Iced Ginger Caramel Mousse with a Crushed Biscuit Coat ~ 薑香焦糖慕斯

I found this recipe in the November Issue (N34) of the Elle à la Table (Japanese) magazine. They did a holiday dessert special using nothing but my favorite ingredient of the moment: ginger! I thought this tied in with the holiday theme and plus I love caramel so much (if I can just have a venti macchiato right now….then hit the track later @@")! To me ginger equals healing food. Why? Besides being appreciated for its distinct flavor and ability to diffuse other strong odors, ginger has long been used as an herb in Chinese Medicine. Ginger has the properties to promote sweating, is anti-toxin, beneficial to digestion, treats motion sickness, promote blood circulation, and an antidote for seafood poisoning. Chinese women from the Canton Province (where my family originated) customarily eat a dish of ginger cooked in sweet vinegar, egg, and pig hock shortly after giving birth because it is thought to get rid of air in the body. Also, it is used to treat coughs and the common cold, which I can use right now ~_~. People are spreading germs at work, at school, on the street, it is everywhere and I can’t afford to be sick so I have been making tea and soup with a generous amount of ginger and I asked the cook (my mom) at my house to just add ginger to almost anything she cooks. Yup, that is right, defense is ON!


When I took a bite of this mousse, my first reaction was like “creamy”! It has a very prominent caramel flavor with a hint of ginger. I thought it was a bit too sweet for my taste but again this is made with caramel @_@’’ I must say it is quite exotic! I think if the mousse is being eaten alone then it may be too creamy for some people’s liking; however, the biscuit coat balanced it out well. The crunchy, spicy, crushed ginger snip biscuit (cookie) coat was a really good texture contrast to the airy, creamy mousse. It makes the ginger in the mousse pops! I suspect that not everyone will like this, but if you have an adventuress nature, this is definitely worth trying ^o^

Prep:
-Bring eggs back to room temperature by leaving them in a bowl of warm water.
-Pre-soak gelatine, squeeze out excess water; set aside. If using powdered gelatine, add 2 spoon of water.

I thought you should know:
-The amount of gelatine used can make or break the mousse so measure it accurately.
-Lightly oil the loaf pan or rectangular mold with almond oil or other veggie oil so it is easier to de-mold.
-Mousse is better to be left in the fridge overnight. I found that it holds the form better.
-You can either de-mold the mousse cake by covering it w/ a hot towel or soaking the mold in hot water for 10 ~ 20 seconds.

Cake Slicing 101:
You can get your cake sliced just like the one they sell in the café by following these simple steps: first soak a knife in a cup of hot water, wipe off with a towel, then cut the cake while knife is still warm. Try to cut it through with only one cut and do not “saw”. Whip off any cake crumb/residue and slice again. Just repeat these steps and you will have neat and pretty slices of cake that rival what they sell in the patisseries.


Makes one 9 x 4.5 x 3in loaf pan
300ml whipping cream
225g granulated sugar
150ml water
1 ½ tsp ginger powder
10g leaf gelatine
2 (L size) egg white
Pinch of salt
125g ginger snip biscuit/cookie crumbs

In a small saucepan, melt the sugar over low heat; be careful not to over stir but continuingly swirl the mixture to prevent from burning. Once the sugar syrup completely dissolved and turned dark amber color, remove from heat (at this point, do not stir the syrup.) Slowly add the water to the syrup, you will notice that the syrup become crystallized, continue to boil until completely melted. Add the ginger powder and stir until completely blended then remove from heat. Add the pre-soaked gelatine and stir till completely dissolved. Leave to cool.

Next, in a mixing bowl, beat the egg white and salt until it becomes stiff and shiny; set aside. In another bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the whipped cream to the meringue and fold to blend the two. Then add the caramel syrup to the cream mixture and fold until incorporated.

Pour the mousse mixture into the loaf mold and lightly tap it to get the air and bubble out. Then place in the fridge to set overnight. Take the mousse cake out from fridge and remove from mold. After de-molding it, sprinkle a generous amount of crumbs to cover the cake then place back into the fridge to set. Remove cake from fridge 10 minutes before serving. Slice it then serve with more crushed crumbs.


