This is a recipe given to me by my sister Liz. It’s quick, easy and absolutely scrumptious. Certain family members have been known to eat two portions at one sitting, so if you have serious chocaholics as guests you might want to make extra …
Liz's Luscious Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients:
6 small eggs, separated
170g/6oz good quality plain chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids)
1 level tsp instant coffee powder
2 tbspn brandy (optional)
85g/3oz caster sugar
Chocolate shavings and/or sprigs of mint to garnish
Method:
Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it in a basin over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, otherwise the chocolate will go grainy.
Dissolve the coffee powder in a tablespoon of hot water and add it to the melted chocolate. Remove from the heat and beat in the egg yolks and the brandy, if using, until the mixture is glossy and smooth.
In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks then gradually add the caster sugar, still whisking.
Fold a quarter of the egg white mixture into the chocolate to loosen it then gently fold in the rest.
Pour into four glasses (or six small martini glasses – it’s quite rich) and put it in the fridge until the mixture is chilled and set. NB I made 50% extra which is why there are so many glasses …
Remove from the fridge 10-15 minutes before serving and garnish with chocolate shavings and/or sprigs of mint.
Looks beautiful!
Thank you! Definitely one for the chocaholics but everyone seems to like it.
Cor, lovely! We have banned ourselves from eating chocolate on week-days in a vague effort to keep our waistlines in check. This looks like something I could happily binge on come Saturday.
Give it a go! So quick and easy. I’m not particularly enamoured of chocolate – prefer lemony desserts – but this seems to go down well with everyone.
You hardly ever see chocolate mousse in a restaurant anymore. Unlike crème caramel, which seems to have survived the cut, albeit often gussied up with lavender or some other exotic flavoring, chocolate mousse seems to be considered too retrograde and – in this age of complex, multi-ingrediented dessert constructions – too simple. Which is a shame – it’s a first-rate, monochromatic end to a meal. I still love it. It immediately transports me back to my first job waiting tables in an unpretentious French restaurant in Boston – red leather banquettes and and murals of Maxim’s on the walls. I’m sure in an alternate universe that reveres a good paté de maison, escargot bourguignonne and duckling montmorency it still reigns supreme. Good post – now I want your dessert. Ken
Thank you – hop on a plane and I’ll make it for you! Yes, now you mention it, I haven’t seen it on a restaurant menu for years either – even though most seem to have some sort of chocolate dessert on offer. And mmm, pate de maison. Feeling inspired …
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