Choc-y Mousse

When people want chocolate ice cream, they forget about the humble mousse. Yet this mousse is the next best thing if you cant make ice cream do to the lack of patience (you can actually make ice cream without a machine) or equipment.

I simply love the gorgeous silken divinity of this chocolate mousse. We had to use up the UHT double cream lying in my fridge so this recipe was perfect since it uses relatively a lot of double cream compared to ice cream. My sis was very surprised that chocolate mousse is so low maintenance and easy to make. Here it is:

Ingredients (serves 6)
300g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 eggs
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 tbs good-quality cocoa powder, sifted
300ml thickened cream, plus extra whipped cream to serve
Grated chocolate, to serve
Method
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the water). Stir until melted. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with electric beaters for 5 minutes, or until mixture is pale, thick and doubled in volume. Fold in cooled chocolate and cocoa powder until combined.
In a separate bowl, whip cream until thickened (be careful not to over-beat). Use a large metal spoon to carefully fold the cream into the chocolate mixture, trying to keep the mixture as light as possible. Spoon into 6 serving glasses and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge 15 minutes before serving, then top with extra whipped cream and grated chocolate to serve.
Notes & tips
Add your favourite spirit. To keep it French, go for Cognac (or another quality brandy) or Grand Marnier, adding 1 tablespoon to the melting chocolate.For a flavour twist, add a tablespoon of vanilla extract to the chocolate as it melts.Chocolate and coffee make a great pairing, so try adding two tablespoons of prepared strong black coffee to the chocolate when melting. For a cool treat, serve the mousse as a semifreddo - freeze for about 3 hours (but don't freeze solid).
Sourcedelicious. - September 2004 , Page 44
Recipe by Chrissy Freer