Intensely Chocolaty Mousse

This is the best chocolate mousse I have ever made/eaten. It’s rich and intensely chocolaty, but also incredibly light and…moussey. The whole thing can be made from start to finish in about 15 minutes and what’s even more amazing is that it’s made with only 4 ingredients and one of those is water!

I invited a friend round for dinner with only a few hours notice, meaning it was a matter of ‘what can I make using the ingredients I have!?’ I did a simple stir fry for the main course, it’s amazing what a bit of ginger and chili can do to some rice and vegetables, but I wanted something more special for dessert.

I had a quick flick through some recipes and settled on Delia’s recipe for chocolate mousse. It needed only a few ingredients and seemed very simple to prepare. Plus I loved how I could make it straight away and leave it to sit in the fridge until required, meaning no last minute panic in the kitchen. 

The results were amazing! It was so quick and simple to make and tasted divine. Packed full of chocolate flavour yet still wonderfully light for a dessert. It contains no cream meaning it’s not too heavy or sickly and no marshmallows or gelatin so it wasn’t sticky or overly sweet. In fact its vegetarian, gluten free and also dairy free if you use a high enough percentage dark chocolate. As this mousse is basically melted chocolate lightened with some whipped egg whites, a rich intense dark chocolate is the way to go.

I also added a splash of rum to my mousse for an extra after dinner indulgence, but it’s just as fabulous without it. I loved how when you took a spoonful the mousse let out a little squish sound as you broke through the air bubbles. It just melted on the tongue.

Do give this chocolate mousse a go. People often say simple is best, and this chocolate mousse is the perfect example of that.

On a separate note, I’ve just changed computers and lost my usual photo editing programme and don’t like this new one at all! I can’t get it to do what I want. Can anyone recommend a good one? Preferably free and easy to use. Just simple applications like brightness and contrast, I’m not after anything fancy! Thanks.

Intensely Chocolaty Mousse

(Recipe from How to Cook by Delia Smith)

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate – 70% cocoa

120ml water

3 eggs, separated

40g caster sugar

1 tbsp rum or liquor of choice (my addition)

Method

Place a glass bowl over the top of a saucepan filled with gently simmering water. Break the chocolate into small pieces and place into the bowl along with the 120ml water and rum if using. (if you add cold water to unmelted chocolate they will melt together into a lovely glossy mixture. Don’t try and add any water to chocolate that’s already melted, or it will seize into a horrible mess). Allow to melt and combine gently, stirring occasionally until you have a glossy mixture.

Meanwhile, separate your eggs, placing the whites into a large clean bowl.

Remove the melted chocolate mixture from the heat. Lightly mix the egg yolks until they are broken and then add them a little at a time to the chocolate mixture. Stirring with a spatula until combined. (The chocolate will thicken)

Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Scatter over half the caster sugar and whisk again. Add the remaining sugar and whisk until the egg whites start to form stiff peaks.

Fold a third of the whisked egg white mixture through your chocolate mixture, stirring with large folding strokes, until no streaks remain.

Add half the remaining egg white mixture and fold in more gently, before adding the last of the egg whites. Do not over mix or you will knock out all the air.

The chocolate mixture will be quite soft and runny at this stage.

Carefully pour the chocolate mousse into 6 serving glasses and place in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours. (Can be made the day before)

When ready to serve, decorate with a little whipped cream or a fine grating of white chocolate.

Eat and enjoy

Makes 6 individual mousses