Chocolate mousse

This is a very chocolaty chocolate mousse. It is very good.

It sets quickly, and that is good, too. We use either milk or dark chocolate, or a combination of the two, depending on the preferences of the feasters.

5 to 6 servings.

Ingredients

  • 250 gram chocolate
  • 50 gram unsalted butter
  • 4 eggs, whites and yolks separated. Use fresh eggs, organic or at least free range eggs if you can.
  • ¾ teaspoon (3 ml) cream of tartar
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) sugar, or more to taste. Castor sugar works well.
  • ¾ cup (180 ml) cream
  • ½ teaspoon (2 ml) vanilla

Method

  1. Use a large container (at least 2 litres) to melt the butter in a microwave oven. A 2-litre Pyrex jug works well.
  2. Add the chocolate to the warmed butter and allow it to soften. Microwave it in short bursts in the microwave oven until it is melted, stirring frequently. Don’t overheat (burn) the chocolate.
    Alternatively, place a bowl or jug over boiling water in a saucepan, melt the butter in the bowl, and then add and melt the chocolate.
  3. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool down somewhat.
  4. Add the egg yolks one by one while beating the mixture. By the time you have added the last egg yolk, the mixture should be thick and creamy. Add vanilla and give it another quick mix.
  5. Whip the cream in a separate bowl until it is stiff – but don’t over-whip it into butter!
  6. Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in another bowl. When the egg whites become foamy you can start to add the sugar, ½ a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is stiff and can be used to sculpt shapes. (The consistency should be that of meringue before it’s baked.)
  7. Use a large metal spoon for the next stage!
  8. Stir the cooled chocolate mixture briefly, and then fold the whipped cream gently into the chocolate mixture with your metal spoon. Don’t over-stir, because you don’t want to loose all the air captured in the whipped cream.
  9. Gently fold the egg and sugar mixture into the chocolate and cream mixture, once again using a metal spoon. Don’t overdo the mixing, you can stop as soon as the colour is more or less uniform.
  10. Pour the mousse into a large serving bowl, or divide between ramekins, martini glasses, cups, mugs or any other pretty vessel that you fancy.
  11. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours.

Notes

We do not add alcohol, as we suspect it tends to suppress aeration.

Serving suggestions:

Serve as it is, or with a dollop of whipped cream.

It can be garnished with crumbled Flake, chocolate leaves, chocolate shavings etc.

If you have sugared violets, they will also look very pretty on your mousse.