Mayan Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse is even better when prepared with one of the earliest chocolate recipes in history!  Ingredients from the original Mayan Chocolate drink give this mousse an interesting flavor!
   
     The Mayans of Central America made a potent fermented drink made of cocoa, canela, achiote, corn flour and chile peppers.  Vanilla beans were often part of the recipe.  Canela is a Central and South American cinnamon.  Canela has a lighter color than cinnamon and it has a milder flavor.
     Classic French techniques are used to make this mousse.  Some of the techniques best learned with practice, study and hands on instruction.  When combining the ingredients, they all have to be the same cool temperature, or the mousse will separate or deflate.  The chocolate does not need to be tempered.  It just needs to be melted above 89 degrees, but no more than 110 degrees.  Couverture chocolate is best for this recipe, because cocoa butter is returned to the cocoa nibs instead of cheap vegetable oil.  Vegetable oils are on the list of ingredients of low quality chocolate.
     The melted chocolate becomes part of the creme anglaise in this recipe.  This same chocolate creme anglaise base can be used to make Mayan Chocolate Ice Cream.  The chilled chocolate creme anglaise is folded with the chilled whipped cream, then the Italian meringue is folded in last.  The Italian meringue is what gives a classic mousse its refined airy texture.
     Italian meringue is made by whisking egg whites to medium stiff peak and then adding hot soft ball stage sugar while whisking.  The meringue finishes with a very tight textured glossy looking finish.  Italian meringue is also commonly used for decorating fine cakes.  

     This recipe makes 2 to 4 servings, depending on the serving size!
    
     Mayan Chocolate Creme Anglaise:
     Heat 1 cup of cream in a sauce pot over medium low heat.
     Add 5 drops of vanilla extract.
     Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of pilancillo.  (Piloncillo is raw unprocessed hard sugar.)
     Add 1 teaspoon of ground canela.
     Add 1/4 teaspoon of achiote paste.
     Add 2 tablespoons of brandy.
     Add 4 pinches of ground ancho chile powder.  (Ancho chile powder is very mildly spicy and it has a slight dried fruit flavor.
     Stir the ingredients.
     When the cream mixture becomes heated to about 160 degrees, remove the pot from the heat.
     Place 3 egg yolks into a mixing bowl.
     Slowly add 1 ounce of the hot cream mixture at a time, while constantly whisking.
     Place the creme anglaise back into the sauce pot.
     Place the sauce pot over medium low/low heat.
     Constantly whisk, till the sauce thickens.  (Do not allow the sauce temperature to go higher than 140 degrees, or the egg yolks will break from the cream!)
     Keep the anglaise warm on a stove top, off of the heat.
     Melt 2 ounces of dark bitter couverture chocolate in a double boiler.  The chocolate temperature in the double boiler should be less than 110 degrees.
     Add the melted chocolate to the warm creme anglaise, while gently whisking.
     Chill the Mayan Chocolate Creme Anglaise in a refrigerator.
 
     Whipped Cream:
     Place 1 cup of cream into a chilled mixing bowl.
     Add 2 teaspoons of sugar.
     Whisk the cream, till stiff peaks are formed.
     Refrigerate the whipped cream.
   
     Italian Meringue: 
     The egg whites should be whisked to medium stiff peaks, shortly before the sugar reaches the softball stage.  It is important to add a very thin stream of the hot softball stage sugar to the whisked egg whites.  Adding the molten sugar too fast, will scorch and cook the egg whites.
     Cook 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of water over medium high heat in a small sauce pot.  Do not shake the pot!
     Cook the sugar, till the sugar reaches the soft ball stage.  (235F to 240F degrees)
     A few minutes before the sugar reaches the soft ball stage, whisk 2 egg whites, till medium stiff peaks are formed.
     Slowly add the hot soft ball stage sugar by pouring a thin stream of the hot sugar into the meringue, while constantly whisking.
     When all the sugar is added, the Italian meringue should be tight textured and very shiny.  Refrigerate the Italian meringue.
   
     Mayan Chocolate Mousse Assembly:
     After all three of the previous recipes become thoroughly chilled, get a chilled mixing bowl and rubber spatula ready.
     Very gently fold the whipped cream into the Mayan Chocolate Creme Anglaise, one third at a time, till blended.  Do not over mix!  Just barely combine the two ingredients!
     Fold the Italian meringue into the mixture, one third at a time.  Do not over mix!
     Cover the mixing bowl.
     Refrigerate the mousse for at least 4 hours.
     Load the mousse into a star tipped pastry bag and pipe it into a souffle ramekin or champagne glass.
     Garnish the mousse with a dark chocolate butter pate disk or chocolate cooky crisp.
     Garnish the plate with a light sprinkle of ground canela.
 
     The flavor of this Mayan Chocolate Mousse will give people an idea of how complex the flavors of Mayan cooking is.  The flavor is absolutely enjoyable!  A fine mousse has a heavenly light airy texture.
     This is one of the few dark chocolate mousses I have made.  I have made tons of white chocolate mousse in my lifetime.  It just happened to be that chefs at restaurants that I cooked in preferred white chocolate mousse for some reason.
     This is a nice modification of a Mayan chocolate drink.  I really like the flavor of this Mayan Chocolate Mousse!  Yum!  ...  Shawna