Desserts, baked goods, my favorite things to review. And by "review", you know I mean "eat". Even if they are not from traditional bakeries.
Like, La Mousse, a wholesale bakery providing to restaurants, hotels, and retail businesses. I know it isn't quite fair to publish reviews of items that you can't just walk into a store and buy, but, you can find La Mousse products all around, they just might not be labelled with the brand. And so it goes for wholesale bakeries, people eat their goods all the time, and just don't know it.
Anyway, La Mousse.
"La Mousse Desserts taste the same today as it did on the day when Nadine Korman first created them over 34 years ago. Every dessert is prepared by hand using the finest quality ingredients- from real butter to real eggs to real cream. La Mousse, the pursuit of sweet perfection, sets the standard of quality."
Based in LA, distributed nationwide, all products are distributed frozen. They make about 120 products, including mousses, specialty cakes, cheesecakes, scones, bundt cakes, cookies, bars, fat-free muffins, banquet cakes, bites, petites and hors d’oeuvres. They claim to take no shortcuts, "not settling for anything but the best".
I've tried an assortment of their cakes, pies, and bars, and was never particularly impressed.
Update 2023: I took several years off from trying these products, but the past year my office has started sourcing items from them again, so, eventually I caved and tried more. I'm still not impressed.
Cakes
La Mousse makes 10 full size "Specialty Cakes" and several petites carried year round, plus additional holiday specials. Most are layered cakes.
I've tried several, and although they tend to look really good, the cake really isn't ever good.
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| Petite Boston Cream Pie. |
"A layer of white cake topped with rich chocolate mousse, creamy custard and finished with a layer of chocolate ganache and white chocolate drizzle. " -- La Mousse
The first one I tried, a old favorite of mine, Boston Cream Pie! It wasn't bad, actually.
The cake (bottom layer) was dry and boring, but, the rest was good.
The custard layer was thick and creamy. The middle layer, milk chocolate mousse, was creamy and fluffy, with a decent chocolate flavor for a milk chocolate. The fudge/chocolate ganache on top was awesome, really thick, really rich, intensely chocolatey. I liked the sweet white chocolate drizzled on top too.
Was it real Boston Cream Pie? Not at all. The custard was far too thick to be real Boston cream. The two different chocolate layers were a bit strange, I've never seen milk chocolate mousse in Boston cream pie. But, I did enjoy the top 3 layers quite a bit, so, not really complaining.
I've had these several times, and felt the same way every time, pleasantly surprised by how good the cream layer, the mousse layer, and the ganache in particular are. One of the better items. ***+.
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| Boston Cream Pie (full size slice). |
Cake, custard, fudge, mousse.
I again was impressed. Not with the cake, that was certainly a throwaway component, but the rest was quite good. The custard rich and creamy, the chocolate mousse had great flavor, and the darker, thicker, richer ganache was wonderful.
I'll gladly have more of these, just, minus the boring cake parts of course. ***+.
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| Lemon Cake. |
This cake looked decent. Promising, with all the white chocolate on the outside.
But ... it was not tasty.
The cake was incredibly dry. And flavorless. "Moist lemon cake"? No.
The layer of cream filling was mushy and not ... creamy? Even the white chocolate was fairly flavorless.
I couldn't find a component of this that I enjoyed. *.
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| Coconut Whiteout. |
Dry, plain, stale-ish vanilla cake. Flavorless cream custard between the layers. A bit of sweet apricot jam. Flavorless white cream topping. Lots of coconut on the exterior. *.
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| German Chocolate Cake. |
I couldn't get over the toppings on this one. And, that VERY, VERY thick layer of coconut pecan frosting filling!!!
Starting from the top. The large white chocolate "leaves" were fine, sweet, creamy, white chocolate as expected. Sadly, they were the highlight.
The other element on top was a decoration made from the same thick, rich fudge frosting that also coated the backside. The frosting wasn't really that rich, not chocolately, and not remarkable in any way.
