Monday 19 April 2010

Dark Chocolate Mousse - a Chocolate Lovers Heaven!



If you are a regular visitor of my blog, you would have noticed a chocolate mousse before. It is almost the same recipe, but I slightly modified the ingredients and changed the method of preparation to an easier one. Took some better pics than the previous one and so thought of reposting it. I made this again quite a long back and thought will repost again replacing the old post. It was one of the desserts that I perfected over time. Chocolate mousse is one luxurious dessert of a kind. I first time had chocolate mousse during my college days and loved it. But when I made it at home, I just realized how easy it was to prepare at home and we can even give better flavourings as well. This is a simple and an elegant desert and something that feels real light. There are eggless versions of mousse around, but mine contains raw eggs. Don’t be put off by that. You wont even know that there are eggs in it because it doesn’t give any feel or taste of egg. You won’t even know there are eggs in it until somebody tells you it has! And the chocolate flavour is so strong that it will contradict any egg-y affair. Since the main ingredient calls for chocolate, use the best chocolate you can get hold off.




As you can see, this dessert is a simple one, but if you don’t do it properly, it can affect the texture intensively. Whipping of egg whites is one important factor. When you whip egg whites, you must make sure that the bowl you use for whipping the eggs is grease-free and is squeaky clean. All these will affect the volume of the whipped egg whites. Also make sure that there is no yolk in the egg whites when you separate them. If there is even a teeny bit of yolk in the whites, you can’t whip the whites properly. In this recipe, egg whites are whipped into soft peaks; that is when you lift up the egg whisker after whipping, you should get a wobbly peak at the end of the whisk rather than stiff peaks; something like froth that you get when you shampoo your hair:)(Don’t know if that’s a good example though). This mousse can also be made with milk chocolate, but make sure you reduce the amount of sugar because the chocolate would be sweet already unlike the bittersweet ones.

Other flavours you may try: You may add 1 Tbsp orange rind while scalding the cream to give a subtle orange flavour. I have never tried this, Just because I make all these kind of simple desserts in a jiffy and in hurry and nothing comes in mind at the time. Only when the pudding sets, I would think, Oh! I should have added that and this and so on. But this is one that I am looking forward to try, since orange and chocolate is a heavenly combination. You can also try adding 1 teaspoon of coffee or espresso granules to the hot cream and mix it to give another lovely intense coffee flavour to the mousse.



Before I get in to the recipe, if you are a fan of Malabari cuisine and you are in Toronto, Canada, there is a Malabar restaurant situated in the heart of Toronto, which is one and the only one Malabar restaurant there. You can treat yourself and your loved ones with rich and yummy Malabari food. They also condust an yearly Malabar Food festival where they display an array of Malabar delicasies. Details of their restaurant and more can be found at its homepage Maroli and their blog.


This post goes for 'Thanda Mela' Thanda Mela Event hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 all Seasons.














Dark Chocolate mousse:
Serves 6

Ingredients:
150 gm Dark chocolate (72% cocoa)

150 mls double cream

1/3 cup sugar (Taste and add more or less as required)

2 – 3 large eggs, separated (I sometimes add 2 and sometimes 3.)

Preparation:

1. Heat cream in a bowl until scalding point, i.e. until you start seeing the bubbles appearing on surface, but not boil.(I heated it in the microwave)

2. While the cream is being heated, cut the chocolate into small pieces. When the creamhas reached scalding point, add the chocolate pieces. Let it stand for couple of minutes. Stir well until all the chocolate pieces have melted and the mixture is smooth. If at all chocolate din’t melt completely, place the chocolate and cream mixture on a double boiler and heat till all the lumps have melted completely. Alternately you can heat the cream along with the chocoltae in the double boiler or even microwave. If your are doing this way make sure you keep stirring in between and make sure not to burn the chocolate bits.

3. Add sugar and stir well with a spoon until you get a thick glossy mixture.

4. While still warm (but not hot), add the egg yolks and stir well until combined. Keep it aside.

5. In a clean and spotless dish, whip up the egg whites until soft peaks.

6. Add little of the whipped egg whites to the chocolate mixture and fold gently to loosen the mixture.

7. Add the rest of egg whites and gently fold without knocking out the air. (Folding slowly is very important because if you mix it thoroughly, you will knock out all the bubbles in the mousse and ends up in a chocolate cream rather than airy mousse.)

8. Serve in a small individual ramekins or dessert bowls and cover with cling film, if you don’t like the thick film forming on top.

8. For serving: You can whip up some cream and spoon on the mousse and sprinkle cocoa, or add some chocolate shavings sprinkled with icing sugar. Here I stewed few strawberries with some sugar and little corn flour and sprinkled icing sugar.

37 comments:

Aparna S Mallya said...

looks rich, creamy and delicious!!

Suhaina said...

Wow, its too tempting.I am drooling here. nice click too.

Faiza Ali said...

Looks soo creamy and delicious , Shabs...but,can I omit the egg and make this? Coz i don't like raw egg in my food.

Shabs.. said...

@ Aparna and sunaina, thhanks dears for the comments...

