Chocolate mousse

September 22, 2011  •  Category:

 

Would you be touched and thrilled if someone remembered a dessert you made twenty years earlier and would tell you that they had never tasted one as good?


I was when my friend Virginie asked me for my chocolate mousse recipe.

Trouble is, I had not made a chocolate mousse since then (twenty years ago).

It was that pervasive fear about the ugly salmonella; I stopped cooking with anything that required raw eggs. Finally, my daughter enlightened me: ” Mom, raw eggs that come in contact with sugar are OK“.

Great. I can go back to making la mousse au chocolat, a dessert that my aunt Claire used to excel at and make weekly to please René, her French husband.

I summoned  my memory and this is the technique she used, succeeding every time.

INGREDIENTS: 4 servings

  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 120 g. of bittersweet chocolate (I used chocolate chips 60% cocoa)(equivalent to one bar of Lindt or one cup of chips or about 4 ounces). Buy the best chocolate you can afford.
  • 2 Tbsp. of unsalted butter (optional)
  • 1 tsp. of coffee, 1 tsp. of vanilla or liqueur of your choice
  • 1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar (can substitute 1/2 tsp. of fresh lemon juice)
  • 3 Tbsp. of powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup of whipping cream (optional, for garnish)

METHOD:

  1. Separate the eggs; place two yolks with the 2 tbsp. of sugar in a mixing bowl and leave the whites at room temperature in another mixing bowl. (Keep the remaining yolk in the fridge covered for another use, like add to scrambled eggs)
  2. Melt the chocolate chips or cut-up chocolate bar in the microwave for one minute or on the stove over very low heat. Do not wait for all the chocolate to melt, as soon as most of it is melted, stir it and the rest will follow suit (remove from the heat, as you don’t want the chocolate to overheat, you’ll have to throw it away).
  3. Add the butter to the chocolate (cut up in little chunks) and stir; add the teaspoon of strong coffee and liqueur or vanilla. Stir and set aside. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar for 5 minutes until the mixture is thick and “holds a ribbon” (is pale yellow); at this point, add the chocolate mixture and mix to combine. Set aside.
  4. Beat the three egg whites; as soon as they froth, add the cream of tartar or the lemon juice; keep beating and when they start to look like snow add the sugar gradually. When the egg whites are shiny and firm (they stand on their own), stop beating them. Now take a large spoonful of egg whites (meringue) and whisk gently into the chocolate cream.
  5. Keep adding more meringue to the chocolate, gently and with an up-and-down motion to keep the meringue from deflating. The meringue should be completely incorporated into the chocolate mixture. Transfer to small ramequins and chill for a couple of hours.
  6. When ready to serve, beat the whipping cream and add 1 tbsp of powdered sugar; when it is thick, stop. Spoon over the chocolate mousse and serve.

 


Comments

18 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. T.W. Barritt says:

    These look excellent! Just like a big, frothy chocolate ice cream soda!

  2. Belinda @zomppa says:

    I can see why this is just as good 20 years later!

  3. Rosa says:

    Just irresistible!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  4. Doc says:

    You had me at chocolate! YUMM! These look fantastic. Also, eggs with salmonella almost exclusively occur from industrial birds in overcrowded settngs (the birds get stressed and sick). Buying free range (and from birds that veggie fed) reduces chances of salmonella from a raw egg to almost nothing. I make my home made mayo with those all the time. Having said that, he very sick, immunocompromised and pregnant persons should probably still avoid any raw eggs.

    • Joumana says:

      @Doc: Thanks for the info and the advice from a REAL doctor!

      @LaCaffetterieraRosa: I agree! I don’t like cream inside the mousse either, I think like you that chocolate should be left alone!

  5. Caffettiera says:

    My favourite mousse is quite similar. I don’t like the ones with cream inside the mousse, while whipped egg whites are just the perfect textural vehicle for the unadulterated flavour of chocolate. The last time I made it with Valrhona chocolate, it was worth every cent of its price …

  6. Priya says:

    Wat an elegant and irresistible mousse..

  7. ummomar says:

    Looks heavenly, very nice pictures again! Tried the mousse, tastes heavenly also, although next time I would reduce the amount of sugar a bit, became a little bit too sweet for my taste. Maybe it was due to the sweet chocolate I used…

  8. Chiara says:

    These look fantastic,a lovely dessert! happy weekend…

  9. Devaki says:

    This is a wonderful and authentic chocolate mousse recipe for sure Joumana. I love how you’ve not employed any short-cuts for that perfect consistency and flavor. LOVE IT!

    chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

  10. Kathy says:

    These look so decadent…would love to give them a try. Your daughter enlightened me too! I did not know that about eggs and sugar.

  11. Barbara says:

    Beautiful presentation and what a delicious recipe. I did not know about eggs and sugar!

  12. Katherine Martinelli says:

    This looks amazing. Chocolate mousse is one of my husband’s favorite desserts so I can’t wait to give this a try!

  13. bader says:

    wow shokran 🙂 seems very delicious

  14. Cherine says:

    Chocolate mousse is a fabulous treat! Yours looks irresistible!

  15. Carole says:

    Un classique indémodable ! Et surement meilleur que me version express 😉
    Bon dimanche

  16. Nuts about food says:

    I knew what Doc wrote but had never heard about the salmonella problem being solved by sugar? Really?? If that is true it is an amazing discovery. All the mousses, the tiramisùs we could make without another second thought…

  17. domi says:

    Superbe présentation pour cette légèreté gourmande…

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