And then ... the other frosting. Shredded coconut, mixed with chopped pecans, and buttercream. So much of it. It was sweet, it was gooey, but it was pretty standard, again, not remarkable in any way.
Then the cake. Chocolate cake. Boring, dry, not moist, not intense. Just cake.
Overall, this was just boring. It was the quality level of what you'd expect from a home baker, who used a box of mix, a can frosting, and somehow developed the piping skills for the rosette on top. **.
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| German Chocolate Cake (September 2018). |
But, it was again, truly not good. I love sweet frosting, and pecans, and coconut, but this frosting doesn't deliver in any way. Mushy coconut, just sweet, sigh. I tried so hard to like at least that part, but alas, nope.
And the white chocolate on top, still the best part I guess, but not remarkable, it was a lower end waxy style.
Note to self: really, give up on this cake, no matter how good it looks! **.
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| Petite White Christmas Yule Log. December 2019. |
For the holidays, La Mousse makes classic yule logs, both milk chocolate and white chocolate coated versions (the former with mocha cake, the later with vanilla). They come in multiple sides - full size, elaborately decorated ones, or, "petite" individual servings, which I had.
While the decorations on the petite ones are not as extensive, just some "bark" ridged frosting and a decorative holly berry (?), I found them even more adorable than the full size (those have poinsettias, mini mushrooms, and more on top!).
These were as tasty as they were good looking.
The cake is rolled with raspberry cream and a thin layer of milk chocolate, to create the ringed look. The cake was fairly average, just vanilla cake, but it was decently moist and light, and really was just a conduit for all the other components.
The raspberry and chocolate cream filling was slightly fruity and slightly chocolately, neither flavor too pronounced, but they combined nicely, and accented the otherwise plain cake.
The cake is rolled with raspberry cream and a thin layer of milk chocolate, to create the ringed look. The cake was fairly average, just vanilla cake, but it was decently moist and light, and really was just a conduit for all the other components.
The raspberry and chocolate cream filling was slightly fruity and slightly chocolately, neither flavor too pronounced, but they combined nicely, and accented the otherwise plain cake.
The entire thing is coated in white chocolate ganache, fluffy, sweet, and definitely delicious.
And finally, the holly berry topping, with a sweet crunchy white chocolate leaf and little berries that seemed like marzipan. I loved both toppings.
I liked how this came together, and I added some white chocolate ice cream on top, and loved it even more (for me, cake always needs ice cream with it, even when it already has excellent frosting components ...). ***+.
One negative aspect of these is just ... how not wholesome they are. Now, I know this is a dessert item, but I was still impressed (and not really in a good way) at the ingredients. Manufacturing cream is #1. High fructose corn syrup, lots of emulsifiers, and lecithins, interesting items like "sugared egg yolks" and "liquid egg whites" ...
"A delicious blend of sour cream and cream cheese slowly baked on top of graham cracker crust and topped with ground almonds."
Wow, this was really excellent cheesecake.
The base was a standard compressed graham cracker crust, not really my favorite thing, it always seems like such a throwaway crust to me.
But the cheesecake. This was excellent! Rich and creamy, the perfect texture, perfect intense tang from the use of sour cream alongside the cream cheese. I was really, really impressed with the quality of the cheesecake.
On top was ground almond crumble, which I also liked. It added some texture and crunch, and bit of interest to the top of the cheesecake. Others weren't fond of it though.
Overall though, I thought this was excellent. ***+.
"Creamy dark chocolate and luscious cheesecake perfectly blended atop a chocolate cookie crust. The top is decorated with a white chocolate marbled design."
Sorry for the bad photo here, it really lacks a lot of the detail of this one. The top did indeed have a chocolate / white chocolate marble design, and the side was coated in a chocolate cookie crust.
So, it looked decent. The taste though? Not so good.
The base was a "chocolate cookie crust", but it really seemed cake like, dark, dry, cake. Nothing good there. The majority of it was the "luscious cheesecake" that also seemed more like a cake, in a really strange way. It wasn't smooth and creamy as cheesecake should be. It wasn't rich. It was ... just kinda pasty, a strange texture, and not a good mouthfeel.
The dark chocolate on top was perhaps the best part, but there is nothing much to say about it besides that it wasn't awful. **.
"Our famous shortbread is filled with a towering portion of fresh apples and cinnamon, then finished with a cobbler topping. "
This was not good.
I'm not sure what is famous about the shortbread, it just seemed like any old shortbread.
The apple layer was extremely mushy.
The "cobbler" was mostly oats, not buttery, and mushy too.
It basically tasted like applesauce with some mushy oats on top.
I did not like this. *.
"Our light and flaky shortbread crust is filled with a natural strawberry jam and dried cranberries, topped with a delicious cobbler topping and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. "
"Our buttery shortbread crust is layered with a crunchy butter brickle, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and dulce de leche frosting. Each bar is then decorated with dulce de leche drizzle."
"Decadent Egg Nog cheesecake with a hint of rum on a shortbread crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor
I really don't know why I keep trying these.
Soft, stale, low end shortbread crust.
Mushy not very good cheesecake that tasted vaguely like egg nog. MEH. *.
"A dense fudge like brownie is covered with a glace cherry filling and finished with bittersweet chocolate drizzle. A cherry chocolate dream."
Eh. These weren't great either. The texture was odd, softer than a brownie, more like a ganache than a cake. Not that ganache is bad, but these weren't really something you could pick up, and, the bar itself just wasn't anything special.
The glace cherry topping was sweet and gave it a very "low end" feel, but if you like those kind of cherries, and you like the chocolate cherry combo, perhaps these were good. *+.
"We start off with a shortbread crust and bake it with creamy cheesecake, rich custard and vanilla bean specks and top it with a caramel glaze."
"Two layers of Bavarian mocha cake filled with a mixture of whipped cream and butter brickle pieces, topped with Bavarian chocolate ganache and covered with Heath Bar chunks."
The first ingredient in this bar? Manufacturing cream. Then English toffee. Then sugar and vegetable oil. Does that tell you what you need to know about this bar? Yeah, there are "liquid egg whites" and "sugared egg yolks" in there too, plus espresso, butter brickle candy, and chocolate, and more, but, uh, not exactly wholesome.
The top layer was fine, just chocolate ganache and Heath bar bits. I do adore my Heath Bar from time to time (it was my long time favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor when I was younger!)
From the side, you can see the other layers, with the mocha cake and cream layers.
These, however, were awful. The cake was mocha flavored, but, it was both dry and cardboard like at the same time. Really not tasty at all. And the cream filling? Flavorless, and also strange texture.
I pealed off some topping, but, otherwise, this was not a winner. *.
"Pecan pieces w/dark syrup, brown sugar & sweet butter, poured into a shortbread crust, topped w/pecan halves meticulously placed, glazed." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor
Well, ooph. Pecan pie isn't ever a light pie, but this was a particularly heavy pie. In physical weight, too. It literally weighs 5.3 lbs.
Huge slices, super lofty, and dense.
As you can see from the cross section, the color of the filling was very dark. It was a rich gooey custard, with a stronger flavor than I am accustomed to in pecan pie. I couldn't place the flavor though, it wasn't quite molasses, but it was more than just corn syrup and brown sugar. I couldn't tell at first if I liked it or not, it was quite strong, and in the end, I decided I did not like it.
The pecans on top were very generously applied, several layers deep. Plenty of pecan in this pie.
The crust was tasty, a soft, sweet, buttery shortbread, but, the pie itself I just didn't care for. **.
I liked how this came together, and I added some white chocolate ice cream on top, and loved it even more (for me, cake always needs ice cream with it, even when it already has excellent frosting components ...). ***+.
