HM mousse recipe - raw eggs?

dandy-candy

I've been going through some old cookbooks and also my mums hand written cookbook, and they all contain recipes for chocolate mousse which involves melting chocolate and then off the heat beating in egg yolks. Then you separately whisk the whites before folding them in and refridgerating it. So the eggs are raw, but is that ok? I imagine not everyone dropped dead eating mousse back then, but are eggs now any worse?

Spendless

Eggs with the British lion mark are from hens vaccinated against salmonella

https://www.egginfo.co.uk/eggs-safety/salmonella

I suspect your Mum's recipes are from before Edwina Currie made her remarks about the safety of eggs (late 1980s)


This old news report from the BBC says that hens were being vaccinated from the late 1990s

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/115276.stm

Am not sure if there's any updated news about vulnerable people not eating raw eggs, eg children, elderly, pregnant women. I'd look that up if any of your guests fall into those categories.

buildersdaughter

Official advice now (look it up on NHS Choices) is that hens' eggs with the British Lion mark are safe eaten raw or lightly cooked for the usual 'vulnerable' categories: young children, pregnant, elderly. Other conditions need individual responses.

Yes, it was standard to make chocolate and other mousses, and sauces such as mayonnaise with raw egg, and didn't seem strange to us at all. Indeed, throughout the 'crisis' years I still made chocolate mousse and mayonnaise / hollandaise / caesar salad and lightly scrambled egg for most of my family and guests. I was happy with the source of the eggs, and I didn't give it to anyone in the 'vulnerable' category. Not because I was actually worried, but because it seemed unkind to put them in that position - but I remember reading the label on a bought mayonnaise jar and thinking that fresh eggs and oil seemed a lot more sensible!

For the generation brought up during that time it can seem strange,but given how delicious all these foods can be, I'm sure you'll get used to it!

Tip: be very careful not to overheat the chocolate when you melt it. Have the whipped egg white ready, and mix the melted chocolate and yolk quickly, then fold into the whites quickly. the 'window' of time that the chocolate is melted but not separating is just a few minutes.

Gaia

dandy-candy wrote: »

I've been going through some old cookbooks and also my mums hand written cookbook, and they all contain recipes for chocolate mousse which involves melting chocolate and then off the heat beating in egg yolks. Then you separately whisk the whites before folding them in and refridgerating it. So the eggs are raw, but is that ok? I imagine not everyone dropped dead eating mousse back then, but are eggs now any worse?

This is always how I make my chocolate mousse, never had a problem. All UK-produced eggs should be stamped with the Lion mark, showing that they are safe.

VfM4meplse

My advice for the young, elderly and pregnant: no mousse is worth it! If you're that desperate go and buy one from the supermarket, it will have passed food manufacturing standards.

bouicca21

I also make ice cream this way. Delicious and faff free.

LameWolf

I occasionally make a choccie mousse that not only contains raw eggs, but unpasteurised cream as well, which I get from the monthly Farmers Market; neither Mr LW nor I have ever suffered any ill effects, and I have a compromised immune system! So I'd say as long as you are sure of the quality of your eggs, there shouldn't be a problem.

Also, when I had my jaw broken, some years back, I was advised by the hospital to have raw egg beaten into a glass of milk, with a drop of sherry added for flavour, as a source of protein (I was on a liquids-only diet for three months while my jaw healed).

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I agree with the idea that it's unlikely to kill you - the Salmonella thing was before vaccination, so doublecheck you've got British eggs, get the longest use by date and, if you're still concerned, test them by putting in a jug of water - if they float, they're least likely to be fresh, compared to the sinkers, which are the freshest.

I hated those days of rubbery lumps of what used to be egg.


If you're still worried or severely immune compromised, you can get tetrapaks of egg whites and egg yolks in the supermarket/online.

And if it's still too scary to 'risk' it in your mind, you can use the water from a can of chickpeas whisked up (it's called Aqua-Faba; Bean Water made to sound fancy ) as an egg white substitute.


FWIW, I'm immunocompromised and wouldn't hesitate to make my own mayonnaise if I could be bothered, make scrambled egg that's soft and creamy and my only stipulation for fried eggs is that the underside of the white is crispy and the yolk at least makes an effort to stay attached.

Update to health advice about eggs -

The Food Standards Agency has today announced a change to its advice about eating eggs - infants, children, pregnant women and elderly people can now safely eat raw or lightly cooked eggs that are produced under the British Lion Code of Practice.
The revised advice, based on the latest scientific evidence, means that people vulnerable to infection or who are likely to suffer serious symptoms from food poisoning (such as infants, children, pregnant women and elderly people) can now safely eat raw or lightly cooked hen eggs or foods containing them.


<snip>

The revised advice does not apply to severely immunocompromised individuals, who require medically supervised diets prescribed by health professionals, and is only for eggs produced under the British Lion Code of Practice.

The existing advice on UK non-Lion eggs, non-hen eggs and eggs from outside the UK, is that they should always be cooked thoroughly for vulnerable groups.

Source (Dated October 2017):https://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2017/16597/new-advice-on-eating-runny-eggs

2childmum

I make this mousse - because it's dairy free so i can eat it. Everywhere I take it people love it and can't believe it is so easy to make. I tend to leave the chocolate to cool a bit though, cos otherwise it cooks the egg yolks which makes for an odd texture!