Achieving Perfect Mousse Texture

Voice-over: "What is a mousse? A mousse is quite light and melts in the mouth but it must be set." The challenge exposed common mousse problems. Several judges noted setting issues: "I'm not sure about the setting on the mousse" and "the texture of that mousse is just slightly gone. Softened a little bit too much." One baker's mousse was "a bit like a fool which is much looser." The key is balancing airiness with structure. "The most important thing is to whip air into the cream or egg white base. So that creates a mousse." Proper gelatin is crucial - one baker worried: "Wish I'd put more gelatin in this." The perfect mousse as achieved by Tom has texture where judges say: "I love the mousse. I think that's the perfect texture" - light yet stable enough to hold its shape.