Introduction: Molecular Gastronomy - Fake Egg Dessert

The "egg white" is a vermouth mousse, and the "yolk" is a mango puree.

Step 1: Prep

"Egg white" Vermouth Mousse recipe: (ironically is made from egg whites)

  • 1 shot Vermouth
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 cup sugar (can be white, brown, or castor)
  • I added some vanilla seeds but this isn't necessary

Beat the egg whites and sugar till they form soft peaks.

(side note: If you can do this part with Michael Jackson’s "Beat It" playing in the background you get extra pun points.)

"Yolk" mango puree:

Do as the title suggests and puree some mango slices. You can add some citrus to this as well if you like.

Eggs:

Very carefully, with a serrated knife, score the top of a raw egg all the way round. Keep scoring around the egg until the blade starts to catch on the inner membrane. You can start to pry the top part of the shell off, still be very gentle because it is very easy to crack the shell at this point, but if done properly, you can get the top off with the membrane entirely intact. I found the simplest technique, was to hold the egg in your hand and rest the side of the knife on your thumb, this helps stabilize the blade and keeps your line straight.

(you can do this with a hard-boiled egg but you can use the egg white for this, and it's easier to clean out the shell)

Once all your prep is done, it's easiest to put your mousse and puree into syringes.

Step 2: Plating Up

Syringe your mousse into the egg, but not all the way to the top, because it still needs to expand.

Pop it in the microwave for about 7 seconds. It rises quite quickly and gets incredibly hot.

Once it's risen, cut off the mousse at the top, and with a spoon (or a apple corer) dig out some of the mousse in the centre. Fill the void with the puree.

(Side note: The alcohol in the mousse mixture evaporates and heats up the egg white, and expands and technically makes it a gel, but consistency-wise it's more like a mousse)

Step 3: Eat

This is better eaten with a few minutes because the mousse will start to "weep" due to the high sugar content, when this happens the "white" will begin to contract.

Enjoy.

You can read more at www.thecuriousgastronomer.co.za