MOUSSE BRILLAT-SAVARIN

SOURCE: MAIDA HEATTER. MAIDA HEATTER'S BOOK OF GREAT CHOCOLATE DESSERTS.

Michel Fitoussi is the culinary architect who brainstormed and invented the first White Chocolate Mousse by naming it after the famous French epicure, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, and launched its 1977 world premiere on the lavish menus of Palace Restaurant in New York City, eventually catapulting to the status of signature dessert. In its delicately frozen and ice cream-like state, white chocolate exists in two phases for this mousse, with fine solid bits to provide the necessary crunchiness throughout and a molten suspension between Italian meringue and French chantilly cream for genuine hints of that sweet and buttery essence. Serve with fresh strawberries macerated in kirsch to recreate or recapture that elegant dessert experience at the Palace.

Ingredients

1 cup and 3 tablespoons/240 grams sugar

1/4 teaspoon/0.8 gram cream of tartar

1/3 cup/80 mL water

4 egg whites

Pinch of salt

12 ounces/340 grams premium-quality white chocolate, finely chopped with a knife

2 cups/480 mL heavy cream, well-chilled

5 tablespoons/75 mL Kirsch liqueur

3 pounds/1.4 kg fresh strawberries, washed, drained, hulled, and sliced

Specific Equipment

2 large bowls

Spoon

Plastic wrap

Deep-bottomed saucepan

Wooden spatula

Candy thermometer

Medium-sized bowl

Mixer attached with a whisk attachment

Wire whisk

Serves 10 to 12

Instructions

1. Combine 1 cup/200 grams sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a deep-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula, until the sugar has completely dissolved.

2. Raise the heat to high and let the syrup boil to the soft ball stage or until the candy thermometer reads 230° to 240°F/112° to 115°C. Remove the saucepan from heat and set aside.

3. Beat the egg whites and salt in a medium-sized bowl with a mixer attached with a whisk attachment until the egg whites are slightly stiff but not dry. Raise the mixer speed to high and pour in the entire syrup from the saucepan very gradually in a thin stream. Continue beating for 3 minutes or until the egg whites have doubled in volume and thickened to stiff and glossy peaks. Fold in the white chocolate until well blended and set the mixture aside to cool to room temperature.

4. Beat the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons/30 mL Kirsch liqueur in another large bowl with a wire whisk until the volume has doubled and soft peaks form. Fold the white chocolate-meringue mixture into the cream until well blended. The white chocolate should melt somewhat but not completely.

5. Pour mixture into any covered container and freeze for at least 4 hours.

6. Sprinkle the strawberries in a large bowl with 3 tablespoons/40 grams sugar and 3 tablespoons/45 mL Kirsch liqueur. Macerate the strawberries at room temperature, stirring occasionally with a spoon for 1 hour or until the strawberries have released their juices. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and set aside in a refrigerator until well-chilled..

7. Spoon the strawberries and the sauce in equally generous portions over well-chilled individual dessert plates. Scoop out the frozen white chocolate mousse and shape each portion into individual quenelles with two spoons and place them over the strawberries.