, Patrincia! 

oops.  double post and no way (that I can figure out) to delete!

I wonder if Rose has a “solution” to all the mousseline “issues” on her new book.  Or, perhaps this is just perfection as it gets.  One thing that helps today, is that instant read accurate digital thermometers are affordable, but not 20 years ago when Cake Bible appeared.

I’ve just showed my cousin Elaine and her wedding singer how to make Italian meringue for the Baked Hawaii, it is the same Italian meringue for mousseline.  It was utterly perfect (I will explain more below), and they said “you make it look so easy.”  I gave my honest recommendation to both saying:  I don’t recommend you embark onto making this at home (and had in mind the hundreds of comment on mousseline I’ve read on our blog).  I pointed the importance of the correct sugar heating temperature, from 248 to 250oF, and if you can’t manage making that temperature, then might as well don’t do the rest.

I explain, that it has become technically easier to make Italian meringue with my induction cooktop.  Please watch the short video I posted on the blog while making the caramel leaves of the pineapple top of my Baked Hawaii for the mini bloggers convention.  For Italian meringue (and mousseline), there is no need to worry about heating the sugar to under 248, so when you pour it, it won’t go over 250.  I heat it to 250 indeed, turn the induction off, and swirl the syrup thru the sides of the pot (which remain just lukewarm and not scorching hot as a gas or electric stove would), which stops the heating.  I pour directly form the pot, and any stuck residue, I bring the pot back to the induction stove for immediate heating and release.

I know Rose wants to experiment with induction, which is a rather new technology in sight of professional bakers, but she has no time as it may require her to rewrite many of her books.

BTW, I have just watched her first PBS Baking Magic recipe.  LOVED it.  You will all have it by Spring 2009 I think.