Chocolate mousse
Serves 4-6
· 250g good quality dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
· 50g unsalted butter, softened
· 9 very fresh egg whites
· 6 egg yolks beaten
· 125g caster sugar
1. Put the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring every so often until melted.
2. Make sure you don’t get any water near the chocolate.
3. Remove from the heat and beat the butter into the chocolate with a whisk or spoon until smooth.
4. In a bowl that’s really clean – preferably washed in boiling water to remove any grease, and dried – whisk the egg whites until frothy but not stiff, using a mixer or an electric whisk on a medium high speed.
5. Add half the sugar to the egg white and continue whisking on a low setting until the egg whites are stiff.
6. Add the rest of the sugar and continue beating until the egg whites stiffen up even more, then mix in the egg yolks with a metal spoon.
7. Carefully stir half the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture – a whisk helps – then stir the rest in with a large spoon until well mixed in.
8. Pour into a large serving dish and leave to set for a couple of hours, or overnight.
Well so I tried this, guess my whites weren’t stiff enough because I ended up with more like a chocolate paste than a chocolate moose. In retrospect I should probly have paid more attention to the part that says “keep whisking on a low setting“.
On the up side, I now have a big bowl full of yummy chocolate paste!
Moose, when thick, can be disappointing indeed..
But it is a valuable comment – i know the resulting concoction is , at its best, rather heavy – and everyone needs to ba cautioned. Still we ahve had enough of enthousiatic acclamations to publish it as is.. SHould we perpaps change the title to a “HEAVY CHOCOLATE PASTE”? it is still edible, but possibly not as mousse, or even a moose, whatever the case may be
el
I will try the same recipe again, paying more attention to the egg whites.
Might be a matter of taste, anyway. My local guinea pig gave this initial moose attempt a passing grade.