| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 25 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Inactive: | 1 hr |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings (about 2 3/4 cups) |
Ingredients
- 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, or a mixture, finely chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon warm water
- 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 1 large egg
- 2 large egg yolks
- Pinch fine salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
Instructions
- Put the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with 1 inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue heat until completely melted, about 1 to 2 minutes more.)
- Whip the cream in a medium bowl until it holds soft peaks. Take care not to over whip the cream or the mousse will be dense. Cover and refrigerate while you cook the eggs.
- Whisk the water and espresso powder together in a small bowl.
- Put the eggs in another bowl that also sets over the water in the saucepan. Beat the egg yolks, pinch of salt, and sugar until foamy and light, about 30 seconds. Set the bowl over the water and whip with an electric mixer or whisk, moving in a circular motion around the bowl, until the eggs get very fluffy and hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue beating on high speed until the thick ribbons fall from the beater when lifted out of the bowl, about 5 minutes more. Fold in the espresso.
- Fold about a quarter of the eggs into the chocolate to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the egg. Finally fold the whipped cream into the chocolate base to make a smooth light mousse. Pour the mousse into 4 serving dishes or wine glasses. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. Serve.
- For a dark, double-rich mousse, use all bittersweet chocolate instead of the semisweet, and decrease the cream to 3/4 cup.
- Copyright 2007 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 519 |
| Total Fat | 38 g |
| Saturated Fat | 22 g |
| Carbohydrates | 46 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Sugar | 42 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Cholesterol | 220 mg |
| Sodium | 86 mg |
Reviews
Just like 1813 my recipe didn’t turn out. When I mixed the chocolate and the eggs they became a very hard mixture which wasn’t able to be mixed with the whipped cream. So now I end up with chocolate whip cream with chunks of sugary chocolate and egg. I tried it twice actually with the same result. So I’m asking the people that did it successfully to help me out. In the recipe it wasn’t clear for me. It says one egg and two egg yolks and then it say “Put the eggs in another bowl that also sets over the water in the saucepan (is that the 2 yolks and the egg?”. But the right after: “Beat the egg yolks, pinch of salt, and sugar until foamy and light, about 30 seconds”. So when do I put the egg? I’m guessing there it is my mistake. Thank you!
I followed this recipe EXACTLY and it was by far the WORST I’ve ever tried. When I folded the egg mixture into the chocolate, it turned into a brownie batter consistancy, only thicker, and when I folded in the whipped cream it all separated into little balls. It also tasted awful! I used all bittersweet chocolate and the 1/3c sugar was not even close to making it taste edible!
This is absolutely amazing. I served it last night at a party and all of my guests loved it. I decided to let the chocolate cool a little bit before folding in the eggs and cream so there would be tiny pieces of chocolate to add some texture. I also garnished it with a fresh raspberry. It was delicious and I will be making this again soon.
This recipe is amazing. I dont have an electric beater so I just used a smoothie shake maker to whip the cream and beat the eggs. The whipped cream turned out great however, I couldn’t get the eggs to form peaks. so I just added the eggs when they were still liquidy. I microwaved the chocolate and egg mixture for a minute and mixed it well. I then cooled the mixture and added the wipped cream. turn out excellent!!! my guests loved it!!:
Best chocolate mousse I’ve ever made, despite the chocolate chunks that I managed to produce. No fault of the recipe though – more like my own impatience as I didn’t incorporate the chocolate and egg mixture well enough prior to adding the COLD whipped cream – so any unincorporated chocolate became a chunk. No worries though, it’s kind of fun having the different texture in it. Besides, the mousse itself is SO delicious and rich, you can’t hate on it at all. I used bittersweet chocolate, but followed the rest of the recipe to a T and the results are chocolate mousse heaven.
Amazingggggg!. This recipe is delicioussss. I recommend that you use bittersweet with the 1/4 cup of cream instead of semisweet. Its so thick and delicious. The only thing is if you let the chocolate sit too long while cooking the eggs, some of the chocolate will cool too much and when you fold in the egg some of the chocolate will harden so you will have little chocolate pieces in your mousse. If you dont want chocolate pieces, then i suggest leaving the choclate in the bowl over the water but off the heat until you fold the eggs in.
My husband absolutely loved this mousse. I’m glad I read the comments before I attempted the mousse, because they helped me troubleshoot some of the issues, like the chocolate thickening when adding the egg mixture. I added a quarter of the mixture, gave it a little extra whip and continued along. Same with the whipped cream. I introduced about a third of the cream, gave it a quick whip, then folded in the remaining cream. The texture was beautiful, and the taste was incredible.
I have made this two Valentine’s Days in a row! I have tried both semisweet and bittersweet chocolate with the recipe and both work well. I also have had the problem of getting little hardened chocolate bits in the mousse. This is from the melted chocolate hardening when mixed with the other two components. Make sure both the chocolate and eggs are hot when you mix them, and if there are a lot of dark brown spots that aren’t mixing in, you can even pop the bowl in to microwave for 10-15 seconds. Also mix well with the whipped cream. Nothing bad happened to my mousse from “over-mixing”.
This is a great recipe! It’s relatively easy to make in comparison to other chocolate mousse recipes, and if you’re not into the coffee taste, it tastes great without the espresso. It’s also not excessively sweet.
I would give this recipe 4 stars based on what it could be. The recipe listed 1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder as optional, but I think it needs to be included or the sugar needs to be reduce. I made the recipe without it and it came out way too sweet for my taste and I love sweets! Also, when incorporating the chocolate mixture with the whipped heavy cream you have to work fast otherwise you end up with lumps that are hard to get rid of. The flavor and the consistency were good, but it would be lots better with a few modifications.