Can I double this recipe?

July 18, 2019 5:14 PM

Been invited to a Julia Child party. Yay! I made a single test batch of her chocolate mousse recipe successfully (yum). Can I double the recipe for the party, or should I just make a single batch twice? IANAB. Recipe here.
posted by HaveYouTriedRebooting to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

I see no reason why you couldn't double it, just make sure you have a big enough bowl before you start whipping your egg whites.
posted by Weeping_angel at 5:22 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

You can double it if you've got a big enough bowl! I'd say for baking, it's safer to double the weights instead of the actual measurements if possible. So instead of doing 1 and 1/3 cup of sugar, do 340g of sugar, etc.
posted by astapasta24 at 6:13 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]

As a caution the other way, I find it gets difficult to fold the mixture when there is too much of it! Since you’ve made a single batch, you can probably predict for yourself how it will work for you.
posted by Missense Mutation at 6:20 PM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]

Yesterday I made 50 chocolate mousses for a party, so I can tell you with some experience that it's better to do it in batches. otherwise you'll need a very large bowl, and it's hella difficult to fold the mixture and keep it aerated if you make larger quantities.
posted by essexjan at 10:32 PM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]

In food services, the standard batch seems to be 12 servings, so if you've got a 4-serving recipe then doubling it should be fine. (Although I fully believe that scaling it up 12.5 times to make 50 servings would not be fine.)

When it comes time to fold in the whipped cream, you'll probably want to fold in half or a third of the cream until mixed and then repeat.

I'm pretty sure a KitchenAid with the 5qt bowl can handle 8 egg whites. If you're using a handheld mixer and you don't have a big enough bowl, you can improvise with a (clean) wok or its (clean) lid, or with a stockpot if you are careful to move the mixer around.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 11:16 PM on July 18, 2019 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have in fact doubled that exact recipe! It worked just fine at that volume, tasted just the same as the single recipe. I love that recipe so much, now I have to think of excuse to make it again! Enjoy!
posted by dellsolace at 9:56 AM on July 19, 2019 [3 favorites]

I have found that this depends on how confident you are in your folding abilities. I suck at it and have learned that any time stiff peaks are involved, I do better with multiple batches than to risk it.
posted by Mchelly at 2:28 PM on July 19, 2019

Response by poster: Thanks all! I will proceed.
posted by HaveYouTriedRebooting at 6:26 PM on July 19, 2019

Response by poster: I doubled the recipe and it came out great! Zero leftovers :-). For the benefit of future readers, I halved the serving size (16 servings out of a double batch instead of 8) and some people were still sharing theirs. This is seriously rich stuff.
posted by HaveYouTriedRebooting at 7:56 PM on August 21, 2019