By Genevieve Ko
- Total Time
- 20 minutes, plus overnight chilling
- Rating
- 4(837)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Each mouthful of this dessert is a marvel: as light as a meringue pie topping, but with the eggy silkiness of a creamy chocolate custard. This mousse has a particularly airy texture, but is still a little rich from the bittersweet chocolate, which makes it the ideal not-too-sweet dessert. Because the mousse develops an even deeper flavor over time, it’s perfect for parties. You can make it up to five days ahead of time and serve it straight from the refrigerator.
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 10 servings
- ½cup/120 grams heavy cream, plus more if needed and for serving if you’d like
- 12ounces/340 grams bittersweet chocolate, coarsely broken or chopped (see Tip)
- 8large egg whites (265 grams/1 cup)
- ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
- 4large egg yolks (56 grams)
- 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
256 calories; 16 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 28 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 54 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Bring an inch of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Combine the cream and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. When the water boils, turn the heat to low so the water is barely simmering or just steaming. Set the bowl over the saucepan and melt the chocolate, gently stirring with a whisk now and then.
Step
2
While the chocolate melts, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer on medium speed. When the whites are foamy, add the sugar in a slow stream while whisking. Continue whisking until stiff peaks form. The whites should look glossy but not dry, and, when you lift the whisk from the mixture, a peak should form in the bowl and hold.
Step
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Once the chocolate has melted completely, turn off the heat but leave the bowl over the saucepan. Holding the bowl with a kitchen towel, add the egg yolks one at a time, whisking after each addition. If the mixture looks broken, remove the bowl from the saucepan, cool for a minute, then add 1 tablespoon cream and whisk just until shiny and smooth. Whisk in the vanilla. (Don’t worry if it still doesn’t look completely smooth. It will come together in the next step.)
Step
4
Add a quarter of the beaten whites to the chocolate mixture and stir gently with a flexible rubber spatula until incorporated but still a little streaky. This will make it easier to fold in the remaining whites to create an airy mousse by gradually lowering the temperature of the chocolate (tempering) and making the mixture loose.
Step
5
Add the rest of the whites and fold them in by running the spatula from 12 o’clock on the bowl to 6 o’clock, then scooping up the chocolate on the bottom and gently folding it over the whites as you move toward 9 o’clock. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Continue folding just until the last streak of white disappears. It’s OK if there are a few lumps of whites left. It’s better to not deflate the batter by folding too much.
Step
6
Scoop into a pretty bowl or into individual cups or bowls for serving if you’d like. Otherwise, keep it in the mixing bowl. Refrigerate the mousse uncovered until cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 more hours and preferably 24. The covered mousse can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Step
7
If you’d like to serve the mousse with whipped cream, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form. A cup or two of heavy cream is plenty for this amount of mousse. Serve the mousse cold, straight from the refrigerator, with the whipped cream.
Tip
- Use chocolate meant for eating or for making confections, not baking chocolate, which has a higher proportion of cacao solids and results in a dense and possibly gritty mousse. Chocolate with 70 percent to 74 percent cacao is ideal, but choose your favorite. This will taste best with whichever bar of chocolate you enjoy eating on its own.
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837
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Cooking Notes
Barbara
Licking the bowl of cake batter, aioli, chocolate mousse and Caesar dressing are great reasons to test the salmonella gods. Live a little!
Leslie K
This is very similar to a recipe for mousse my mother used in the '60s and '70s. It was her special dessert; she made it annually for Thanksgiving. She always layered the mousse with lady finger halves (each moistened with a quick dunk in a small bowl of milk). When finished, it was like a big layer cake in a bowl. She finished it with slivered almonds on top to add a crunch and always served with whipped cream. She loved explaining each step to me, her admiring helper, every year.
theresa
Re the uncooked egg whites. It used to be quite common to eat uncooked eggs. When I was a child my mother used to make me an eggnog when I was sick from uncooked eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla. I have also all my life eaten a little raw cookie dough and licked the cake bowl, eaten the occasional chocolate mousse or homemade eggnog. I’m 73 and never have I been ill from any of this. If you are worried, move on to another recipe. I wouldn’t serve to a pregnant person or small child just to be safe.
Mimi L
I'd use instant coffee or instant espresso powder. Add to the chocolate and cream mixture
Sharon
traditional chocolate mousse ought to have some Grand Marnier or other orange liquour
Chris
In my version, I add 3T strong coffee and 3T brandy to the chocolate as it melts.
DRC PGH
My wonderful family in france makes this for me with raw eggs when I visit. Eggs from a supermarket. It's perfectly safe and fine. And delicious. Other raw foods I enjoy include fruit, vegetables, steak tartare and sushi.
