Chocolate Mousse

by Raymond Blanc, OBE

This is one of the best chocolate mousses, certainly the lightest, straight from the repertoire of ‘Maman Blanc’. Do use the best quality of chocolate. With 70% cocoa solids you can expect the best chocolate experience!

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 165g Dark Chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, finely chopped
• 240g/8 egg whites, free-range/organic, medium

Method

1. Place the chocolate in a large bowl set over a pan of hot water (*1) and leave to melt over a low heat. Turn the heat off. In an electric mixer, (not on full power) whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks (*2).
2. Whisk in 1/3 of the egg whites into the melted chocolate to lighten the mixture and immediately fold in the remaining egg white with a large spatula (*3). Pour into a glass bowl or individual glasses and leave to set in the fridge for 2 hours or until required.

Chef’s notes (*1):

1. The bowl of water must not touch the water and the water must not boil; the chocolate becomes grainy at 55°C
2. By whisking egg whites, one has the amazing ability to ‘harvest’ the air by trapping tiny air bubbles inside a network of protein. However, if you over whisk the egg whites, they will become thick and grainy, lose volume and separate into a dry froth and a runny liquid. The resulting mousse will have an unattractive appearance and texture.
3. Do not over mix at this stage as you will knock all the tiny bubbles of air out and be left with a dense mousse.

Variations:

Alternate: You could use this recipe for a baked chocolate fondant: Dilute 12g of Arrowroot (or corn flour) with a tbsp of water and fold it into the chocolate mousse. Fill small oven proof moulds (buttered & lined with ½ cocoa powder & ½ caster sugar) 2/3rd of the way up the mould and bake in a preheated oven (170°C) for 6-7 minutes. The chocolate fondant should be cooked on the outside and melting in the centre.

Add a liquor to the melted chocolate 

Nuts: Add some toasted nuts – Hazelnut, Pistachio, almond

Fruit: Serve with Caramelised bananas, macerated raspberries, caramelised pear, and apricots.