Today is National Chocolate Mousse Day. Just the thought of that airy, chocolaty dessert is enough to make you salivate for sure, and it’ll show your kids that there’s more to life than chocolate pudding. We’re all for chocolate pudding, of course. Especially the instant kind. We still like the idea of getting fancy, especially when it lets us throw out a few fun facts: [photo via flickr]
- The word “mousse” is French for “froth” or “foam.”
- Mousse in its cold form is usually poured into decorative glasses or serving dishes and topped with fresh fruit, fruit puree or whipped cream.
- Mousse isn’t just a sweet dish for dessert. Savory mousses are made with fish, shellfish, meat and fole gras, too.
- Every mousse contains three main parts: a base, a binder, and an aerator.
- Mousses can be served hot or cold, and are sometimes squeezed through a piping bag onto some kind of platform and served as hors d’oeuvres.
That part about the three main parts might seem kind of intimidating. Making mousse is still fairly simple, but the end result tastes like you slaved for hours. Although it does take several hours to prepare, most of that is chill time. Here is a great recipe that combines just a few ingredients for a to-die-for chocolate mousse…
Ingredients
- 2 cups chilled heavy cream
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
- Garnish: lightly sweetened whipped cream
- Special equipment: an instant-read thermometer
Directions
Heat 3/4 cup cream in a 1-quart heavy saucepan until hot. Whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a metal bowl until combined well, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking until combined. Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until it registers 160°F on thermometer. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in vanilla.
Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in a glass bowl in a microwave at 50 percent power 3 to 5 minutes), stirring frequently. Whisk custard into chocolate until smooth, then cool. Beat remaining 1 1/4 cups cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Whisk one fourth of cream into chocolate custard to lighten, and then fold in remaining cream gently but thoroughly.
Spoon mousse into 8 (6-ounce) stemmed glasses or ramekins and chill, covered, at least 6 hours. Let stand at room temperature about 20 minutes before serving.
