dried meringues directly from the oven to an airtight container, and serve as soon as possible after removing from the container Cold Mousses and Soufflés: Reinforcement from Fat and Gelatin In addition to being served as is in the form of a sugar- and heatstabilized meringue, an egg foam can also be enrobed in a mixture of other ingredients, for which the foam serves as a hidden scaffolding The cold mousse and cold soufflé (essentially a mousse molded to look like a hot soufflé that has risen above its dish) hold well for hours, even days, and require only minimal cooking Instead of being stabilized when heat coagulates egg proteins, these mixtures are stabilized when cold congeals fats and gelatin protein The classic dish of this kind is chocolate mousse In its purest form, it is made by melting chocolate — a blend of cocoa butter, starchy cocoa particles, and finely ground sugar — at around 100ºF/38ºC, combining it with raw egg yolks, and combining this mixture with 3 to 4 times its volume of stiffly beaten egg whites (see p 112) The watery foam walls are thus augmented with the thick, yolky chocolate, and much of the egg moisture is absorbed by the cocoa solids and sugar, which further thickens the bubble walls While still warm, the mousse is spooned into serving dishes, and these are then refrigerated for several hours As the mousse cools, the cocoa butter congeals, and the bubble walls become rigid enough to maintain the foam structure indefinitely The chocolate thus strengthens the egg foam, and the foam spreads the stodgy chocolate mass into a gossamer structure that melts on the tongue Soufflés: A Breath of Hot Air Soufflés — savory and sweet mixes lightened ... mousse cools, the cocoa butter congeals, and the bubble walls become rigid enough to maintain the foam structure indefinitely The chocolate thus strengthens the egg foam, and the foam spreads the stodgy chocolate mass... moisture is absorbed by the cocoa solids and sugar, which further thickens the bubble walls While still warm, the mousse is spooned into serving dishes, and these are then refrigerated for several hours As the mousse cools, the cocoa butter congeals, and. .. with raw egg yolks, and combining this mixture with 3 to 4 times its volume of stiffly beaten egg whites (see p 112) The watery foam walls are thus augmented with the thick, yolky chocolate, and much of the egg