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Chocolate Mousse Maman

A community recipe by

Not tested or verified by Nigella.com

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Introduction

Many chocolate mousses include a wide array of ingredients from double cream to butter and sugar but I think that a mousse should be nothing more than a light airy substance. No cream. No flour. Nothing more than chocolate, eggs and a pinch of salt to help the eggs rise.

Many chocolate mousses include a wide array of ingredients from double cream to butter and sugar but I think that a mousse should be nothing more than a light airy substance. No cream. No flour. Nothing more than chocolate, eggs and a pinch of salt to help the eggs rise.

Ingredients

Serves: 3-6

Metric Cups
  • 200 grams dark chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 6 egg whites
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 6 egg whites
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 pinch of salt

Method

Chocolate Mousse Maman is a community recipe submitted by milise and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.

  • Crack open your eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Keep all 6 egg whites but keep only 3 off the egg yolks. Keep the yolks and whites in 2 separate bowls of course.
  • If you have an electric mixer (I have a Kenwood chef which I highly recomMend to anyone. It's nearly 16 years old now and still working very well.) put the 6 egg whites and salt into it and put it on a high enough speed with the whisk attachment. If you're doing it manually, I give you my best wishes as it will be hard. In that case, remember all the movement should come from your wrist, not from your arm when you're whisking the eggs. This may take a while. When you're done, the egg whites will need to be snow white: they should look like snow from afar and the whisk should stay in place when you raised it vertically in your bowl and let go of it. Only for a few seconds but just so nevertheless. Then, set the aside by a window away from the sun or some other cool spot in your kitchen. 4. If you're manually whisking the eggs, you can melt the chocolate afterwards as it needs quite close attention. Set the chocolate up in a bain-marie to melt. The bain-marie method is the safest way to melt the chocolate without burning it. If the chocolate starts to burn, you may as well make a chocolate cake on the side (you won't taste the burnt bits as much in a chocolate cake). If it burn your Chocolate mousse won't be half as mice unless you maybe add cream to dilute the burnt flavour. But that defeats the purpouse of the light chocolatey texture you're aiming for.
  • Once the chocolate is melted, mix the 3 egg yolks into the melted chocolate. 3 egg yolks will make the chocolate mousse taste less bitter but you can just put in one if you want the mousse to taste bitter. I reccomend always putting at least 1 yolk to make your chocolate a little smoother. Set the chocolate aside to cool for 5 or 10 minutes
  • Now comes the tricky bit. Always mix the egg into the chocolate, not the other way around and do not for any reason do this step with anything other that your two hands and a wooden spoon (or a spatula if needs be). So, start off by just mixing a tablespoonful of egg whites to just soften up your slightly-cooled-but-not-set chocolate. It should have a creamy texture. Gradually keep adding generous dollops of egg whites, always stirring in the same direction.
  • When you've finished mixing it in you have 2 options: pour into a single bigger dish or into individual little dishes. either way, when you've poured it into your chosen dish(es), put it into the fridge for about 5hrs to set. Serve cool.

  • Crack open your eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Keep all 6 egg whites but keep only 3 off the egg yolks. Keep the yolks and whites in 2 separate bowls of course.
  • If you have an electric mixer (I have a Kenwood chef which I highly recomMend to anyone. It's nearly 16 years old now and still working very well.) put the 6 egg whites and salt into it and put it on a high enough speed with the whisk attachment. If you're doing it manually, I give you my best wishes as it will be hard. In that case, remember all the movement should come from your wrist, not from your arm when you're whisking the eggs. This may take a while. When you're done, the egg whites will need to be snow white: they should look like snow from afar and the whisk should stay in place when you raised it vertically in your bowl and let go of it. Only for a few seconds but just so nevertheless. Then, set the aside by a window away from the sun or some other cool spot in your kitchen. 4. If you're manually whisking the eggs, you can melt the chocolate afterwards as it needs quite close attention. Set the chocolate up in a bain-marie to melt. The bain-marie method is the safest way to melt the chocolate without burning it. If the chocolate starts to burn, you may as well make a chocolate cake on the side (you won't taste the burnt bits as much in a chocolate cake). If it burn your Chocolate mousse won't be half as mice unless you maybe add cream to dilute the burnt flavour. But that defeats the purpouse of the light chocolatey texture you're aiming for.
  • Once the chocolate is melted, mix the 3 egg yolks into the melted chocolate. 3 egg yolks will make the chocolate mousse taste less bitter but you can just put in one if you want the mousse to taste bitter. I reccomend always putting at least 1 yolk to make your chocolate a little smoother. Set the chocolate aside to cool for 5 or 10 minutes
  • Now comes the tricky bit. Always mix the egg into the chocolate, not the other way around and do not for any reason do this step with anything other that your two hands and a wooden spoon (or a spatula if needs be). So, start off by just mixing a tablespoonful of egg whites to just soften up your slightly-cooled-but-not-set chocolate. It should have a creamy texture. Gradually keep adding generous dollops of egg whites, always stirring in the same direction.
  • When you've finished mixing it in you have 2 options: pour into a single bigger dish or into individual little dishes. either way, when you've poured it into your chosen dish(es), put it into the fridge for about 5hrs to set. Serve cool.

    • Additional Information

    I recommend you make a trip to the local farmer's market for the freshest eggs possible as this is a no-baking-required recipe. If you live in the country-side you might even know a few local farmers. I'm sure they'll let you buy half a dozen eggs off them. :) Also, this recipe gets easier as you get the hang of it, it's easy to make it on a saturday night and let it set over night in the fridge. It's sure to please those unfriendly sunday lunch mother-in-laws. Decoration ideas: ~ If you're making this for a night in with your partner, you can pop a fresh strawberry on his/her portion before serving it. ~ Another idea is to put a sprig of mint onto each portion just before serving. ~ A spur of the moment idea I just thought of would also be to put aside some egg whites before combining them with the chocolate. Set aside a small amount of egg white and mix in some white chocolate or cream. don't be afraid with the proportions and mess around with it for a while on parchemtn paper before going in for the real thing if you're afraid to mess it up. You can then take a teaspoon and gently create spirals or swirls or anything that takes your fancy on the surface of the chocolate mousse. Bon Appetite!

    I recommend you make a trip to the local farmer's market for the freshest eggs possible as this is a no-baking-required recipe. If you live in the country-side you might even know a few local farmers. I'm sure they'll let you buy half a dozen eggs off them. :) Also, this recipe gets easier as you get the hang of it, it's easy to make it on a saturday night and let it set over night in the fridge. It's sure to please those unfriendly sunday lunch mother-in-laws. Decoration ideas: ~ If you're making this for a night in with your partner, you can pop a fresh strawberry on his/her portion before serving it. ~ Another idea is to put a sprig of mint onto each portion just before serving. ~ A spur of the moment idea I just thought of would also be to put aside some egg whites before combining them with the chocolate. Set aside a small amount of egg white and mix in some white chocolate or cream. don't be afraid with the proportions and mess around with it for a while on parchemtn paper before going in for the real thing if you're afraid to mess it up. You can then take a teaspoon and gently create spirals or swirls or anything that takes your fancy on the surface of the chocolate mousse. Bon Appetite!

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    What 1 Other has said

    • Was the water in the ingredients list for melting the chocolate or adding INTO the recipe. I found this didn't work out very well and tasted like eggs, no sweetness at all. Very disappointing. The method was too wordy and missing vital information.

      Posted by Jennifer 29 on 24th January 2015
    Show more comments
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