One negative aspect of these is just ... how not wholesome they are. Now, I know this is a dessert item, but I was still impressed (and not really in a good way) at the ingredients. Manufacturing cream is #1. High fructose corn syrup, lots of emulsifiers, and lecithins, interesting items like "sugared egg yolks" and "liquid egg whites" ...
Cheesecake
They also make a slew of cheesecakes, including seasonal ones (of course they have a pumpkin one for fall), and some petites as well.
The cheesecake fared much better than the cakes.
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| Petite New York Cheesecake. |
Wow, this was really excellent cheesecake.
The base was a standard compressed graham cracker crust, not really my favorite thing, it always seems like such a throwaway crust to me.
But the cheesecake. This was excellent! Rich and creamy, the perfect texture, perfect intense tang from the use of sour cream alongside the cream cheese. I was really, really impressed with the quality of the cheesecake.
On top was ground almond crumble, which I also liked. It added some texture and crunch, and bit of interest to the top of the cheesecake. Others weren't fond of it though.
Overall though, I thought this was excellent. ***+.
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| Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake. |
Sorry for the bad photo here, it really lacks a lot of the detail of this one. The top did indeed have a chocolate / white chocolate marble design, and the side was coated in a chocolate cookie crust.
So, it looked decent. The taste though? Not so good.
The base was a "chocolate cookie crust", but it really seemed cake like, dark, dry, cake. Nothing good there. The majority of it was the "luscious cheesecake" that also seemed more like a cake, in a really strange way. It wasn't smooth and creamy as cheesecake should be. It wasn't rich. It was ... just kinda pasty, a strange texture, and not a good mouthfeel.
The dark chocolate on top was perhaps the best part, but there is nothing much to say about it besides that it wasn't awful. **.
Bars
La Mousse invests heavily in their line of bars, double the size of any other product line, clearly one of their top sellers for retail. I never really want bars, but, I've tried many over the years through our catering department. They ... are pretty awful.
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| Apple Cobbler Bar. |
This was not good.
I'm not sure what is famous about the shortbread, it just seemed like any old shortbread.
The apple layer was extremely mushy.
The "cobbler" was mostly oats, not buttery, and mushy too.
It basically tasted like applesauce with some mushy oats on top.
I did not like this. *.
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| Strawberry Cobbler Bar. |
Next, the strawberry cobbler.
Not any better.
Same crust.
"Strawberry" layer actually meant strawberry jam and ... cranberries? Fruity, sure, but not very good.
And the cobbler topping was different, less cobbles even, and coated in powdered sugar.
Meh. *.
"A shortbread crust is filled with blueberry jam, dried blueberries and dried apples."
Ok, finally. One I didn't hate. Although, honestly, it seemed to have the same composition as the others (it should be the same crust and cobble right?), and they did add dried apples to the blueberry (why!)
I didn't think it was extraordinary or anything, but, the bar was sweet, the crumbles gave good texture, and the fruity layer was sweet (and luckily, I didn't taste the apple!).
I would really call this a dessert, at least not for me, but perhaps with some whipped cream it could be one? I found it more breakfast appropriate, alongside a coffee ... **+.
"Buttery shortbread crust layered with pecan pieces and a creamy pumpkin pie filling and topped with brown sugar crumble topping."
This bar had some good elements.
The pumpkin layer was great. It was well spiced, and a thick, creamy texture. I loved that layer. I also liked the pecans mixed in, and think the pumpkin + pecan combo is a match made in heaven - I always take a slice of pumpkin and a slice of pecan pie at Thanksgiving, so, I liked the flavor combination, and the extra texture.
But just like the other bars, I didn't like the crumble top. I didn't like the shortbread crust. Both were dry and strange tasting.
Luckily, the bars were huge, and the pumpkin + pecan layers generous, so I just extracted them, added whipped cream, and was quite happy. **+.
