Chocolate Bag
Jackie Shen transforms chocolate mousse with her creative presentation: chocolate bags filled with white chocolate mousse. She find that small popcorn bags like those used in theaters make the best molds, but small freezer bags may also be used. One lovely feature: the mousse, bags, sauce, and whipped cream may be made ahead of time, and assembled at the last minute.
Ingredients
- Mousse
- White Chocolate - 12 ounces, chopped
- Unflavored gelatin - 1 envelope (1/4 ounce)
- Milk - 1 cup
- Whipping cream - 1 cup
- Egg Whites - 4
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- Chocolate Bag
- Semi-sweet chocolate - 2-1/2 pounds, melted
- Wax Paper Bags - 12, approximately 3 inches wide and 8-1/2 inches tall, with square bottoms
- Raspberry Sauce
- Fresh or Frozen Raspberries - 16 ounces
- Garnish
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1 pint, beaten to firm peaks
- Fresh strawberries - 12, stemmed and halved lengthwise
- Fresh Strawberries - 36, hulls on
Instructions
To make the mousse: Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 of the milk. Bring the remaining milk to a boil. In a bowl, gradually combine the melted chocolate and hot milk. Add the dissolved gelatin and stir until the mixture is smooth and well-blended. Cool the mixture over a bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until partially set.
Beat the whipping cream until stiff and refrigerate. Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Add the lemon juice; beat until stiff. Carefully fold together the whipped cream and egg whites. Gently add the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate the mousse overnight (can be refrigerated for up to 3 days).
To make the chocolate bags: Trim the tops of the bags by half, to 4 inches tall. Open the bags, making sure that the bottoms and sides are straight. Fold the top edges of the bags over so that the bags sit squarely. With a brush, “paint” the inside of the bags with melted chocolate. Build up a layer thin enough to break and eat, but thick enough to stand. Freeze overnight (the bags may be made 2 to 3 days ahead and stored in the freezer).
To prepare the sauce: Puree the raspberries in a food processor. Strain and refrigerate.
To assemble and serve: Spoon chilled raspberry sauce onto serving plates, filling the inside of the plates. Just before serving, in a cool place, carefully peel the waxed bag away from the set chocolate. Spoon the white chocolate mousse into the chocolate bags and place one bag on each plate. Put the whipped cream in a pastry bag fitted with a medium fluted tip and pipe whipped cream on top of the mousse in each bag. Garnish the cream in each bag with two strawberry halves. Place 3 whole strawberries around the bag on each plate.
