My parents host a big Easter lunch every year. It used to involve a big chocolate/candy hunt when they lived in a house with a large backyard and an even larger front yard. Now they’re in a condo it’s lunch with family and close friends. There’s usually quite a feast and Toby and I contribute a bit towards the desserts. This year I made chocolate mousse, so here’s a post about that.
I use a recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It’s a bit of a pain in the a$$ – I’m not sure if it really matters that you add each tablespoon of butter in one at a time or heat the egg whites for a minute or two before whipping them – but it seems to work out exactly the same each time.
First you melt the chocolate – I made a double batch (my co-workers will be happy) so 12 ounces or so of chocolate in a pot over a pot with simmering water.
Next I added in a stick of butter, a bit at a time. Then the pinches of salt, 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 4 teaspoons of rum. I think next time I’ll swap out the rum and instead use strong coffee, which is the other option for making this. After all of that, eight egg yolks are whisked in, again, one at a time.
I heated the egg whites for a bit and then whipped them up. Apparently also around here I stopped taking step-by-step pictures! After the egg whites were whipped, they were incorporated into the chocolate mixture a 1/3 to a 1/4 at a time.
Finally, I whipped two cups of cream with four tablespoons of sugar to soft peaks. Then that got folded all in with the chocolate and divided between two lovely glass bowls:
Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight. The recipe recommends at least 2 hours for the flavours to develop but no more than 24 or so before you eat it. We’ve pushed it to 2 days before but I really wouldn’t recommend any longer than that.
