My Husband is a huge chocoholic, me not so much, but every now and then he nags me enough to make him something that he would really like rather than something floral and quaint ! On this occasions, thanks to Pinterest he spotted this chocolate mousse, great, you maybe thinking, something quick, simple and no baking, just throw some melted chocolate into some cream and hey presto, chocolate mousse.
Oh no, not my Husband, he found me the most complicated recipe, I will now quote what Joy Wilson who has a blog called Joy the Baker said…. “This recipe for extra-creamy Chocolate Mousse is from cronut innovator Dominique Ansel… pastry genius. Here’s the thing about pastry innovators: they tend to make challenging things look really easy, god bless ’em. It’s not that mousse is impossible. It’s mostly approachable and 100% delicious but does require using a candy thermometer, egg whites beaten just-so, and well… some self-confidence and guts.
I rest my case !!!
So armed with everything that I would need…
And with a little nervousness I have to admit, I took on the challenge.
To be honest it all turned out Ok and the mousse was absolutely delicious, extremely addictive and will now be requested for every family get together and party that we have. I can just see it being the one that people ask you to take, its that good. Using only 6 ingredients but huge amounts of equipment it really was not that bad, you just have to face the sugar part with gusto, don’t be tempted to touch it or stir it and be very very careful when adding the sugar to the egg whites. Just go very slowly and please do not burn yourself. Best to remove all small children, animals and husbands at this point.
So we enjoyed our yummy smooth chocolate mousse over what was suppose to be a romantic relaxing weekend but once again, as appears the norm since buying a house, our lovely romantic weekend ended up in manic DIY. I made an executive decision during the week and decided that I could no longer live with the red tiles of doom, so we ripped them off ! I have to admit, the mess left behind looks far better, the kitchen already feels bigger and brighter, but now you just get a seasoning of white dust with every meal. Hey, its fine, I will just say that its a new gourmet salt that I am trying out!
So please be prepared, any further posts will come with different stages of the kitchen renovation. The next part being scary plaster walls, lots of dust and far to many holes ! But its progress 🙂
Buon appetito.
PS : And I got to use my Nan’s gorgeous crystal bowl and I got to serve it in my lovely little bowls with the funny little legs, perfect.
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 70 percent, finely chopped (I used a Waitrose Belgium Chocolate as I didn’t want it to bitter or rich)
1 cup whole milk
2 cups cold double cream
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 250° on a sugar thermometer, 4 to 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, gradually pour in the hot syrup in a steady stream and beat at high speed until the whites are stiff, 2 to 3 minutes. Cover the meringue with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature.
Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the milk just to a simmer. Pour the milk over the chocolate and let stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth and let cool.
In a bowl, beat the cream to soft peaks. Reserve 1/2 cup of the whipped cream for serving.
Scoop half of the meringue into a bowl and reserve the rest for another use.
Whisk in the remaining whipped cream.
Warm the chocolate mixture in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water if it has hardened to not pourable. (I didn’t need to do this, it was just perfect) Stir until just melted. Pour the chocolate over the meringue and quickly fold it in.
Spoon the mousse into glasses, swirl in the reserved whipped cream and serve.
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