What's the difference between a souffle and a mousse?

Question

I thought souffles would be baked, while mousses would be only whipped, but I've seen recipes for cooked mousses before. Is this just a case of using the wrong name for the wrong recipe or are there important differences between them?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 18 '14 at 09:00

There is no strict delineation between these two terms. Either can be savory or sweet.

Some common differences are:

Mousses may get their foaminess from from plain whipped egg whites, a meringue, whole eggs, whipped cream, or something else; a souffle is always leavened by whipped egg whites.
Mousses (except for some seafood mousses, which are gently poached) are rarely cooked as a whole dish; souffles are always baked to get additional rise.
Mousses are almost always served cold; souffles are usually served hot, immediately out of the oven to retain the additional rise they get in the heat of the oven.

One might consider souffles a type of baked mousse, much as quiches are a specific type of tart, but that terminology is rarely used.

See also:

Ochef

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 18 '14 at 13:01

2

In my opinion

A soufflé is something that requires heat and will "rise" when cooked
A mousse does not "rise" and is general served uncooked

answered Mar 18 '14 at 13:01

Jeef

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score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Dec 12 '14 at 18:15

-1

You can demould the mousse but the soufflé doesn't demould.

edited Dec 12 '14 at 18:15

Cindy

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answered Dec 12 '14 at 11:09

saurav bhatt

1

What's the difference between a souffle and a mousse?

3 Answers3