Mousse au Chocolat

Here you're getting one of my most famous deserts. Keep in mind that it's very rich, so a little bit goes a long way. At the bottom you will find the recipe for a single batch, however I never make a single batch, I always make a double batch. So in the photos that I'm using to show you all ingredients will be double of what is listed in the recipe below.

I learned how to make this recipe as a pre-teen in a vacation 3-day cooking class my sister and I took when we lived in Switzerland. My mother had a fancy French recipe for mousse au chocolat that took three days of prepping time. We made this recipe, and my whole family decided that this was much better than the fancy French version. So I hope you like this as well.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Sugar (4 T)
Whipping Cream (4 dl)
Eggs (4)
Dark Chocolate (200g - most chocolate bars are between 100g and 113g, you can just use two bars, the difference doesn't really matter)

Separate out your egg whites from your egg yolks.

Get out your sugar and your tablespoon measurement.

 Add 4 tablespoons of sugar to your egg yolks.

Whip your yolks with the sugar. You can simply mix it well with a work until it's a little bit foamy. 

Whip your egg whites until they are stiff.

The best way to test whether the egg whites have been whipped enough is, turning your bowl upside down. If the egg whites stay in, they are done. Be careful to not plop all your eggs on the ground! That would be a bummer. ^^
The reason you whip the egg whites first is because if there is any little fleck of dirt, the egg whites won't whip. So if you're using the same mixer for both, you want to do the egg whites first, or make sure you clean it very well.

Get out your whipping cream, 4 deciliters, 400 milliliters. Almost every liquid measuring cup shows milliliters on the other side of where the cups are shown.

Here I'll show you what the measurements say on the cup side, just in case.

Time to whip your cream. If you cleaned your bowl from the egg whites, rinse it out with cold water first. The cold bowl will make the cream whip easier. Make sure it's properly dried though.

Get your chocolate ready. Break it up into smaller pieces in a shallow bowl. Here I am using individual casserole dishes.

Boil up some water, and pour it over the chocolate. Make sure all your chocolate is covered.

Give it a minute or two. You can test to see if the chocolate has melted by sticking a butter knife into the chocolate and seeing if there is any resistance. Once it has melted, pour the water off.

Here is where I learned an important lesson. I had to redo the whole thing because of one tiny error. I poured the water off the chocolate too early. I didn't have the egg whites and whipped cream ready before I poured the water off. Then my chocolate started hardening back up and didn't blend in. So make sure everything is ready before you melt your chocolate.

Now start mixing your melted chocolate into your egg yolk sugar mixture.

Mix it all up so it's completely blended.

 One of my little tricks is taking a little bit of the whipped cream and blending it into the chocolate egg mix to smooth it out a little bit.

Blend it all together, so it'll fold in easier.

Then I put it into a larger bowl that will fit all of the ingredients.

Fold in your whipped cream. You fold in the cream first, because the egg white is more delicate and will deflate easier.

Again, make sure you fold it in. Don't stir it in.

Once the cream has been mostly blended start adding the egg whites.

Fold in your egg whites.

Tada!
Now refrigerate for at least 2 hours. This can easily be made in advance. I made it Saturday, and took it to my cousin's for dinner on Sunday. We were 7 people. 6 had mousse, and one went back for leftovers. So a double batch will easily be enough for 6.

Here is a picture of what it should look like on the spoon. You can see the air bubbles, that's what gives you the airy, light and fluffy texture.

OK, I hope you enjoy it!

Here's the quicky recipe:

Ingredients needed:

2 eggs

2 T sugar

2 dl whipping cream

100g dark chocolate

Preparation:

Separate eggs

Whip egg whites to stiff peaks

Whip whipping cream

Beat egg yolks with sugar

Put chocolate in a shallow dish, cover with boiling water, pour off the water, then mix the melted chocolate in with the egg yolk and sugar mixture

Fold in whipped cream

Fold in egg whites

Refrigerate for at least two hours.