The Call of the Lonesome Mousse

'The Call of the Lonesome Mousse' first appeared in the Scugog Citizen and has been updated for my regular column in The Erin Advocate.  It appeared there back in 2003 ... and the mousse still calls.  Enjoy!

 

          I’m thinking of having a soundproof cupboard installed in my home to contain a selection of noisy nourishment.  Some of you are scratching your heads.  You’re the ones who don’t hear the call of the wild rice pudding or the chocolate mousse when it’s begging to be consumed.

            It mainly attacks at night after everyone is asleep, and always strikes when there is leftover dessert.  Something will suddenly jerk me back from a deep sleep.  I sit bolt upright in bed, pull the covers up to my nose and listen intently.  It starts quietly at first, just a sinister little whisper.

            “Marlene, I’m here … Marlene, I’m waiting for you.”

            Adrenaline courses through my veins.  I resist the instinct to run.  Not a muscle moves as I pray it will stop taunting and let me sleep, but, oh no, it gets louder and more demanding.

            “Marlene, get down here, I’m still fresh and very creamy, I won’t be this good tomorrow and you know it”.

            Wiping the drool from my chin, I fold my pillow over my head to plug my ears and I dive under the covers.

            It’s no use, it won’t stop.  I must stop it before the clamour awakens the sleeping clan.

            There is only one way to silence a merciless chocolate mousse.  Hastening to the kitchen, I grab some artillery.  Spoons are the quickest, cleanest and leave no trace.  With my weaponless hand, I fling open the refrigerator door and launch an immediate attack.  It is not a pretty sight; I’ll spare you the details.  Suffice it to say that when the bowl is perfectly clean, I know the monster has been licked.

            I’ve met others who suffer the same affliction.  One dinner guest, when forced (at spoon point) to remain until all the dessert was consumed, and told why, said “Chocolate has a much deeper voice where I come from.  It doesn’t beg, ‘Eat me, eat me.’  It demands, ‘EAT ME, EAT ME!’”

            Mother Nature, bless her heart, is coming to my rescue.  The passage of years has caused my snoring to become so loud and my hearing so poor, the nocturnal rumblings can barely be heard.

            When my niece Kim was not quite five years old, her mother, my sister Gina, asked, “Kim, can you hear that doughnut calling my name?”  Poor little girl, she was afraid for some time to be left alone in a room where there may be talking doughnuts.

            Michael and I visited the Bahá'í World Center in Haifa, Israel in 1984 during our pilgrimage.  After an introductory session a woman crossed the floor and came to me proclaiming, “You’re the woman who makes the chocolate mousse!”  Who knew the call of the mousse would make its way around the world.   

            I once made the recipe, which originally came from my sister Jac, for a chocolate bake-off contest held by Deborah’s Chocolates in the village of Erin.  I couldn’t find the recipe so did what I thought was right.  With only three ingredients, how could I go too far wrong?  Of course, we had to buy the chocolate for our recipes from Deborah’s.  I knew the recipe called for semi-sweet chocolate chips but what would equal a large bag of chips threw me right off.  So, I guesstimated how large a junk was needed.  That proved to be a huge mistake.  Once set, my mousse was hard to dig into.  I wanted to peek into the window of the shop as the judges tried to get their spoons into the almost hard lump in their dishes.  I never heard but always wondered what was said and what they were thinking as they chowed down on the almost solid mass of mousse.  I guess I’d have heard if anyone broke a tooth? 

            The recipe follows for those who are brave enough to chance ‘mousse’ calls disturbing their sleep.  Good luck to you, I say.

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Sister Jac’s Perfect Chocolate Mousse

Serves 8-10 (day or night, awake or asleep). 

Ingredients

 

• 12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or equal weight in a really good chocolate)
• 5 eggs
• ½ pint of whipped whipping cream

Directions

1.      Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over hot water.

2.     When using a hunk of chocolate cut into smaller pieces.

3.     Let the chocolate cool until it’s no longer hot but warm. 

4.     Stir in 5 beaten egg yolks. 

5.     In a separate bowl, beat 5 egg whites until stiff and stir 1/3 of them into the chocolate/egg mixture.

6.     Fold the chocolate/egg mixture into the remaining egg whites.

7.     Fold in ½ pint of whipped whipping cream. 

8.      Spoon the mousse into a serving bowl or individual dessert dishes.

9.      Chill for 1 hour.

Leftovers?  Wear earplugs to bed. 

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