gelatin in meringue

[W.DeBord]

a recipe for fruit mousse, looking for opinions:

proceedure: egg whites and sugar are heated to 160. Melted gelatin is poured into whites then they are whipped to cool. Fold whipped cream into fruit puree, then whites.

The thing thats doesn't seem right to me is whipping the gelatin into the whites and beating until room temp. (I've never seen a recipe like this before). The whites always remain soft...seems like your exhausting the gelatins holding power before it's put into the puree...., no?

Opinions wanted

Thanks

[angrychef]

Wendy, here's what I would do:
1. Make meringue.
2. Mix gelatin into room temp. fruit puree.
3. Fold in whipped cream.
4. Fold in cooled meringue.

[momoreg]

For fruit mousse, I always add the gelatin to the YOLKS, after they are whipped.

I have a white mousse that I add the gelatin to before whipping, and it does increase the stability, but that's white choc. mousse-- much firmer by nature than fruit mousse, as you know. I agree with angrychef. It makes very little sense to whip the gelatin if you don't have to.

[m brown]

what about marshmallows? aren't they whipped gelatin? would adding air keep the mousse more stable?
hmmmmmmm.........if i had the time i would test this theory out.

happy moussing!

[W.DeBord]

I make my mousse just like you Angry....

I was just wondering what the scientific answer was to this technique?

[angrychef]

Wouldn't hurt to try it out just like you described it. And if you find out it works better----then you've just discovered a better technique. The only thing to keep in mind is when blending the "marshmallow meringue"---hypothetically if it gets too cool where the gelatin sets, it might be difficult to incorporate the fruit puree.

[W.DeBord]

I have made this mousse recipe, it works fine. It doesn't seem any better or any worse then any other mousse recipes.

I haven't done anything before with gelatin in meringue so that's why I'm asking about it.

You can leave the meringue in the mixer cooling forever with-out it firming up and it still incorporates fine into the mousse. It does prevent the meringue from getting dry/stiff.... so at least it gives it some purpose.

So I guess this goes into my file of not understanding. I don't know the source where it came from and haven't seen any others similar.

[m brown]

bingo, lets think about what happend to your meringue. it set and did not get grainy, adding a tepid fruit puree softens the meringue just enough and the cold cream sets it.
the gelatin keeps the air trapped within the egg white protein allowing a smoother mousse.

coats and sooths..................................