Chocolate Mousse

As we have mentioned (repeatedly) my birthday was last week. The best part about birthdays is all the dessert. While in Washington DC we visited cupcake shop after cupcake shop. But it was ok because it was a birthday trip. Birthdays and birthday trips are meant for splurges. Once I got home the celebration continued. Since it was my birthday I got to decide what dessert we were going to make over the weekend. I’ve only ever had the box mix chocolate mousse and I thought that was pretty darn good. So I knew that homemade chocolate mousse would be to die for.And I was right. I looked at a few different recipes but ultimately decided to go with a recipe from David Lebovitz, originally from Julia Child. I mean really, how could I go wrong? I believe that the Julia Child recipe called for orange liqueur, and David used rum, but I had neither. I did however have amaretto, so I went with it. It is only 2 tablespoons so it is not a very strong flavor but I think the amaretto worked just fine. One thing that I always have problems with is either turning my eggs into scrambled eggs or undercooking them. In this case I undercooked them and my mousse did not get as thick as I would have liked. So don’t undercook your eggs! I worry I will scramble them and then end up with eggs that are not as thick as they should be. It’s a fine line; one that I haven’t quite mastered yet. Someday!I chose to make this for my birthday but it would be a great dessert to make for Valentine’s Day. It would be perfect with some strawberries or raspberries. For any guys out there, this would be a great way to impress the lady in your life! We didn’t have any fruit so we served it with some cute peeps I got while in Maryland. They have a whole peeps store. Who knew there was such a thing? The ones pictured are strawberry cream marshmallow chicks dipped in milk chocolate. Seriously, does it get any cuter?

Here is what you’ll need

Chop the chocolate

Place the coffee, butter and chocolate in a heat safe bowl or a double boiler. I actually don’t think glass is heat safe but it worked. Metal would be better.

Heat until smooth. Once smooth set aside.

Combine the egg yolks, water, amaretto, and sugar in another heat safe bowl and heat over simmering water

Whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thickened. Once thickened place over a bowl of ice water. Continue to whisk.

Slowly add the chocolate to the egg mixture. Stir.

Whip egg whites and salt until frothy

Add sugar

Beat until you have stiff peaks. Add the vanilla.

Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture

Serve in individual dishes with fresh fruit or Peeps!

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces¼ cup dark-brewed coffee4 large eggs, separated2/3 cup, plus 1 tablespoon sugar2 tablespoons amaretto1 tablespoon waterpinch of salt½ teaspoon vanilla extractFill your double boiler about halfway with water, place over medium heat. Or, you can place a heat safe bowl over a saucepan. In the top portion of the double boiler melt together the chocolate, butter, and coffee. Stir until smooth. Do no burn. Remove from heat and set aside. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set this aside also. You will need to place another heat safe bowl over the simmering water. In the top bowl whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, amaretto, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick. I have a real fear of scrambling eggs so I do not think that I allowed mine to thicken enough. Watch it closely so that it does not burn and whisk constantly. Remove from heat and place the bowl into of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick. Again, I don’t think I beat mine well enough. It should have been thicker. Once thickened slowly add the chocolate mixture. Mix well. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat. Once you have stiff peaks add the vanilla. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate/egg mixture. Keep folding gently until smooth. Separate into individual servings and refrigerate for about 3 hours.Source: Adapted from David Lebovitz

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