Chocolate Mousse
Makes 6-7 cups
My 8-year-old chose this for her birthday party dessert because, as she said, “Everyone loves chocolate mousse!”
3 cups heavy cream, whipped to SOFT peaks
1 bag chocolate chips (12 ounces), melted over a double boiler and kept hot
3 egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
Whip your cream and reserve it in the fridge.
Melt your chocolate and keep it hot or be ready to re-warm it later.
Bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. When you are ready to make it happen, combine your egg yolks and the sugar in the top of the double boiler. Begin stirring immediately*, and place it over the double boiler bottom.
Cook, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 165. Whip it cool with a whisk. It will get thick. Add about a cup of whipped cream and whisk until combined. Add this mixture to the remaining whipped cream.
Now here’s the fun part: add about 2 cups whipped cream to the HOT, melted chocolate and whisk, whisk, whisk! (If your butt isn’t shaking, you aren’t whisking fast enough.) If your chocolate isn’t hot enough, or you don’t whisk fast enough, you’ll get chocolate chip mousse (not a bad thing, but not what we’re going for).
Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Pour into mold**. Refrigerate until set.
*Never combine egg yolks and sugar and let them sit around together. The sugar will pull the water out of the yolks and leave you with a clumpy mess. Always agitate or heat immediately.
**In this case, I used plastic cups. I scooped mousse into the bottom of each cup and topped it with whipped cream, chopped Oreos and sprinkles. You may also make a crust, bake a cake, or use a brownie as the bottom layer of a fancier dessert and spread the mousse on top of it in a springform pan. When the mousse sets up, it is sliceable. You may also fill cakes with this mousse! The possibilities? Endless! (Which is why I love chocolate mousse.)
Amanda Usen 