A few weeks back, I wrote about hosting a New Years brunch party (remember those stunning chocolate champagne cupcakes?). In the planning process, I procured a collection of mini 4-ounce mason jars to use as little dessert vessels. Unfortunately, my mini dessert plan turned out to be an experimental a disaster that time. But luckily, a recent chocolate craving lead me to make a delicious and easy dark chocolate mousse that found its way into the little jars. My mini chocolate dessert venture turned out to be oh-so delicious and oh-so cute!
Growing up, chocolate mousse had always been one of those delicious mysteries. It was my favorite cake filling, and a popular dessert choice for me to order at a restaurant. But I never had the desire to actually learn how to make it. To be fair, I didn’t do a lot of baking growing up and in large part because my family wasn’t really into the whole dessert thing–hard to believe knowing me now, right? (But I guess I’ll have to credit my parents for keeping my teeth cavity-free!) So I just let it be a mystery.
Now, however, I have free range of my kitchen which means I can experiment with new or augmented recipes every so often. Through a pastry course, I learned how to make French-style chocolate mousse. Holy goodness, it was amazing! But the recipe we followed was complicated, requiring softball sugar (that’s sugar that’s been heated to precisely 238F) to temperthe eggs via a pate a bombe. Unfortunately, making softball sugar isn’t exactly something that is home-kitchen friendly, nor easy!
That’s where this easy(er) hybrid method comes in, where we make a stirred custard first, which is a much more straightforward way of tempering eggs! The result was still fabulous. Rich, luscious, and positively chocolatey! It’s everything that you’d expect a good restaurant-quality chocolate mousse would be. After a quick chill, I assembled mini chocolate mousse dessert cups with a brownie base followed by a generous serving of piped mousse, then finally topped with some whipped cream, a sprig of mint, and fresh raspberries. Divine. And my mason jars were happy too! :) #droolworthy.
Do you have any childhood dessert mysteries that you’ve made home kitchen friendly? I’d love to hear them, or any more of your thoughts so drop me a line in the comments below! As always, thanks for stopping by and I hope you visit again soon!
– E
Helpful tools:
stand mixer | kitchenaid 5qt artisan
wire whisk | oxo
spatulas | vervetie 3pc set
piping bags | daymark 18″ disposable
mini mason jars | ball 4oz quilted jars
dessert spoons | libbey 12pc
- 2 large eggs
- 70g sugar (about 1/3 c)
- 165g dark chocolate, chopped and melted
- 375g heavy cream (1-1/2 c), divided
- pinch salt
- Whipped cream, as needed
- Raspberries, as needed
- Mint leaves, as needed
- Cocoa powder, as needed
- Chocolate cake or brownies, as needed.
- To melt chocolate: place chopped chocolate in a metal, heat-conducting bowl and set above a pot of boiling water. This is called a bain-marie, or double boiler. Stir with rubber spatula occasionally. The steam from the boiling water will melt the chocolate.
- In a mixer with whisk attachment, whisk together eggs, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy and double the volume; about 3-5 minutes.
- In a saucepan, heat 3/4 c of heavy cream until just boiling. Temper the egg mixture: whisk egg mixture while slowly pouring in about half of the hot cream. Then return the mixture to the saucepan and continually whisk on medium heat for a few more minutes until thickened. Be sure to constantly whisk to avoid clumping and "scrambled eggs"!
- Return egg mixture to mixing bowl and fold in melted chocolate.
- In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat chocolate mixture on medium speed to cool and mixture is smooth and fluffy, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whip remaining 3/4c of heavy cream to medium to stiff peaks in a cold bowl.
- With a rubber spatula, fold whipped cream into paddled chocolate mixture by hand, in two additions.
- Fill a pastry bag with chocolate mousse fitted with a large tip or cut with a large opening.
- (Optionally) Add a base layer of chocolate cake or brownie to the bottom of each serving dish, ramekin, or mason jar.
- Pipe a generous amount of chocolate mousse in the serving dish.
- (Optionally) Finish with a dollop of whipped cream, fresh raspberries, mint, and dusting of cocoa powder.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve and enjoy!
- To lighten the mousse further, you can fold in additional whipped cream.
- To aerate the mousse further, you can also choose to use a whisk (instead of spatula) to mix in the whipped cream.
Hey I have a quick question. You say heat 3/4 cup and then whip 3/4 cup but the recipe only calls for one cup and 1T. That doesn’t add up Just want to make sure I temper with the right amount of cream?
Hi, T! Thanks for confirming. It’s been a while since I’ve made this variation mousse but it seems I made a conversion mistake – should be closer to 375g of cream total (about to 1-1/2c), divided. I’ve updated the recipe card with your catch!