I had a cake tasting last weekend and the woman wanted a chocolate mousse. I found a recipe on here that uses heavy cream and eggs in the recipe. I found out at the tasting that the wedding would be outdoors at her mother's house in June or July. I'm worried about the mousse going bad sitting outside all day and I'm not sure what to do. Does anybody know if it would last outside and for how long? Its my first wedding cake and I don't know what to tell her. Should I freeze the cake before so that it will thaw outside during the event, or should I tell her to leave the cake inside the house until they are ready to cut and serve? Please help!! I would hate to switch to another recipe since I filled the sample cupcakes with the mousse...but if I had to, I'm sure she would understand...hopefully

Welcome to cake central. Mousse outside, in the summer is a bad idea.

If it can be kept cold until it is served, it would be ok. otherwise, you risk melting and spoilage.

I don't think freeze/thaw is a good option. the mousse might not retain the soft texture and could end up mushy or grainy.

You can always use Rich's chocolate Bettercreme. I have used that in place of a chocolate mousse and it should hold up well in the summer.

Although I would tell her that it's a huge risk having the cake outdoors.

As indydebi has advised previously... You are the cake professional who advises what is and is not possible under the conditions described by the customer.

Acceding to the wishes of the customer (with the possibility of a soggy melting cake or even food poisoning) IS going to put your professional reputation at risk. (And there's always the possibility of being sued - even if it the cause was the customer's poor judgement.)

Rich's Bettercreme is shelf stable for about 5 days, but I'm not sure how well it holds up sitting outside in June/July.....

Whipped chocolate ganache might be an acceptable substitute.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Rich's Bettercreme (and Pastry Pride):
(Includes ShirleyW's faux bavarian cream recipe, and others.)

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2396-Bavarian-Cream-Filling.html

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-1814171-.html

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-50338-.html

Everything you ever wanted to know about chocolate ganache:
(Includes overview as well as master and other recipes, including white chocolate. How to glaze, smooth, stack and more.)

http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-497433-.html

Chocolate 101:

http://tinyurl.com/ytby97

HTH

Had a bride who was planning an outdoor JUly wedding. She asked, "Can we ice the whole thing in cream cheese icing?" I said, "Not for an outdoor wedding, you can't."

As Jan said...... as the food professional, YOU call the shots. I've had wedding planners try to tell me how they want the buffet set up and served and I cut 'em off at the knees then and there. Flat out tell them, "no that's not possible and here's why...."

Brides who want a 6 tier cake to serve 75 people just have to be told, "You can't have that design for 75 people".

You also have to be willing to walk away, which I am. If they are stupid enought to want cream cheese icing outside in July, then they are going to find a decorator stupid enough to do it...... I'm not.

Don't worry about her "hopefully" understanding. "Jr doesn't want to put gas in the car. I'll tell him cars can't fun without gas and hopefully he will understand." Hopefully? From where I sit, there ain't no "hopefully" to it. It's just the way it is.

Educate her .... I find that's usually all they need. They need it explained as to WHY it's not a good idea. Offer alternatives and other suggestions.

Thanks so much for all the help everybody! I'm so new to this that I didn't even think to ask if the wedding would be outdoors when she mentioned she wanted a mousse filling...would the mousse hold up ok if the wedding was indoors do you think? Or is mousse just a bad idea all around for a wedding cake?

I will go through her options once I try the other recipes that were mentioned to make sure I can get them right.

Thanks again for all the help! Theres so much I need to learn!

Sometimes if I need a mousse that doesn't need refridgeration, I use the fillings in a sleeve. For mousse type: I use chocolate bavarian cream which you can purchase from your local cake supply store or at http://www.countrykitchensa.com

hope this helps as well as what you've already obtain from the experts on CC