@faiza...Authentic mousse contains raw eggs. But you can also make it without eggs. for that the recipe will be different dear, You have whip cream to soft peaks, then add melted chocoltae to it and dont over work it. Then the ratio of chocolate and whip cream also will change. Try increasing whipping cream else it will be veryyyyyyy chocolatel and bitter.....You can find so many no egg mousse recipe on the on the net dear..my recipe will not work without eggs..

Namitha said...

Awesome..Lovely clicks too..I saw your note,yeah nothing can beat sunlight, rt? Glad that you got some too ;-)

Pavithra Srihari said...

looks rich and perfect ...

very yummyyy

Rumana Rawat said...

Hello this is my first time here, u have a great space. and all ur recipe's r so delicious.. Now lets come to the Prawn Gravy to make that u need 10 to 15 prawn and 100gram of veggi... thats is very simple:-)

My Kitchen Antics said...

sounds easy..except for the egg whites bit..i dread beating it till stiff... :)
will try it out once i get my free standing mixer...

? said...

Twas fun reading your post! Especially the tips! Coffee and Orange bring out the best in Chocolate.

Shabs.. said...

Gulmohar....hehe, these are old pics....as old as 10 months...that means i made this mousse around that time and pictures it in an area where there was little bit of light:)...hey thx for the compliments:)....i know they are genuine!

@Pavithra....:)

@rumana....thx for the compliments and reply to regarding the prawn...

@ ? Thanks dear for ur lovely comment....Dint know people enjoyed my reading....I am so bad at writing...

@open book....it took me sometime to realise the different stages of egg whipping....from a clear liquid to frothy stage to stiff cream stage!....amazing isnt it?

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Looks very tempting

Priya Suresh said...

Thats a tempting dessert, feel like grabbing rite now..

Unknown said...

WOW!! Am drooling over the pics..It looks so perfect and delicious...

Fathima said...

heavenly is the word! so tempting...

Saju Sharfu said...

wow..this is sooo rich..looks wonderful!

Manju said...

This is such a fabulous dessert and I can easily think of a lot of variations to it. Like you said orange is one - kahlua, espresso, almond, raspberries!! all great with dark chocolate!

I'm a Home Chef !!! said...

hmmm...looks heaven!

Parita said...

Wow thats divine! Lovely presentation!

Ms.Chitchat said...

Thats yummylicious :)

Life is beautiful !!! said...

Such a beautiful blog, wonderful recipes and beautiful pics...I am gald I found you :)

Shabs.. said...

tHANKS U ALL FOR STOPPING BY AN DFOR YOUR VALUABLE COMMENTS..

Nammaruchi.blogspt.com said...

Fabulous mousse,looks very tempting!!!

Miriam Korula said...

hi shabs...they do look really nice...will try them some day soon...;)

AdukalaVishesham said...

oh these look decadent and divine..

Meena said...

what lovely collection of recipes!a heavenly mousse! will be back to check out more...gosh!that strawberry in the mousse is lovely!

shifa firoz said...

im already in the middle of sweet things now shabna.. ur tempting me to make this!!! and im goin gto try ue pineapple cheese cake too.. :)

Subhie Arun said...

looks creamy n rich..lov ur space ..glad to follow u!

divya said...

Hello this is my first time here, u have a great space. and all ur recipe's r so delicious.Love ur recipes...im following u..

WOW!! Am drooling over the pics..It looks so perfect and delicious...

prajusha said...

shabs,
looks mouthwatering..
www.icookipost.com

Malar Gandhi said...

Whoo, chocolate' pls count me in...its absolutely a killer recipe for girls...looks breathtaking..,lovely display:)

My Kitchen Antics said...

Hi Shabs...im as mallu as it can get :)
Ya i have tried a few Thai restaurants in London and my husband is a hard core Thai food fan, so he keeps preparing stuff at home on and off...
Please do post recipes and pics of that Thai meal you made...i need inspiration :)

Preethi Rajeev said...

So rich creamy and delicious, shabs u made my day . Gosh i am so tempted

My Kitchen Antics said...

Shabs thanks so much for that long comment...loved reading it:)
And thanks for that idea..i shall try it out tomorrow itself and let you know how it was.
So are u gonna be missing most of summer? well it really doesnt matter cos im sure ur gonna have a blast in dubai with your parents...hope ud still keep posting recipes..have a nice time

Zoyah said...

Hey Shabs!

This is a long overdue visit to yoru site (I should be studying - exam tomorrow..but I just had tos top by)! I happened upon my blog today, after so long, and noticed a comment from you! Thank you for checking in - you're so sweet :)

I hope everything is well with you, too and wow - the chocolate mousse looks scrumptious! I am going to have to try that!

I will be updating my blog within the next week or so since the semester is almost over, so please do check back in and let me know what you think!

Love,
Zoyah

Dori said...

That is tempting, looks soooo good!

disqus_cM4HlUvDJo said...

can I use cocoa powder instead..?

Shabs said...

Hi, you could use, but I am not sure how it would work. May be make a paste of cocoa powder and then follow with the rest of instruction? I have never made it with cocoa powder, so I wont be able to give you an appropriate answer. Sorry!

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