Chocolate Mousse

Every morning the boys contend to overtake the position long held by my dad as President of the Messy Hair Club (for girls, it is called “bed head”).  In an attempt to style Andrew’s Justin-Bieber-straight-down-without-even-trying bangs, David said “let me put some mousse in your hair and see how that works.”  Horrified, Andrew threw his hands up on his head and replied “Daddy, don’t put a moose on my head!”

In the spirit of the mousse/moose, here is a recipe for some rich chocolate mousse, courtesy of my uncle’s friend, Rosa, who obtained it from Sugar Busters.  Somehow we managed to get some mousse in the boys’ hair for picture day and a different kind of mousse in their lunchbox.

The recipe calls for ¾ lb of chocolate and 3 oz of decaf coffee.  Isn’t that kind of like ordering the Diet Coke with your Big Mac combo meal?

**Please note that this recipe contains raw eggs.  Raw eggs can expose you to the salmonella bacterium.  Consider looking for pasteurized eggs and wash the outside prior to using.  To learn more, visit the CDC website.** 

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

1.      ¾ pound chocolate (my uncle likes El Rey 73.5% very bittersweet; I found Ghirardelli 60% cacao; I also made a version with milk chocolate because bittersweet is pretty, well... bitter)

2.      3 cups heavy cream, separated (1 c boiled, 2 c whipped)

3.      3 eggs, separated

4.      3 oz. coffee (caff or decaffeinated)

Separate the eggs.  Place the yolks in a small cup (beat them slightly) and the eggs whites in a mixing bowl.

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or in a microwave at medium power (cook for 1 minute, then stir, cook for another minute and stir; continue until completely melted). 

While melting the chocolate, bring one cup of heavy cream to a boil on the stove.  Add the 3 oz of coffee to the hot, boiled cream.  Take about 1 T of this hot cream and add it to the cup with the egg yolks in it.  Stir.  This will warm up the eggs without cooking them. 

Pour the egg yolks and the hot, boiled cream with coffee into a large bowl with the melted chocolate and combine well. 

Beat the egg whites with a mixer until stiff.  Fold egg whites into the chocolate.  This will start to thicken the chocolate into a mousse-like consistency.  Beat the remaining 2 cups of (cold) heavy cream with a mixer until stiff and fold into the chocolate.  This further thickens the mousse.  Pour into individual ramekins or a large dish, cover and refrigerate until chilled.