Oh la la! - Mousse au Chocolat

It's Tom's Birthday today and instead of a cake, he wished for Mousse au Chocolat! So, I decided for a french menu.

Main course: Tart Ratatouille with warm goat's cheese
Dessert: Mousse au Chocolat

I think the Mousse au Chocolat is one of the few desserts that everyone knows and absolutely adores. We are no different!

I remember the Mousse au Chocolat I loved when I was a kid. It was back in Doha, Qatar. My dad was working at the Sheraton back then and the Dutch chef in the patisserie made up a mean Mousse au Chocolat. When I started my management training at the Sheraton, you all can guess which was my favorite department ;-)!

This is not exactly the same recipe but it comes very close to Chef van Cleef's Mousse!

This is also my entry to Alysha's Virtual Recipe Club, the theme this month is Most Requested Recipe.


Ingredients.

100 - 120g Bitter chocolate - make sure it is an exclusive type of chocolate. I used one with 71% cocoa. It really is worth getting a more expensive type of chocolate for this dessert. You don't want all that hard work go to waste because the chocolate did not taste too good.
15g Butter
2 eggs - separated
200 ml cream - beaten until stiff



Method:

Place a pot of water on the heat. Over this place a mixing bowl. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water in the pot. Bring to a boil. Place the chocolate and butter in the bowl and melt. Mix until well combined and the chocolate had melted, leaving no lumps. Set aside and mix for 30 seconds to cool.

Add the egg yolks and mix. You will notice the chocolate takes on a thicker consistency. Allow to cool further.

Gently fold in the beaten cream.

Beat the egg whites until very stiff. These are also to be folded in very carefully into the chocolate, cream mixture. When the entire mixture is well combined, the consistency should be smooth and fluffy.

Divide the mixture in small serving bowls (or just one big bowl) and allow to cool for several hours.

My advice: Make this the evening prior to serving. The mousse has then had a chance to chill through and has a velvety, fluffy texture.

Verdict: Ummmm! Sorry did you say something? I still have my mouthful, sorry!
Delicieux, mesdames et messieurs! C'est très bien! (I hope I got that all right, it's been a while since I last wrote in French)
Soeren first shouted "Pudding!" when he saw the mousse. When I explained to him it is even more heavenly than pudding he grabbed his spoon and could not wait to tuck in. Tom was beaming from side to side and after the Tart Ratatouille he managed to polish two portions!
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14 comments:

  1. Meeta, this looks WICKED! I've never made a mousse ever, but I think I might give this a try... :)

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  2. Shammi,

    It is really easy. A lot of people consider this to be extremely difficult, but it is not! Please, do tell me how your's turn out as i would love to link your verdict to my recipe. It'll be great to have more verdicts!

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  3. looks yum! and that picture of the chocolate? Fab!

    cheers!

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  4. That is one tempting photo! I am sure your husband was a happy man at dinner :-) Lovely photos Meeta

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  5. Ashwini,

    Thank you and yes he was! So was Soeri. He commented "Dad can have his birthday everyday!"

    SH,

    Thanx

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  6. Hi Meeta,
    Photo is really tempting.I have never tried to make a mousse.Thanks for ur recipe.
    Vineela

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  7. Meeta,
    You wrote,
    "Make sure the bowl does not touch the water in the pot." - So you mean melt it by the steam of the boiling water? Can I use a double boiler?

    One more thing, Can I use semi bitter chocolate for this?

    I always have this questions. I see mousse recipes but the egg is not cooked. So is it okay?

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  8. So sorry for this late reply Inji!

    Yes the steam needs to really heat up and melt the chocolate and yes a double boiler would work fine for this.

    The is a pretty flexible dessert and you can use any type of chocolate - even white - I prefer bitter chocolate as it is less sweeter and gives a wonderful rich taste.

    Do let me know how it turned out!

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  9. Hi Meeta
    You really have a enviable blog here!! Really good work.

    Tell me one thing. Do you think it would work fine if I m'wave the chocolate n butter on low n keep stirring in between??

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  10. Hi Shella!

    To be honest I've never tried nuking choc and butter in the m-wave before!! All I can say try it out! Then let me know if it worked LOL! Hope you enjoy it!

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  11. meeta, i tried your chocolate mousse and it was awesome!! Thanks for the recipe...

    will be posting it soon for T&T :-)

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  12. Meeta, tks for this lovely mousse! I prepared it for a get together (my first time at proper mousse-tks for a gelatin-free recipe too) and it was over in a jiffy! Kids went for many rounds! So hugs n thks to you! (Meeta had read abt the middle east few months ago,felt bad, but now Sep is slipping away n wish you and Soren to join Tom soon! Ur attitude in handling the situation has awed me n moreso inspired me to see + think positively! Ending on this lovely note, keep ur lovely posts n pics coming, u hv more takers than cooment shows!: HUGS)

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  13. JZ Purnima - Thanks for letting me know and glad you liked this - it's just perfect!

    Purnima I really appreciate all your wishes and sentiments - THANKS!

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Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta