Julia Child's Mousseline Is A Lighter Take On An Iconic Chocolate Dessert

Julia Child is among the most influential chefs of all time. Her work, with the help of friends Simone Beck and Louisette Bertolle, helped remove some of the mystique and haughtiness of French cooking, bringing high-end techniques and recipes to the masses.

Among these many excellent recipes is one for mousseline au chocolat, Child's take on a chocolate mousse. Besides a handful of tips relating to technique, including mixing most of the ingredients together in sections before they all combine, Child's mousseline differs from a standard chocolate mousse, all thanks to the ingredients she added or even outright replaced. 

Instead of folding in whipped cream like a standard mousse calls for, Child's recipe instead opts to whip up egg whites into a French meringue before folding that in. This makes for a much lighter texture because there's less fat in the finished dish. However, the two aren't always interchangeable, so don't think you can do this with every dish if, for example, your doctor has suggested you cut down your fat consumption.

It's worth noting that most modern chocolate mousse recipes use both egg yolks and whites in addition to whipped cream. But back in Julia Child's day, using whites at all was rare. So, to not only use them, but to use them in place of whipped cream, was monumental. There's nothing wrong with the modern "best of both worlds" approach, since it makes a thick, rich, decadent mousse. But if you want to make Child's light and airy mousseline, leave the whipped cream in the fridge.

Child's mousseline further differs from the average mousse because of two more ingredients: Some kind of orange liquor (or orange juice) or strong brewed coffee. Pairing chocolate with orange and coffee is itself common, but you probably wouldn't have caught French master chef August Escoffier – whose general mantra boiled down to "keep it simple" — being so fanciful with his mousse. No, that willingness to play around with flavors is firmly in Julia Child's camp, along the lines of the motto "above all, have fun."

While you can simplify proceedings by mixing most of the ingredients into the same double-boiler-heated bowl or saucepan, Julia Child's recipe opts to split the process into stages. Following her example gives you more control over the famously tricky dessert, though it does make clean-up more of a hassle.

If you do go the split route, pay careful attention to your melting chocolate and your egg yolks. Child's version starts the chocolate melting slowly first before working on her yolks, but if you feel nervous about the lack of attention, go ahead and complete your yolk step first, then start on the chocolate.

Another secret for making the perfect mousse is to mix your ingredients mostly manually. You can beat the egg whites and heavy cream until stiff with a stand mixer or electric whisk, but everything else should be whisked or folded together by hand. Mousse is all about its airy texture, and it's easy to under- or over-mix it with electric methods, causing graininess or preventing it from setting properly.