July 28, 2008

Mousse au Chocolat

The featured blog for Tried & Tested July 2008 is Meeta's blog - Whats for lunch honey?. Tried and Tested is an event started by Zlamushka of Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen and has everyone interested, cooking from a chosen blog, each month. As everyone is familiar with Meeta's blog I dont have to describe how beautiful her blog is and how fantastic and tempting her pictures are. Since I am a dessert lover, I chose her Mousse au Chocolate (Chocolate mousse) recipe for T&T.


Chocolate mousse is enjoyed by everyone, I guess, because of its looks, texture and taste. The texture is smooth, airy and fluffy because of the beaten egg whites and cream gently folded in (rather than stirred) to maintain its aeration. This is literally a "melt-in-your-mouth" creation which can be whipped up in minutes. Then comes the agonising wait for the dessert to chill. I assure you that nobody would be able to resist the temptation of this sinful dessert. Do try this out soon. The perfect dessert for a special occassion or to impress some guests or loved ones. I couldnt help myself from posting all these beautiful pictures. We enjoyed it a lot and so will you! à bientôt !! (See you!).


Recipe:

Bittersweet chocolate - 100-120 g (an exclusive chocolate preferably with 71% cocoa)
Butter - 15 g
Eggs - 2 , separated
Heavy cream - 200ml, beaten till stiff


Method:

Place a bowl over a pot of water and bring to a boil. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water in the pot.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the bowl.

Mix well until the chocolate and butter are melted and combined well, without any lumps.

Set the mixture aside and stir to cool for 30 seconds.

Add the egg yolks and mix together. The mixture will take on a thicker consistency.

Allow to cool further.

Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Fold the whites carefully into the chocolate-cream mixture.

Make sure that everything is mixed until smooth, fluffy and well-blended.

Transfer the mousse to individual serving bowls or a large single bowl.

Chill for several hours before serving.



Tips:


  1. How to put chocolate designs on a glass/serving bowl ? In this case, since the mousse was going to be dark colored, I decided to go with white chocolate design. Melt some white chocolate in the microwave and transfer to a ziploc/sandwich bag. Cut off an end very close to the tip. Hold the glass tilted in your hands and pipe any design that you would like on the bottom and/or inner walls of the glass/serving bowl. In this picture I just piped random lines at the bottom of the glass and spaced dots on the walls. Allow to set in the refrigerator for a few minutes. These dressed-up glasses can be used to serve desserts/drinks that are not hot!


  2. Meeta used chocolate with 71% cacao. I used a 4 oz (113g) Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate bar with 60% cacao. I would try this with bittersweet 71% cacao chocolate next time.
  3. My chocolate-egg yolk mixture became a bit (and yes, just a bit) lumpy probably because I added the yolks too early?. For the fear of deflating the cream and whites, I didnt mix too much. This didnt affect the taste at all, but I had a few chocolate lumps, which I enjoyed just as much! :-)
  4. Just for the presentation, I dusted the top with some cocoa powder and used a bit of whipped cream, with white chocolate pipings.

I am sending this sinful Chocolate Mousse also to "Sweet Series - Cool desserts" event at Mythreyee's Paajaka.

Dont forget to check out my Apple Swan too! ;-)

31 comments:

Indian Khana said...

Mousse looking so yummy and just wonderful....tempting a lot...very gud entry

EC said...

My my...Though I am strict vegetarian...the pic of the mousse got me here...really appreciate your photographic and presentation skills

Laavanya said...

That looks so sinfully delicious - I can't wait to give this a shot.

Anonymous said...

Love chocolate mousse year-round, but it's especially enjoyable with a cup of java after a light summer time meal - your recipe sounds so delicious, must try. Thank you!

Cham said...

Another elegant dessert, could u invite me Dear?

bha said...

I am sulking....:(:(
I missed this ........unlucky i am, i know :(:(

bee said...

looks tres delicieuse.

Sujatha said...

Slurrrp.. I can't wait now :) Awesome presentation, JZ!

Mythreyee said...

Delicious entry. Thanks.

Sia said...

gorgeous entry JZ...

Mansi said...

aah! that looks beautiful JZ! truly a treat:)

Dori said...

Wow, looks tasty and also very pretty!

Srikitchen said...

Oh my god! that's a perfect recipe! superb JZ! u r rocking!

Sonia said...

Hey...another mind-blowing dessert...!!! May I come to ur place;) :)

Thanks for sharing.
Sonu:)

Srikitchen said...

u have a surprise in my blog JZ!

Unknown said...

Awesome..looks really temping!!

Richa said...

looks fantastic, jz! the dots look so adorable :)

Unknown said...

JZ ...mind blowing pic..loved loved loved it..i am also thinking of trying meeta's dessert...yum yum..i can't stop saying..

Sum Raj said...

oh my god..am just drooling here..ur wonderful jz ...ur presentation i could not believe it..its superb...

Unknown said...

As usual wonderful and drool worthy pics.... the mousse looks very delicious!!

Sherin said...

wow....the pictures look so pro..... if i hadn't seen ur earlier fotos and didnt know u..i would 've never believed this is a picture taken at home......but if u think abt the work u r doing, U R A PRO, rite!!!!

hats of to u dear!!

A_and_N said...

Superb dessert and great ideas for decoration/presentation. Just LOVED the pics :)

ST said...

Mousse looking mouthwatering and fantastic....Love the presentation.....

karuna said...

wowowowo, i love chocolate and anything with it. the mousse looks amazing. all i want to do is take a spoon and scope it out from the glass. really tempting pics. good job

TBC said...

Simply beautiful, JZ! I would love to try it out but I'm a little scared to eat something which has uncooked eggs.:(
Lovely dessert and fabulous presentation, as usual.:D

Sunshinemom said...

Loved the glasses, and the mousse inside:)

vandana rajesh said...

Absolutely delicious jz...and gr8 pics

Suganya said...

That was a artistic work in chocolate JZ. U really rock...

zlamushka said...

MAn, what a picture :-) Love your creativity, JZ. Thanks for participating T&T this month as well ..

Meeta K. Wolff said...

oh yes! you do make mousse look good. thank you for trying one of my recipes!

Purnima said...

JZ, tks for showcasing this lovely recipe, it sure tasted awesome. First time a mousse without gelatin! Kids loved it a lot. Your description fitted the final result! Have given this link to frnds who want to give it a try as well! Tips too very informative! Shall fwd you a snap of my first trial at this. :) Of course doesn't hv the professional look like yours...yet! :D Tks again.