Sally
If you are concerned about raw eggs, here are instructions on how to pasteurize them. https://www.wikihow.com/Pasteurize-Eggs.
James Alb
Just made this morning....it's fantastic. Takes about 20 min. and 2 bowls. I did add a touch of cream after adding egg yolks as suggested as looked a bit broken and smoothed out perfectly. Flavor is rich and intense with an airy mouth feel
Diana
I have bought farm fresh eggs for years from a small family farm. I like my eggs either "jammy" for certain recipes, or with runny yolks and firm whites. I have never had any issues with salmonella or any other diseases. Although usually cheaper, I would never buy eggs from poor hens who spend their lives tightly packed in groups. in huge conglomerates - I like to see the hens running around the farm. The eggs have incredible flavor an orange yolks. Just like in Germany
To: Those Afraid Of The Raw Eggs
Pasteurize your eggs, buy pasteurized eggs, or find a different recipe. If willing to take the (literally) smaller-than-crossing-the-street risk of using raw, best to be smart about food safety practices in your kitchen, use quality fresh eggs, enjoy, and repeat.
Aviva Garrett
An excellent chocolate mousse. I made a few technique changes that we think improve the texture:- Remove the melted chocolate/cream mixture from the steam to cool a bit before adding the egg yolks. The mixture should still be warm enough that you can stir it. This method lessens the cooking of the egg yolks and makes the final product less grainy.- After you add the sugar to the egg whites, beat on a high speed until you get firm peaks. This makes for a mousse that stays stiffer longer.
Aaron
It's easy to pasteurize eggs if you have a sous vide. I had salmonella once, and that was quite enough, thank you. Take the risk for yourself, if you like, but IMO it's irresponsible to serve uncooked eggs to guests without telling them. https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/pasteurized-eggs-68
Susan
I have been making Julia Child's "Mousseline au Chocolat", which is similar to this recipe using only partially cooked yolks and whipped raw egg whites, for more than 30 years and I've killed no one. No one has even gotten a teensy-bit sick. Just regular eggs from the grocery store, not pastuerized, not organic. Don't panic.
Aaron
Whoa, that's not true. Egg PRODUCTS are pasteurized. Eggs are not unless specifically labeled.
smg
Made for Sri & Shivanthi even loved it.Rich and wonderful as advertised.Serve in small portions, like my bar wine tumblers.
hillary super
I tried a couple of recipes and this is by far the simplest. The flavor is good, could be creamier. The folding of the egg whites is tricky, don’t give up- I thought something was wrong and as I kept mixing it incorporated.
Wash Heights Cook
Making mousse is a project, so it's doubly disappointing if it turns out too dense or too sweet. This recipe creates a rich chocolate flavor and perfect texture. Plus it's a high yeild: you don't want to go to all that trouble for four servings.I highly recommend this one. It's now my go-to.
Suzanne
Please note: read the tip at the very end of the recipe before choosing your chocolate. This tip should be at the beginning of the recipe. It was too late when I got to it and my mousse turned out gritty.
kelsey
I followed every step tediously, and my mousse is somehow chunky?! How did this happen? It looked so smooth while making!
Caroline
Melt the chocolate and cream for like a long time, whip the egg white for longer than reccomended
carolyn s
This is delicious and so light. The chocolate did get grainy so I just whisked it with the kitchen aid. Smoothed right out. Used Cointreau instead of vanilla and also a teaspoon in the whipped cream for topping. Added a bit of orange zest on top for color
Jen
Mine had a grainy texture. Not sure why.
Laura
Take this with a grain of salt, because I live at 7000 feet. But this was a total fail—even before I added the yolks, the ganache was very grainy, I suspect because of the nearly 1:3 liquid:chocolate ratio. Once I added the yolks, all hell broke loose. I tried adding more cream to bring it back together, but that only made it worse—perhaps the cream should be warm? But then the exact same thing happened with attempt #2. Had success with the Serious Eats recipe, which uses more cream.
Darcy
Turned out gooey, like melted marshmallow. Disappointed.
Lydia Sugarman
Use the extra yolks to make creme anglaise to top the mousse.
Casey
Make an orange-chocolate mousse by adding 1/2 C triple sec or other orange liqueur with the chocolate and cream in step 1.
Christine
Great recipe, but Genevieve is clearly right-handed!
Pietro
Proportions are imbalanced - Sugar lacking, too many egg whites, plus more for to get proper reaction to form a mousse, between these components I'm not even sure you could get pudding.
Judith
We make a similar mousse every year for Christmas. We store it in the freezer and then take it out in smaller batches to store in the fridge before serving. Freezing has no effect on texture and should kill any evil bacteria in the raw eggs.
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