Chocolate Mousse

The first time I had chocolate mousse was at my sister-in-law’s house in France about 20 years ago! Growing up in Germany, all we had was chocolate pudding. Well, the two don’t compare! Every recipe I have tried since then, I measured against that one, and I have never had one I liked better yet.

Really, there are as many recipes for chocolate mousse as there are French cooks and home cooks. The one recipe everyone knows is the one on the back of the Nestle chocolate bar in French supermarkets, and that is the classic combination of nothing but eggs and chocolate.

A lot of recipes include cream but I find that qualifies as whipped ganache and not mousse. There is a difference in texture and I find whipped ganache better suited as a cake filling than by itself.

My recipe mainly contains eggs, chocolate and butter. There is some added lemon juice to stabilize the egg whites as well as to balance out the flavour a little but it’s not enough to be noticeable.

Chocolate Mousse

This recipe can easily be doubled, it only serves about 4 people. I prefer to divide the mousse into verrines because once you scoop out a few spoons of a big bowl, the rest doesn’t look as appetizing anymore. When you divide it into individual glasses, it doesn’t need more than an hour in the fridge to set, for a big bowl allow at least 2-3 hours.

Mousse au chocolat

4 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 oz unsalted butter
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp lemon juice

Melt the chocolate and butter together and stir until well combined.
Separate the eggs and add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture. Mix well (I used an electric mixer.)
Whip the egg whites with the lemon juice until it becomes stiff. Fold one third of it gently into the chocolate – egg yolk mixture, then fold in the rest, careful not to deflate the egg whites. Fill into serving bowl or bowls and refrigerate.

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse