Mousse au Chocolat

This recipe is a traditional french chocolate mousse that I started making when I was ten years old. My mom decided that I needed to learn some fundamental cooking skills like separating eggs and working with egg whites so she picked this recipe to be the lesson. It was certainly a delicious way to learn those basics.

You will notice right away that there are hardly any ingredients in this mousse - it is all about technique. The quality of those few ingredients then will really matter which is why I use Valrhona chocolate and Grand Marinier. When I use Valrhona I use 3 bars so I don't have to have any little piddley leftover pieces hanging around in my cupboards and I add one extra egg to compensate. I use two bars (7 ounces) of Valrhona Le Noir 56% Cocoa Bar and one bar (3.5 ounces) of Valrhona Le Noir Amer 71% Cocoa Bar. I prefer a dark mousse that is not that sweet so this mix suits me and my chocolate loving husband, but you may find that it makes a mousse that is not sweet enough for you. You may need to do some chocolate mousse testing at your house to determine the exact kind of chocolate you prefer - this kind of testing is no hardship!

I like to take a bite sized piece of cake - sponge cake, yogurt cake, madeleines' or lady fingers (whatever is on hand) - sprinkle it with liquer and put it at the bottom of the dessert cup before I fill it with mousse. I always like finding this little morsel hidden away at the bottom of the dish when I'm finishing up my last few bites of dessert. It is a fun surprise that takes away some of the pangs associated with finishing a delicious food item.

One more thing - a lot of people nowadays do not feel safe using raw eggs although I can honestly say I've never had a problem. If I'm making this for a large group or for someone who might object to raw eggs I buy a jar of egg whites that have been pasturized and then use the yolks from the eggs I separated - yolks apparently do not easily get contaminated with salmonella. I've heard that it is possible, in some parts of the country, to get eggs that have been pasturized in their shells, but I've never found them in any supermarket near me.

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Mousse au Chocolat

8 oz chocolate
5 tablespoons water
5 eggs, separated
pinch of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons Grand Marinier, Rum or other liquer

Break up chocolate into small pieces, combine with water and melt in a double boiler, or a mixing bowl set over a saucepan, or in a microwave. Melt it slowly - even very slowly - and once it is melted take it off the heat and let it cool down for five minutes.

While the chocolate is melting add the cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them until they hold stiff peaks. With a stand mixer this takes about 2-3 minutes, with a hand held mixer this takes about 20 minutes. Set aside.

When the chocolate has cooled down a little, add the Grand Marinier and stir until nice and smooth. Even cooled down a little, the chocolate is warm enough to curddle the egg yolks so you'll need to temper them. To do that take about a tablespoon of the chocolate and stir it into the egg yolks - stirring until it is combined and smooth. Take another tablespoon of the melted chocolate and stir it into the egg mixture again until it is smooth. This will warm up the yolk a little so that they should not curddle when you add them into the rest of the chocolate. Now add the yolk mixture into the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth.

Now, fold in a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Don't worry if there are a few lumps, go on to fold in the next quarter of the egg whites, and the next quarter. Make sure you get the chocolate from the bottom of the bowl when you are folding - it is heavy and it tends to want to settle underneath the egg whites so you have to keep scooping all the way down and pulling it up. On the final fourth of egg whites I do try to get out the lumps, but you don't want to keep folding too long and loose the light lifting quality of the egg whites. Just fold until you think the mixture looks smooth and 99.9 % lump free.

Scoop or pour mixture into individual glasses or dessert cups and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Serve with freshly whipped cream (I prefer unsweetened) and strawberries.

Yield: 4-6 individual servings