"A butter brickle, chocolate chip brownie with chopped walnuts. " - La Mousse
[ No Photo ]
Blueberry Cobbler Bar.
Ok, finally. One I didn't hate. Although, honestly, it seemed to have the same composition as the others (it should be the same crust and cobble right?), and they did add dried apples to the blueberry (why!)
I didn't think it was extraordinary or anything, but, the bar was sweet, the crumbles gave good texture, and the fruity layer was sweet (and luckily, I didn't taste the apple!).
I would really call this a dessert, at least not for me, but perhaps with some whipped cream it could be one? I found it more breakfast appropriate, alongside a coffee ... **+.
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| Pumpkin Cobbler Bar. (Seasonal). |
This bar had some good elements.
The pumpkin layer was great. It was well spiced, and a thick, creamy texture. I loved that layer. I also liked the pecans mixed in, and think the pumpkin + pecan combo is a match made in heaven - I always take a slice of pumpkin and a slice of pecan pie at Thanksgiving, so, I liked the flavor combination, and the extra texture.
But just like the other bars, I didn't like the crumble top. I didn't like the shortbread crust. Both were dry and strange tasting.
Luckily, the bars were huge, and the pumpkin + pecan layers generous, so I just extracted them, added whipped cream, and was quite happy. **+.
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| Butter Brickle Blondie. |
"These creamy and chewy butter brickle choc. chip blondies are exquisite!" - GourmetXpress, Distributor
I fall firmly in the "cookies and bars are not desserts" camp ... unless warmed up and made a la mode or something. So this blondie? Yup, just a bar.
It was chewy, it had walnuts and chocolate chips, but ... yeah, a bar. Not my thing. **.
"A shortbread layer is topped with the most wonderfully chewy mixture of dark syrup, brown sugar, butter and lots and lots of pecan pieces."
I adore pecan pie, so, pecan bars are one of the few types of bars that I tolerate.
But these I didn't care for.
The shortbread crust was ok, soft, buttery, sweet, but the gooey layer above it had a strange flavor (it had honey and brown sugar, both which I like, but didn't work together well here). The pecans were chopped and kinda burnt tasting.
Not a success. *+.
"Shortbread crust with butter brickle candy and topped with Dulce de Leche cheese and decorated with Dulce de Leche cheese frosting and caramel." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor
"Our buttery shortbread crust is layered with a crunchy butter brickle, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and dulce de leche frosting. Each bar is then decorated with dulce de leche drizzle. " -- La Mousse
I did not like this either.
The shortbread crust, again, lackluster.
The cheesecake was just too sweet, and not a great consistency. Kinda mushy. *.
I fall firmly in the "cookies and bars are not desserts" camp ... unless warmed up and made a la mode or something. So this blondie? Yup, just a bar.
It was chewy, it had walnuts and chocolate chips, but ... yeah, a bar. Not my thing. **.
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| Pecan Square. |
I adore pecan pie, so, pecan bars are one of the few types of bars that I tolerate.
But these I didn't care for.
The shortbread crust was ok, soft, buttery, sweet, but the gooey layer above it had a strange flavor (it had honey and brown sugar, both which I like, but didn't work together well here). The pecans were chopped and kinda burnt tasting.
Not a success. *+.
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| Dulce De Leche Bar. |
"Our buttery shortbread crust is layered with a crunchy butter brickle, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake and dulce de leche frosting. Each bar is then decorated with dulce de leche drizzle. " -- La Mousse
I did not like this either.
The shortbread crust, again, lackluster.
The cheesecake was just too sweet, and not a great consistency. Kinda mushy. *.
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| Dulce de Leche Cheese Bar (2023). |
I don't know why I keep trying La Mousse bars. But I do. I forgot that I had tried this before, and not like it. But I like dulce de leche after all ...
The base was the same as all the others - not a delightful buttery shortbread as advertised. Soft, crumbly in not a good way, fairly throwaway.
