Chocolate Mousse recipe

Adapted from James Peterson’s Cooking
This elegant dessert is surprisingly simple and easy.  The ingredients are key – real butter, fresh eggs, good chocolate.  It’s very rich, so serve small portions.

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 Tbsp butter,
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar

1. Combine the chocolate and butter in a double boiler at simmer.  Stir until melted and smooth, then immediately remove from heat.  Stir in the vanilla extract.  Let cool slightly.

2. Separate the eggs and set the whites aside.  In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks until blended.  Whisk the melted chocolate into the egg yolks, beating until smooth.

3. In another bowl, using a mixer or whisk, rapidly beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Add the sugar gradually and continue to beat until the sugar has dissolved and the whites are shiny.

4. Stir about one-fourth of the beaten whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it.  Then fold in the remaining whites just until no white streaks are visible.  Divide evenly among six 4 ounce ramekins and smooth off the tops.

5.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Servings: 6

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Source
Author: James Peterson
Source: Cooking
Copyright: 2007

Chocolate Mousse Class

First you catch a moose.....

No, wait, different spelling. It’s actually:

Chocolate Mousse

Grade:  A, for recipe and cooks

Chocolate mousse has always scared me.  So French, so sophisticated.  But when we actually looked at the recipe in James Peterson’s Cooking, it  seemed quite simple.  Unfortunately,  he seemed to think that ramekins were vital, and we were stymied.  Our kitchen was ramekinless. However, we persevered and learned what they are.  Then one afternoon while wandering the mall waiting for a movie to start, I spotted some for a buck each!  The movie was terrible, but I was happy clutching my six ramekin beauties, despite having to watch Adam Sandler making fart jokes, in drag.

Once I convinced David that we didn’t need to hunt down a moose, we got to work.  This classic French pudding was actually remarkably easy to make – it took us about twenty minutes, then a half hour to chill.  It’s very simple, so use the best ingredients possible.  It’s also incredibly rich, so keep the serving sizes small and don’t give it to people who have already eaten a heavy meal.

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