Chocolate Mousse Cups and Balloons!

Hey y'all! Finals are finally over and I have a few minutes of free time, so I figured it's time to do another food post! Several weeks ago was Amy's (my older sister) birthday. She didn't want cake, so Anna and I brainstormed and decided to make chocolate mousse in chocolate cups. Thanks to Patti, this is the chocolate mousse recipe from Periwinkle Cafe and Bakery, which turned out great! Something else I've always seen done and I've wanted to try forever is making chocolate cups with balloons. Just so you know, it is a lot harder than you might think and no matter how much cooking experience you have, things happen. =)


Melt the butter, chocolate and water together. Heat in 30 second increments so you don't burn your chocolate!
                           
Slowly cook egg yolks, sugar, and water. Stir often and don't cook on high heat! Scrambled eggs do not make good mousse. =)
                                     

 Meanwhile, whip cream to stiff peaks. The whipped cream is what stabilizes the mousse, so make sure it's stiff!
 
Add the chocolate to the egg mixture and cool down. The fridge works, but if you need it fast, a bowl of ice works better.


Carefully fold the whipped cream into the chocolate-egg mixture. Be gentle or it'll loose it's volume, and you'll have flat mousse.

Place in a bowl in the refrigerator to allow it to stiffen up. 
Now to my favorite part! While the mousse was setting up, we (by this, I mean Anna) blew up water balloons to use.



She then washed them with soap and warm water.


 Melt chocolate over a double boiler, basically a metal bowl over a pot of boiling water.

This is the exciting part! When the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool for just a few moments. Dip the bottom of the balloon into the chocolate, quickly remove and place on a sheet pan.
However, this may not go as well as you think it should. Be prepared for loud popping balloons which make you jump and spray chocolate everywhere! Never a dull moment! 

Just keep making them until you have enough that haven't popped :) Feel free to have fun with the extra chocolate!
 

  

Pop the balloons with a pin and slowly let the air out. Pull the balloons out of the chocolate cups as carefully as possible! Scoop the cold mousse and place in the cold chocolate cups. Garnish as desired! 
We used whipped cream, fresh strawberries, and my extra chocolate fun! 




You can do this too! Don't think because you don't cook or bake often, this isn't for you. As you can see, even I have problems. So, GO FOR IT! Try something new, see how it goes, and share with your friends!

~Rachel =)


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