Chocolate always brings a smile
DF is a chocoholic, he adores almost any chocolate dessert, but his ultimate favorite is chocolate mousse. Between the intense rich flavor and the mousse’s light texture he is in heaven. He has been having a trying few weeks, between traveling, missing his family, keeping his family (sydney and I) happy, and remembering to show his appreciation for his employees. He wants all of his employees to know how important they are to him and the company. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time in a day to achieve all the goals he has set forth for himself. He arrived home feeling drained and dispirited. I thought a mousse au chocolat would be just what was needed to cheer him up.
The first spoonful and he danced with palatable delight
Mousse au Chocolat:
- 6 ounces/ 170 grams semisweet chocolate
- 1 Tablespoon instant espresso
- 58grams/3 large organic eggs yolks
- Pinch egg white powder
- 90 grams/ 3 egg whites
- 2 Tablespoons icing sugar
- 330 grams/1 ½ cups heavy cream
- Chocolate Mousse:
- 28 gram/2 tablespoons water
- 50 grams/ ¼ -cup cup sugar
- 60 rams/4 tablespoons Godiva chocolate liqueur
Mise en place
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. When the chocolate has almost fully melted add the espresso powder and stir until the the espresso has dissolved.
Combine the water and sugar in a pot and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes to create a simple syrup, wring excess water from gelatin and add to hot simple syrup. Cool slightly to 106 degrees F.
Whisk in the gelatin sheet to dissolve
Whisk in the Godiva chocolate liqueur into the simple syrup as well.
Pour the simple syrup in a measuring jug for easy pouring into the yolks
While the chocolate is cooling, in a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks and simple syrup and beat, with a hand-held mixer, until very pale and thick and have doubled in size. When the chocolate has cooled, whisk it into the egg yolk mixture.
Whisk the egg yolks till doubled and than add the chocolate
In another very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add egg white powder and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in 15 grams/ 1- Tablespoon cup of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form..
Once the meringue is shiny and holds stiff peaks stop whisking
Gently, in thirds, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, set aside once all the meringue has been folded in.
The first third will deflate slightly
In a chilled bowl, beat the heavy cream until it begins to thicken up. Add the 2 tablespoons of icing sugar, continue beating until the cream holds medium-stiff peaks.
Remove 110 grams/ 1/2 -cup of the whipped cream into another bowl, fold 15 to 30 grams of godiva liqueur into the cream and set over ice.
The chocolate liqueur will turn the whip cream a beautiful beige color
Assembly:
Fold 224 gram/ 1 scant cup of whipped cream into the chocolate mousse mixture. Fill 2- ounce bowls half way up with the mousse au chocolate, add with the whipped chocolate liqueur cream, fill with remaining mousse, and top with chocolate whipped liqueur cream again; sprinkle with cocoa powder. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to chill and set. Serve cold.
Voila!
