French · Dessert
Chocolate Mousse
The French-family mousse — whole eggs, real chocolate, no cream in sight; four ingredients balanced so the chocolate does all the talking
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- Dark chocolate, 70% — 200 g
- Unsalted butter — 50 g
- Eggs, very fresh, separated — 6 (yolks 120 g, whites 180 g)
- Caster sugar — 40 g
- Fine salt — 1.5 g
- Espresso (optional) — 20 ml
- Cocoa nibs, to finish — 15 g
Method
- Melt chocolate and butter over a bain-marie to 45 °C; stir in espresso; cool to 38 °C.
- Beat yolks into the chocolate one by one — the mix will thicken and gloss.
- Whip whites with salt to soft foam; rain in sugar; continue to soft, droopy peaks — NOT stiff (stiff whites make dry mousse).
- Whisk one-third of the whites into the chocolate to lighten it.
- Fold in the rest in two additions with a spatula, cutting to the bottom — stop at the last streak.
- Pour into a large bowl or six glasses; chill 4 h minimum.
- Finish with cocoa nibs and a few salt flakes.