May 8 & 9 - White Chocolate Mousse with Dark Chocolate Sauce

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  Growing up, you taught me a lot about food and cooking.  It was all the exotic ingredients you fed me as a kid that peaked my interest in doing this for a living.  And now, look at me, I'm a chef!  Although my pierogi's will never be as good as yours, you patiently taught me how to make them and everything else in your culinary repertoire.  Thank you for helping me find my passion in life! 

THE RECIPE
Ingredients:
White Chocolate: $2.99
Heavy Whipping Cream: $1.99
Corn Syrup: had
Bittersweet Chocolate: $2.89

TOTAL: $7.87

I am not a big fan of white chocolate (like so many people out there).  It's funny because when I was a kid I loved it.  Now...not so much.  I think it has something to do with the fact that every time I tried to use it in a recipe at the restaurant, it always ended up being a pain in the butt .  It never melted right and got all funky.  Plus, there's something about the smell that just doesn't sit right with me.  In any case, I'll eat it, but don't go out of my way to make anything white chocolatey.

THE RESULTS

FAST: Buzz!! It took me about 25 minutes to put the white chocolate mousse together (15 minutes of that was to let the white chocolate mixture cool).  However, this mousse needs to set for at least 4 hours.  And, the chocolate sauce will take you another 15 minutes to make.  So, plan for about 5 hours from start to finish.

EASY: This is probably the simplest mousse recipe I have ever seen.  Granted, it's doesn't technically fall into the classic French definition of a mousse, but it's a simple cheater recipe.  There really isn't much to it.  Melt the chocolate, let it cool for a while, and then fold in whipped cream.  For some people the difficulty could lie in not grabbing a big spoon and eating the warm chocolate right out of the saucepan.

FRESH: I'm going to go with no.  It tastes like white chocolate and regular chocolate (not that there is anything wrong with that).  There's no zing of freshness at all in the dessert (maybe if it had some orange zest or orange liquor in it).   Also, the recipe itself is not a fresh take on mousse.

OVERALL:  I had to confer with Brian on this one as I am sort of meh about white chocolate.  He loved it (being a chocoholic that's no surprise).  I just thought it was okay.  I didn't care for the texture too much.  I'm used to a really fluffy mousse...this one wasn't.  I folded with great care, but it was a tad dense.  I'm sure there are much better recipes out there that are worth the effort. 

So...tomorrow is that chocolate cake.  I'm so nervous.  Depending on what time I get back from the city, I may post pictures.  Otherwise, Tuesday is Turkey Day! See ya then!  (Wish me luck!)