Question:*the Real* Black Tie Mousse Cake by Olive Garden

[clcarrots]

HELP! I'm making this for a birthday tomorrow and something has gone terribly wrong with the second layer of mousse. It is of a liquid consistency, definitely more pourable than spreadable. I've gone over and over the steps and amounts of ingredients, and I just don't see where I went wrong!

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Link to the recipe:
http://www.food.com/392181



Read more at: http://www.food.com/mail/view?msgid=3872448&oc=linkback*the Real* Black Tie Mousse Cake by Olive Garden

[Zeldaz]

Did you whip the cream to stiff peaks? Did you use ultra-pasteurized cream? That can cause problems in whipping. Unfortunately, it's hard to find plain old pasteurized dairy products these days.
Try chilling a spoonful on a plate in the freezer for 5 minutes, see if it sets up, but if it's liquid now it won't have the foamy structure you need for a mousse.

[clcarrots]

Yes and yes! The date was checked for freshness, as well.

[Zeldaz]

Then my guess is that it's the ultra-pasteurized cream. Someone else might have some other ideas.
Another thought: did you stir the other ingredients into the whipped cream or fold them in? Stirring will cause it to fall and lose volume, folding is much gentler and keeps it fluffy.
Looking at the reviews, a few people had problems with the way the recipe is written. Stirring vs. folding is one of them.

[clcarrots]

This particular cream I've been using for years with no issues. I did, however, stir the portion of cream into the cream cheese mixture. I also microwaved the cream cheese/choc. chip step, thinking it would save time, however, the cream cheese didn't smooth out very well. I'm going to remake this later.