Celebrating a New Year with Champagne Mousse

So many reasons to celebrate this new year with an elegant and festive champagne mousse. Some are small reasons (I bought a new cat-print dress) and some are big reasons (I graduated pastry school!)

Kelly Poindexter, the pastry chef…no, no scratch that – the world’s BEST pastry chef! Hey, a girl can dream, no? So, after a year of kneading, whisking, flouring and rolling, I’ve graduated from the Escuela de Gastronomia del ISMM with a title of Pastelero Profesional (Professional Pastry Chef). I’m absolutely over the moon about my accomplishment, although it now leaves me with that burning question: What next? Will I look for a job as a pastry chef here in Argentina? Maybe it’s time to go back to the US? So many choices, and all I want to do is celebrate.

And what better way to celebrate than with a champagne mousse? This mousse is very easy to make, and the taste of champagne is subtle but just enough. I highly recommend to play around with different citruses. Orange, grapefruit, mandarine, they really bring out the flavor and pop of the champagne. You’ll need to let this mousse sit for at least 4-6 hours in the cold before serving, so plan ahead! It also freezes beautifully.

I wanted to pair my mousse with a blueberry sauce, which at the last minute I folded into some softly-whipped cream. BAD idea. Not only did it dilute the intense blueberry flavor, it also floated unevenly to the top of the mousse. Next time, I’ll just put the sauce on after the mousse is nice and cold.

Champagne mousse

250 cc. champagne or sparkling wine

1/2 squeezed grapefruit

80 grams of egg yolk

125 grams of sugar

10 grams of powdered gelatine

300 cc of heavy whipping cream

Make a sabayon:

Mix the yolks, sugar, 200 cc. of the champagne and the grapefruit juice in a heatproof bowl.

Beat continuously over a bain-marie, until thickened. You can test if it’s done by inserting a wooden spoon into the sabayon and drawing a line on the back of the spoon with your finger. The mixture shouldn’t drip down the line you just created.

Set aside to cool.

Beat the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks have formed.

Dilute the gelatine in 50 cc. of champagne, it always helps me to zap in the microwave for 2 seconds. Add diluted gelatine to the sabayon.

Fold in the whipping cream.

You’ll want to put this in it’s final mold immediately, before the gelatin sets.

Some suggestions on presentation:

Wide martini classes with slices of strawberry and a thin cookie.

Make a single layer of vainilla cake in a springform pan and when completely cool, top it with the mousse and put into the refrigerator. Top with fresh blueberries.

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