Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Maple Mousse in Carrot Cake Cookie Cups

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com! You can download all the details and provided recipes here. Thanks for another tasty challenge, Evelyne. Maple Mousse in Carrot Cake Cookie Cups was a big hit with my extended family on Easter.

Evelyne made bacon cups and nut cups for her maple mousse. I created a carrot cake "cookie cup" to hold mine. The cookies are very soft with a nice spice flavor from cinnamon and ginger and a little bit of crunch/chew from the currants and walnuts. They aren't too sweet either, which was a plus since the creamy and delicious maple mousse is pretty darn sweet on its own. I tried three methods to make the "cups" and have detailed each below in the instructions. I recommend making the largest cups as they were the easiest and allowed maximum mousse consumption.

My mousse's texture was slightly bumpy, but I would try the making it again. It tasted light in spite of being anything but with all that whipping cream and the egg yolks! I suspect my problem was the gelatin setting beyond where it should have before I could fold in the whipped cream but only time will tell... As for the cookies, I'll definitely have them again and when I do I'll add a yield for the recipe. They can be baked in a mini-muffin tin for your own Two-Bite Treat a la Whole Foods or served topped with the traditional cream cheese frosting.

Oh and I attempted these carrot curls as toppers but they didn't pan out. Candied carrot crumbles took their place - less pretty but still effective. If you have any technical or other suggestions for me, please pass them along. There is always refining to be done... Have a great day!

Maple Mousse
Yield 6 cups

1 cup Pure Maple Syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
4 Large Egg Yolks
1 package/ 1 Tbsp. Unflavored Gelatin
1.5 cups Whipping Cream (35% fat content)

1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat. (Choose a saucepan big enough to hold all of the mousse.)
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk egg yolks. Pour a bit of the heated maple syrup into the egg yolks while whisking (this will temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup and whisk until well mixed.
4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white. (Note: I set a timer and checked at intervals. As of 35 minutes it was the consistency of rubber cement...too hard...but still usable. Keep close watch!)
7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream, transfer to a more fridge-friendly container and refrigerate for at least an hour.
8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

Carrot Cake "Cookie Cup"
Improvised using Simplifried's Cookie Template and several Carrot Cake/Cupcake recipes (Orangette, Cooking Light, The Delicious Life, Cupcake Project, Yum Sugar, Deliciously Organic)
Yield TBD

1 stick Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup and 1 tbsp. White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg, room temperature
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 2/3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup Carrot, grated and drained (or liquid pressed out if you are short on time like me!)
1/4 cup Currants (substitued for raisins per The Cupcake Project's lead)

1. In the bowl of a large mixer combine 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Mix on high until the butter gets fluffy and turns light yellow. The sugar should all be incorporated. Once this happens add the egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing for 15 seconds.
2. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger. Mix until fully incorporated.
3. Add the walnuts, carrot and currants. Mix until just incorporated.
4. Transfer the dough into plastic wrap or a greased bowl covered in plastic and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.
5a. Lightly oil mini-cupcake tin. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough into each cupcake form. Bake cookies for 10 minutes*. Grease back of scoop. Remove cookies from oven and immediately press the tops with the scoop/measuring spoon to create an cup-like indention.
5b. Lightly oil upside down mini-cupcake tin. Scoop tablespoon of dough into your lightly oiled hand. Flatten. Lay over the mini-cupcake tin. Bake 10 minutes*. Cool and remove from tin. (I don't recommend this as they often crumbled.)
5c. Lightly oil a regular cupcake tin. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough into each cupcake form. Bake cookies for 10 minutes*. Grease a shot glass. Remove cookies from oven and immediately press the tops with the shot glass to create a cup-like indentation.
6. Remove to a baking sheet to cool. The mousse will melt if you top them while they are hot.
I haven't tried it but Greenism smooshed her cookie containers into cups halfway through the baking process. That might be even better!

*Or until a toothpick pressed into the center comes out clean.



Courtney, of course, highlighted that Fleet Foxes have a new album coming out and it can be streamed online at NPR, so they seemed like a great band to highlight this post.

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20 comments:

  1. I wish I would have thought of using carrot cake! What a wonderful flavor combination...and your piped mousse is beautiful!

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  2. Carrot cake cookies were a great idea for a container for this mousse! Wonderful job on the challenge.

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  3. love your container! and perfect for easter! great job on the challenge!

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  4. What a fun and fancy dessert! Looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing. I'm so glad I found your beautiful blog and am going to explore more of your recipes! :)

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  5. Ooh, I love carrot cake, so your carrot cake cookie cup sounds brilliant. A perfect partner for the maple mousse. It's so lovely looking too!

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  6. Thank you all for commenting!

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  7. Ohhh delicious! I didn't even think of carrot cake, despite racking my brain for a couple of weeks. I will have to try your recipe.

    I think the containers turned out lovely :D
    I would argue that doing it your way (rather than putting the shot glasses in 10 mins before finished) would have actually resulted in a better mousse/container ratio.

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  8. What a great idea to make a carrot cake cookie cups. I love carrot cake so this sounds delicious. :)

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  9. Bekkitae - We'll have to battle out the better method. ;) I am glad you liked my method too.

    Andrea - Thank you.

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  10. Very ingenious! Almost like a thumbprint cookie. And that little swirl of mousse is all you need. Good job.

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  11. Sarah - They are similar, Sarah. Good point! Thank you.

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  12. Awesome! Carrot cake cookie cups sound awesome! During Christmas, I do the classic peanut butter cookie cups where you press a mini peanut butter cup into the warm cookie "muffin" so that the baked cookie sets around it as it cools, but I love this spin. . . .

    And now I'm hungry for carrot cake.

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  13. I love your idea!
    I think carrot cake pairs beautifully with the mousse..they look so pretty too
    Great job

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  14. Julie - I haven't ever heard of that but it sounds delicious. The closest thing I can think of is the peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's Kiss pressed into the center. Your Reese's would win in a battle between those too I suspect.

    Food Doctor - Thank you! It was a mighty tasty combo, though certainly not as original as some.

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  15. Am sure carrot cake would have paired excellently with the mousse! kicking myself for not having thought of it, and I love carrot cake!
    Thanks for your kind words on my puff swan!

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  16. Magpie - It sounds like you'll be making maple mousse again. ;) You're welcome.

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  17. What a fantastic idea! They remind me of those peanut butter blossom cookies with the kiss, but up a million levels with carrot cake and maple mousse. Brilliant and beautifully done!

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  18. Maple mousse and carrot must be a perfect combination, you little container really looks sweet. :)

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