Thinking Inside the Box

Yes, yes, I know. The phrase is "thinking outside the box." But this week's recipe is one I found inside the box of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells.

And I don't recall seeing anything on the outside of the box that would have alerted me to the fact that printed on the plain cardboard side of the box were some recipe gems. This week's is a perfect example and in a few more weeks, you'll see another one I found inside the same box.

 The typical way to make mousse of any flavor takes time, patience and effort. This one is virtually effortless. But I did make a discovery that involves patience and I'll get to that in a little bit. Traditional mousses -- both sweet and savory -- involve the use of beaten egg whites and one must master the technique of folding those egg whites gently into the chocolate or the meat without deflating the egg whites.

 The mousse illustrated in this week's recipe uses whipped cream. I suppose if you wanted to take a shortcut you could buy that artificial dessert topping sold in the freezer case, but freshly whipped cream is so much tastier. And it's not that hard to do. Your electric mixer does all of the work.

But here's another hint to faster and fluffier whipped cream: chill the bowl and the beaters in the freezer.

Let's also mention that white chocolate is not really chocolate at all because it contains no chocolate liquor and has no chocolate flavor. It's a mixture of cocoa butter, milk solids, sugar, lecithin and vanilla. Despite this, it still tastes really good, don't you agree?

 Speaking of chocolate, my recipe calls for an ounce or two of bittersweet chocolate to be melted and drizzled over the mousse. I think three or four ounces would be better, as the additional volume makes a drizzling stream of dark chocolate easier to achieve.

 As for that discovery -- I covered the leftover mousse with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge, thinking that I'd get to it later to make some additional desserts for the camera crew to take home. We never got to it the day I made it. But the next day, I checked to see if the mousse was still okay and it acquired the rich and airy texture that traditional mousses (the ones made with egg whites) get when made properly.

 Make no mistake -- the original mousse in the puff pastry shell was delicious. The one left to "cure" in the fridge was, in my opinion, better. Another example of your patience being rewarded.

 Here's the video, followed by the recipe. And once again -- thanks, Pepperidge Farm!

6 Puff Pastry shells
6 oz white chocolate
1/1/2 cups heavy cream (divided use)
1 to 2 ounces of semisweet chocolate

Bake and cool the puff pastry shells according to package directions.

Melt the white chocolate with a 1/4 cup of the cream over medium low heat, stirring to incorporate and until the chocolate is completely melted. Cool for 20 minutes until reaches room temperature.

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, place the remaining cream and whip it until it is between soft and stiff peaks. Fold about half of the whipped cream into the cooled white chocolate mixture to temper it, then gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream.

Melt the semi sweet chocolate over medium low heat until it is completely liquified.

Spoon the mousse into the pastry shells. Drizzle the melted dark chocolate over the mousse and serve.