guinness mousse

[QbanCrackr]

this is a recipe i found online for guinness mousse

BLACK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

8 ounces semisweet chocolate (chopped or grated) or bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup superfine sugar

3/4 cup Guinness stout

3 large eggs, separated

1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

6 ounces white chocolate (chopped or grated)

1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)

my only complaint is that it doesn't taste strong enough of guinness

i want it to taste as if you're drinking a pint of the stuff...reduce the guinness? thats the only thing i can think of at this point hehe

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I wonder if you could amp up the flavour by infusing the cream with hops or barley or something, or adding some of that separately. I don't know what Guinness specifically has to achieve the stout taste, but i reckon you could find one of the components and try introducing more of that.

There was a "dessert challenge" type of thing here a long time ago, and one of them was beer-themed... the competitor did this kind of thing, analysing the elements of beer and it sounded pretty interesting.

[TongoRad]

Guinness is only one brand of dry stout (a style of beer), and at that they produce many different strengths of their beer. The beer that most people associate with the word Guinness is the draught beer, the lightest and mildest of them all- this is also the same beer that is sold in the draughtflow cans and bottles. I wouldn't recommend using it for pastry or baking- not enough concentration of flavor. A step up from that in terms of strength is the bottled Extra Stout, which should be a better candidate. Some countries get their even stronger beers, but if you are located in the US then that point is moot; it is not shipped here.

But fear not- we have many other stouts available to us. The dominant flavor in dry stout is roasted unmalted barley (is has been roasted to coffee-like darkness), so any stout that contains that element would be a good place to start no matter the style. I usually think of oatmeal stouts when it comes to cooking- they are more flavorful and rounded than Guinness. If you are in the Northeast the look no further than the classic Ipswich Oatmeal Stout. Beer can be kind of regional, so it may depend on where you are located to help you select the right one.

In terms of reducing the beer, there would be no need for that and you would probably change the flavor in ways you don't want to do. But there is a style of stout that is, in essence, already 'concentrated'- the Imperial Stout. The grain to water ratio is, in some cases, way larger than in normal gravity beers. The amount of hop bitterness can be a problem, though. They can be tricky to choose for cooking purposes. We could probably come up with suggestions if you want to go that way (such as Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout), but I say try the oatmeal stout or other dry stout (O'Hara's Celtic Stout comes to mind, if you can get that) first.

Edited March 16, 2010 by TongoRad (log)

[lesliec]

Here's another recipe. This one includes a quantity of coffee, which I suspect may perversely bring out more of the Guinness flavour.

And happy St Paddy's Day for tomorrow.

[Yajna Patni]

8 oz of chocolate is a lot for 3/4 of a cup of stout to overcome. maybe some white chocolate could sub?

[IndyRob]

Well, I think you were on the right track to begin with. Take 1 1/2 cups of stout and reduce by half. I wish I had a lot more experience with Guinness Stout than I have ( ), but I don't think the liquidity would be significantly affected(edit: unlike some Bock beers). More power Scotty! (Ooh, that might be too Scottish a reference wouldn't it?)

Of course, you could go to unsweetened chocolate as well. Or pull back on the sugar.

Or replace some cream with more whipped egg white. I love cream, but I'd say that's the major moderating force in the recipe provided.

Edited March 16, 2010 by IndyRob (log)

[stuartlikesstrudel]

8 oz of chocolate is a lot for 3/4 of a cup of stout to overcome. maybe some white chocolate could sub?

I think you're right, Yajna... this really seems like a chocolate mousse with guinness added for richness/deep flavour, much like a hint of coffee is often added to chocolate desserts.

[bripastryguy]

you can contact Amoretti, they have a guiness compound which i have used in the past and it works pretty well. Boiling guiness cases it to become extremely bitter

[ScoopKW]

Reducing Guinness will increase its bitterness -- it will also destroy any hop flavor (which isn't much in Guinness to begin with.

I would steep chocolate malt* and roasted barley in 150f water for one hour, then strain and simmer to reduce significantly. Then add malt extract (it's sweet) to balance the bitterness and add THAT to the mousse.

* Chocolate malt has no chocolate. It's just a variety of malt that we brewers use. Any homebrew supply shop will have all three ingredients. It won't take much -- I'd start with 1 pint of water, four ounces of chocolate malt, one ounce of roasted barley, and maybe an ounce of light malt extract as a starting point.

You probably won't even need any Guinness if you do it right. Alternately, you can go with a stronger stout (not more alcoholic, mind you -- ethanol isn't going to do anything here) like Young's or Sam Smith's.

Edited April 14, 2010 by ScoopKW (log)

[lapin d'or]

A book I have bought recently by Paul A Young has a recipe for ale truffles and to bring out the malty flavour he suggests you use a milk chocolate such as Valrhona Jivara Laite 40% which has a malty flavour. The recipe also uses light muscovado sugar which I guess will also push up the malt/dark sugar flavours you find in stout.

The ratio of ale to chocolate is 300ml to 450g milk, no cream.

I think I would be tempted to cut back on the cream in the stout mousse as I think it will deaden the flavour. The white mousse can add the extra creamyness.

Lapin