Above that, dense sorta-cheesecake. It is thick, not particularly cream cheese flavored, nor particularly dulce de leche inspired. At least it wasn't cloying sweet? Really, it is hard to describe, because it was relatively uninteresting. Sweet, dense, quasi-cheesecake. The drizzle on top was perhaps the best part.
Meh. **.
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| Egg Nog Bar. |
I really don't know why I keep trying these.
Soft, stale, low end shortbread crust.
Mushy not very good cheesecake that tasted vaguely like egg nog. MEH. *.
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| Chocolate Cherry Brownie. |
Eh. These weren't great either. The texture was odd, softer than a brownie, more like a ganache than a cake. Not that ganache is bad, but these weren't really something you could pick up, and, the bar itself just wasn't anything special.
The glace cherry topping was sweet and gave it a very "low end" feel, but if you like those kind of cherries, and you like the chocolate cherry combo, perhaps these were good. *+.
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| Creme Brulee Cheese Bar. |
By now you likely know how I feel about crème brûlée, given that I have a label on my blog devoted to it. I also do like cheesecake. But, I don't tend to like La Mousse's bars, so I was slightly wary of this one.
It was ... mediocre. The crust was the same as other items, which isn't particularly great. They say shortbread, but shortbread should be more buttery and sweet. This is not a shortbread to be excited about, and is just a step about a throwaway crust.
The cheesecake/custard/whatever it is had a reasonable consistency, thick, sorta like a flan, but, more cream cheese forward. Not really a great cheesecake, not really a great flan. But not awful.
The topping is brulee-eque in looks, but is just a soft topping, so it lacks the actual fun part of a crème brûlée with a great candy shell to break in to.
So, overall, definitely not as a decent cheesecake, certainly not a real brulee, and overall just kinda "eh". ***.
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| Mocha Crunch: Top View. |
The first ingredient in this bar? Manufacturing cream. Then English toffee. Then sugar and vegetable oil. Does that tell you what you need to know about this bar? Yeah, there are "liquid egg whites" and "sugared egg yolks" in there too, plus espresso, butter brickle candy, and chocolate, and more, but, uh, not exactly wholesome.
The top layer was fine, just chocolate ganache and Heath bar bits. I do adore my Heath Bar from time to time (it was my long time favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor when I was younger!)
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| Mocha Crunch: Side. |
These, however, were awful. The cake was mocha flavored, but, it was both dry and cardboard like at the same time. Really not tasty at all. And the cream filling? Flavorless, and also strange texture.
I pealed off some topping, but, otherwise, this was not a winner. *.
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| Mocha Crunch Bar (2023). |
"Two layers of mocha cake filled with a mixture of whipped cream and pieces of butter brickle, topped with chocolate frosting and covered with pieces of heath bar candy."
This product *should* be good. Heath bar candy topping. Chocolate frosting. Butter brickle. Whipped cream. I mean, really, how could that NOT be good? I don't know, but somehow La Mousse makes these great components not good in any way.
I had this many years ago, and didn't care for it then, but, I've been on a Heath bar kick lately, so I wanted to give it another try.
Where to start. The cake was dry. It didn't taste like mocha. The whipped cream had an odd taste and texture. The frosting was essentially non-existent. Even the pieces of heath bar couldn't save this, as I tried to extract them from the rest of the disaster, but couldn't really.
Really not good. *.
Tortes
La Mousse doesn't call any of their creations "pies", but there is a "torte" category which includes, um, a pecan pie.
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| Pecan Pie. |
"Large pecan pieces combined with dark corn syrup, brown sugar and butter are poured into a buttery shortbread crust and topped with hand placed glazed mammoth pecan halves. " -- La Mousse
Huge slices, super lofty, and dense.
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| Pecan Pie: Cross Section. |
The pecans on top were very generously applied, several layers deep. Plenty of pecan in this pie.
The crust was tasty, a soft, sweet, buttery shortbread, but, the pie itself I just didn't care for. **.
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