CLASSIC CHOCOLATE MOUSSE RECIPE

Light and airy yet rich, this is a Chocolate Mousse made the classic French way, as served in fine dining restaurants. Less cream, richer mouth feel, true chocolate flavour. It's actually quite straight forward to make! Read in post for information about use of raw eggs in this recipe, not advisable for pregnant women or babies to consume.

Prep Time    : 20 mins

Servings      : 4

INGREDIENTS

·         3 eggs (~55g/2 oz each)

·         125 g / 4.5 oz dark chocolate , bittersweet / 70% cocoa (Note 1)

·         10 g / 0.3 oz / 2 tsp unsalted butter

·         125 ml / 1/2 cup cream, full fat (Note 2)

·         35 g / 3 tbsp caster sugar (superfine white sugar)

Decorations

·         More whipped cream

·         Chocolate shavings (Note 3)

INSTRUCTIONS

1.   Separate eggs and yolks while eggs are cold. Place whites in a large bowl and yolks in a small bowl. Leave whites while you prepare other ingredients. (Note 4)

2.   Yolks: Whisk yolks.

3. Melt Chocolate: Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until smooth. Set aside to cool - proceed with other steps.

4.   Cream: Beat cream until stiff peaks form (see video).

5.   Whites: Add sugar. Beat whites until firm peaks form (see video, Note 5)

Folding

1.   Fold egg yolks into cream using a rubber spatula - 8 folds max. Streaks is ok.

2.   Check Chocolate Temp: Touch the chocolate. Should still be runny but only lukewarm. If too thick, microwave 2 x 3 seconds until runny.

3. Pour chocolate into cream yolk mixture. Fold through - 8 folds max. Streaks ok.

4.   Add 1/4 of beaten egg whites into chocolate mixture. Fold through until incorporated - "smear" the spatular across surface to blend white lumps in - aim for 10 folds.

5.   Pour chocolate mixture into egg whites. Fold through until incorporated and no more white lumps remain - aim for 12 folds max.

6.   Divide mixture between 4 small glasses or pots. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight.

7.   To serve, garnish with cream and chocolate shavings. Raspberries and a tiny sprig of mint for colour would also be lovely!

NOTES

1. Chocolate: Ensure you use COOKING chocolate, not eating chocolate. Cooking chocolate (baking aisle) is made for cooking with - melts smoothly and is thinner than eating chocolate. If you use eating chocolate, the mousse is denser (I tried).

Bittersweet dark chocolate and 70% cocoa dark chocolate is best to get a good chocolatey flavour. The 70% cocoa sold at supermarkets in Australia is ideal (Nestle Plaistowe, Cadbury and Lindt 70% all work well) - these are bittersweet chocolates.

2.   Cream: Must use whipping cream (there are some creams only for pouring that don't whip). Must be full fat - now is not the time to go low fat!

3.   Chocolate Shavings: Use a small knife and scrape at a low angle on the flat side of a block of chocolate.

4.   Eggs tip: It's easier to separate whites from yolks when eggs are cold, but whites at room temp fluff up better when closer to room temp. So separate the eggs when fridge cold then set aside while you prep the other ingredients to let the whites come to room temp a bit.

5.   Beaten whites consistency: Egg whites can be beaten to: soft peaks, firm and stiff peaks. We want the middle one - firm peaks. This is when you have a "elf hat" floppage at the top of the peak (see video). If it stands straight upright without the little hook then it's stiff, not firm (still works fine but it won't hold up as well after a few days in the fridge). If you do not get any type of peaks at all, then keep beating!

6.   Storage: Best within 2 days but keeps for a week in the fridge with only a slight reduction in aeration.

7.   Nutrition per serving. Makes 4 x 1/2 cup (125ml) servings. It is quite rich!

Recipe from recipetineats.com

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