Mousse au Chocolat
Dark Chocolate Mousse
Raymond Blanc's mousse has almost no fat in it beyond the chocolate itself: no cream, no butter and only one yolk. Ten egg whites carry 165 g of dark chocolate, which makes it very light and very intense. The only skill is in the folding.
The chef's recipe read melts 165 g of dark chocolate with 25 g of cocoa powder, whisks ten egg whites with 25 g of sugar to soft peaks, stirs one yolk into the chocolate and folds in the whites, then chills the mousse for at least two hours.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 165 g dark chocolate (at least 70 per cent cocoa), chopped
- 25 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 10 medium egg whites (about 320 g)
- 25 g caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk
Method
- Melt the chocolate Put the chocolate and cocoa in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, without letting the bowl touch the water. Stir until smooth, then take off the heat. It should be warm, not hot.
- Whisk the whites In a large, perfectly clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy, add the sugar and continue to soft peaks: the tips should flop over when the whisk is lifted. Stiff whites are harder to fold in.
- Fold Stir the yolk into the warm chocolate. Whisk in a quarter of the whites briskly to loosen the mixture, then fold in the remainder with a large metal spoon, cutting down through the middle and turning the bowl, until no white streaks remain.
- Chill Spoon into four glasses or one bowl and chill for at least 2 hours.
Food safety
This mousse contains raw egg. Use British Lion-marked eggs, which UK food safety advice considers safe to eat raw or lightly cooked. Keep it refrigerated and eat within 24 hours.
If the chocolate is too hot it will cook the whites; too cool and it will set in lumps as you fold. Body temperature is about right.