Chocolate mousse is a classic French take on pudding: very rich and very tasty.
Researching this recipe was infuriating: it’s a perfect example of a dish that chefs intentionally try to make more difficult than it needs to be.
There are four steps to making chocolate mousse:
- Make a chocolate ganache (a sauce made of chocolate and cream).
- Make a meringue (egg white and sugar, whipped until light, airy and stiff).
- Fold the two together.
- Chill until it sets.
That’s really all there is to it. Classically trained chefs are great at making working with chocolate seem complex and intimidating. Same with meringue. Neither needs to be. This recipe is nearly foolproof, and there are still lots of ways to modify it to your liking. The only thing to watch out for is to be gentle when folding the chocolate ganache and meringue together so that you minimize the amount of air you knock out of the meringue — the more air we keep in, the lighter the chocolate mousse will be in the end.
One other note: like many other French dishes, it’s very rich, so you should aim for smaller serving sizes. Jello pudding this ain’t.
I leave it up to you whether to add a dollop of whipped cream on top. It’s delicious either way.
Recipe here.
Enjoy,
Kevin
