Saturday, April 26, 2014

Marvellous Maple Mousse





From Victoria Abbott (aka Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini)



An annual benefit of these long winters in certain parts of Canada and the USA is the maple syrup harvest.  There are lots of celebrations and what we call “sugar bushes” in these parts. Great fun for the whole family. 
  
I just discovered that a family in our village of Manotick  has a new sugar bush operation not far away.  I purchased a bottle of their light maple syrup (as opposed to amber) at Office Pro, the village stationery shop.  How cool is that?
It was fabulous!   Hats off to Bill and Eleonore Coleman for a wonderful product.  We are hooked!

We used it to make a Maple Mousse for a family gathering just before Easter.  This meant a deep dive into my box of recipe clippings to find the recipe to use.  Out of three, this one appealed, because of the brown sugar.  
The origin of the recipe is lost in the dim mists of time and, of course, we changed it a bit. 

There are only six ingredients – part of its charm.  



1 ¼ cups best quality maple syrup
4 eggs separated – eggs should be at room temperature
¼ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatine – dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water – do this shortly before adding the gelatine – or it could solidify too soon
Walnut halves for toasting. Walnuts and maple are very good together!
Or you can use blackberries if you prefer a fruit garnish.

All you do is:

Toast the walnuts on a metal sheet at 350 F for about ten minutes. Cool.

Beat the eggs yolks together with the brown sugar in a tempered glass (or metal) bowl.  Add the maple syrup and set over a water bath on medium heat.


 Cook whisking until the mixture thickens somewhat and can coat a spoon – about 15 minutes.





Remove from heat and stir in gelatine. Set aside to cool.  If it is not cool, it will deflate your egg whites.
Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and (in a separate bowl) beat the cream to peaks as well.
Folk the egg whites into the yolk, maple syrup and brown sugar mixture. Fold in the whipped cream.




Turn into a decorative serving bowl or spoon or pipe into parfait glasses.  We used martini glasses for some because we like that look.  Top each with a walnut or a blackberry.




Chill for 3 to 4 hours.  It makes a very light dessert and of course, it’s done ahead so you might be able to relax and enjoy some.



As you can see this was a big hit.  





 There was not a spoonful left at the end. Sniff.

We’ll be making this again because we have lots to celebrate this spring. Things are happening with our book collector mysteries.
We are thrilled that The Christie Curse and the Sayers Swindle are now available in audio!

We think Walter the Pug looks great on the cover. 
Order it here!





The Wolfe Widow, third in Victoria Abbott's book collector series, will be out in September, 2014.  









    Pre-order it here!












 The Sayers Swindle is on the shelves now.




 

You can click here to order The Sayers Swindle!

Or here for the Kindle version!

Or order through your favorite bookstore - in person or online.











  

The Christie Curse, the first book collector mystery, launched in March 2013 to great reviews.








 
The Christie Curse is also available in Large Print! Tell your local librarian!


















 Walter, the pug in the series is a dead ringer for Peachy, Victoria's new best friend. 


 Come over and friend Victoria on Facebook

www.facebook.com/BookCollectorMysteries   www.facebook.com/maryjane.maffini

Tell  her  you love the pug!
www.twitter.com/AbbottMysteries

www.pinterest.com/jbinghamkelly

and check out Mary Jane Maffini and Victoria Abbott
























8 comments:

  1. I love maple so this sounds like a winner! The egg yolks are cooked but the egg whites are not, is that right MJ/Victoria?

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's right, Lucy. Egg yolks cooked with the sugar, but the white are just beaten.

    Thanks for coming by!

    XO

    MJ

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  3. This looks fantastic!
    I've recently gotten over my paranoia over gelatin use. Panna cotta recipes did it for me. So I'm go to go to try this.
    Reminds me of pouring maple syrup over fresh snow and eating it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too mistrust gelatin, Libby. And I did have to start again when it gelled too much. Of course, it's cheap if not cheerful and it was before I added it to the other ingredients.

      Mmm. Maybe syrup and snow! Hugs, MJ

      Delete
  4. Walter is adorable! I'm itching to try this recipe. We are big fans of chocolate mousse, so I fear we will snarf maple mousse.

    ~Krista

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hope you enjoy the snarfing, Krista. We were very happy with it.

    You could also put it in meringue nests if you were more organized than I was.

    Hugs.

    MJ

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mary Jane and Victoria, I like anything maple. Anything. Love this recipe and can't wait to make it. What a perfect delight for a mother's day event (coming up).

    Hugs to all
    Daryl / Avery

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks, Daryl! It would be great for mother's day.

    See you soon, I hope!

    XO

    MJ

    ReplyDelete