Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Cook the Book: The Very Best Chocolate Mousse

Posted by Grace Kang, March 27, 2009 at 1:15 PM

I once had an epic chocolate mousse craving and in my quest to satisfy it, ended up making a third of the recipe (due to dwindling egg supply) and using a giant pot to make and chill it in (due to temporary insanity). I ended up with a half-inch layer of chocolate mousse to scrape my spoon with. I don't know what I was thinking, but I blame it on the craving—it makes you crazy! Judging by the popularity of this chocolate mousse from Ten, which was apparently the most successful dessert at the Silver Palate store, there's a chance you'll go crazy from how good it is, not from trying to divide an egg into thirds. Sigh.

Win 'Ten'

In addition to excerpting a recipe each day this week, we're giving away five (5) copies of Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Recipes for Each. Enter to win here »

The Very Best Chocolate Mousse

- serves 8 -

Adapted from Ten by Sheila Lukins.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brewed espresso
1/2 cup Grand Marnier
4 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
1/4 cup sugar
8 large egg whites
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate shavings, or garnish

Procedure

1. Place the chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan and melt them, stirring constantly, over very low heat. Off the heat, add the espresso and then stir in the Grand Marnier. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

2. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, to the cooled chocolate mixture, beating thoroughly after each addition. Set it aside.

3. Whip 1 cup of the cream in a large bowl until thickened. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the cream is thickened but not overwhipped.

4. Combine the egg whites and the salt in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the whipped cream.

5. Stir about 1/3 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, mixing it in thoroughly. Then, using a large rubber spatula, scrape the remaining egg white mixture over the chocolate base and gently fold them together.

6. Spoon the mousse into individual dessert cups or into a serving bowl, and refrigerate until set, 2 hours.

7. At serving time, whip the remaining 1 cup cream until thickened. Add the vanilla and whip until soft peaks form. Top each serving of mousse with a dollop of the whipped cream and a sprinkling of chocolate shavings.

1 Comment Favorite this!  (3)

Tags: chocolate, chocolate mousse, Cook the Book, desserts, Sheila Lukins, Ten