我在十一月份日文版的Elle à la Table看到以我最近愛用的食材:薑﹐為主題的甜點特集。這個薑香焦糖慕斯就是其中的一個。賣相真的很吸引人﹐而且還有我愛的caramel﹐ 所以立刻就給它bookmark了。我一直被那個做中醫的外公灌輸那個薑是一個具有療效的食物。大多數的人對薑的認知一向只限於它是烹調上的大配角。其實薑憑一股辣勁﹐除可煮食外﹐還有其他特殊用途及神奇的功用。薑不僅擁有促進血液循環、健胃、止痛、發汗、止嘔吐、和解熱的作用。它的食療作用很廣泛。像在廣東省一帶﹐產婦坐月期間要吃用大量薑、甜醋、雞蛋和豬腳煮成的薑醋，據說對產婦有除風、去瘀等功效。而且還可以助消化﹐鎮咳消痰﹐增強免疫力、治外感風寒、解魚蟹毒病症等等。話說現在是感冒菌橫行的季節﹐我可是常用薑來泡茶和喝薑湯來做預防的。還要媽咪不管做什麼菜都要求給它加那個薑﹐就是要把寒氣逼走﹐因為我可是不能病的…那些該死的projects @_@

雖然是早以熟悉的香氣﹐用薑配焦糖來做甜點其實還挺別出心裁﹐充滿驚喜的。我嚐了一口慕斯﹐瞬間發出香味﹐口感很綿密濃醇。滿滿的焦糖甜味裡依稀嚐到薑的辛辣。就以我個人的口味﹐單吃這個慕斯有點太濃醇了。搭那個壓碎的薑味餅乾就剛剛好。除了為資感輕柔的慕斯加了酥脆的口感﹐也加重薑的味道﹗我想不是每個人都會喜歡這個味道﹐但是如果你喜歡挑戰你的味蕾﹐那你一定要嚐嚐﹐因為值得一試﹗


9 x 4.5 x 3in loaf模具
300ml 忌廉/ 鮮奶油
255g 砂糖
150ml 清水
1 ½ 茶匙薑粉
10g 明膠片(或是等份量的明膠粉)
2 (L尺寸) 蛋白(室溫)
鹽一小撮
125g 薑味餅乾碎

事前準備:
--明膠片用冰水泡軟之後擠掉水分﹐備用。如果用明膠粉: 將其倒入水裡泡脹後備用。
--蛋從冰箱取出﹐放溫水中回室溫。

要注意什麼呢?
--模具抹上杏仁油後﹐備用。
--慕斯的口感與成敗在於明膠的量﹐所以一定要量清楚。
--慕斯放冰箱冷凍凝固一個晚上會比較佳。
--你可以將模子倒轉後﹐用熱毛巾將周圍熱敷十秒或隔著熱水回暖﹐脫模。

切蛋糕要訣:
要切出像patisseries賣的蛋糕一點也不難﹐只要用溫熱過的刀子來切﹐就可以切得像店家賣的一樣整齊。首先﹐將刀子浸在熱水裡﹐擦乾就可以切了;每切完一刀﹐就把沾在刀子面上的蛋糕屑擦乾淨﹐並再度放進熱水裡溫熱。重複這些步驟就成了。

將砂糖裝進小鍋裡，開弱火煮至溶化。不要過份攪拌糖漿﹐但要不時的輕輕搖幾下﹐讓它不會燒焦。待砂糖完全融化證琥珀色﹐熄火。慢慢注入清水﹐這個時候糖漿會結晶﹐再開弱火繼續煮至溶化。加入薑粉攪拌至融化混合後﹐熄火。將泡軟的明膠片加進糖漿裡，攪拌至完全溶化﹐放涼備用。

將鹽加進蛋白裡﹐打發至出現尖角的起泡程度，備用。將鮮奶油隔著冰水打發至出現尖角起泡程度後﹐加入蛋漿﹐將兩者輕輕拌勻至混合(不是攪拌)﹐最後加入糖漿輕輕拌勻至完全混合。千萬不要過度打發鮮奶油，要不然綿密的口感會打折﹗

將奶漿倒入模具中﹐輕輕叩幾下釋放氣泡﹐放進冰箱裡冷凍凝固一個晚上。將慕斯從冰箱裡取出脫模後﹐灑上薑味餅乾碎﹐再放進冰箱裡凝固。吃的時候再加一些薑味餅乾碎就可以了。