Vasili's Blog

Light as Air Chocolate Mousse December 31

Baking 7 Comments

I always seem to find something that I want to whip up while I'm on vacation and no one is home. Normally this is good, but sometimes, when I need that third hand, it becomes cumbersome. Luckily, this delicious chocolate mousse only required the two hands I have.

I'm not one to really like things that have a strong chocolate flavor. That's why I really didn't enjoy the dessert I made for Christmas Eve. Everyone else liked it, but to me it was okay. The same thing happened with this mousse.

I do enjoy it more than the cheesecake, but I won't be making it again, unless someone asks me to. I've never had any sort of mousse before so I didn't know what to expect. The texture was amazing. If you like the texture of light airy things, like whipped cream or whipped egg whites, AND you like chocolate, you should make this mousse while you watch the ball drop in Time Square.

If you've never had chocolate mousse before, it's basically whipped cream and whipped egg whites mixed into melted chocolate and butter. It does contain raw eggs, but the flavor is definitely worth it if you are a chocoholic. I'm just not one of them. I can still eat this in small quantities (4oz and less).

While browsing the internet one night I'll find a recipe for some other flavored mousse that I'll want to try, and I know that I'll fall in love with it. Now if you're the person who likes chocolate, get out your hand mixer and start making this!

Recipe from smitten kitchen.

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (no more than 60% cacao), chopped (I used semi-sweet)
3/4 stick (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
3 large eggs, separated
1 tablespoon Cognac or other brandy (or swap with a liqueur of your choice)
1 cup very cold heavy or whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon salt

Get out one large heatproof, two medium and one small mixing bowl and dust off your electric hand mixer.

Set the large bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and melt the chocolate and butter in it, gently stirring it until smooth. Remove from heat. Alternately, you can melt them in your microwave, stirring thoroughly at 30 seconds and every 15 seconds thereafter until the mixture is smooth.

In the small bowl, beat yolks with your electric mixer until thick enough to form a ribbon that takes a few seconds to dissolve — this will take about two to four minutes to achieve. Whisk yolks into chocolate mixture along with Cognac, then cool to warm.

In one of the medium bowls, beat the cream with cleaned beaters until it just holds stiff peaks.

In the other medium bowl, beat the egg whites and salt with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks.

Fold the whipped cream and beaten whites into the chocolate mixture, gently but thoroughly. Transfer to 8 (4 ounce) ramekins or one large serving bowl, or go restaurant-style, serving it in stemmed glasses with white or dark chocolate shavings on top.

Do ahead: Mousse can be chilled, its surface covered with parchment paper, up to 2 days, though I’ve never heard of it lasting that long with hungry people named Deb around. Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.