Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse

Image from Martha Stewart

(I made this with the help of my fab sistahs)

This recipe was in my email from Martha Stewart (everyday food, natch) for Valentine's Day. We went out to dinner BUT Saturday my sisters, brother and I were planning to make a nice dinner for my grandpa at his condo as his christmas gift (we gave him an IOU at the time!). (Dinner was: bacon-wrapped filets - cut from the butcher and I wrapped them at home... omg. So. Good. Locals - go to Kane's for your beef for real! just Pan Fried PERFECT. Also Mashed sweet potatos and bella-green beans and some good french bread)


Let me set the scene. My grandpa is the biggest chocoholic I know. Bigger than I am. Bigger than my mom. HUGE. His bday gift from his 8 grandkids (88 in 08 woot!) was a stack of (8 heehee) godiva boxes that was about 3 ft tall. He is almost done and its been less than a month.

So we knew that the dessert needed to be very. very. CHOCOLATE. And preferable wheat-free for my sis. And lo and behold - this recipe.


I would describe the flavor of this dessert as a dark chocolate truffle, melted then whipped and chilled. It is THAT intense. But oh... so so good.


I forgot my camera at home in the hustle and bustle of getting everything we needed to his house. So the photo is from the website (mine looked similar though not NEARLY as perfect!)
I served it with plain unsweetened whipped cream and that added a nice counter to the intense chocolate.
Serves 4
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
Directions
Finely chop chocolate; reserve. In a double boiler, whisk yolks, sugar, and salt until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Off heat, quickly whisk in chopped chocolate until melted and cocoa until smooth (mixture will be thick).
Cool to room temperature.
In a medium bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Whisk half of whipped cream into room-temperature chocolate mixture. Gently fold in remaining whipped cream with a rubber spatula.
Divide mousse among four serving dishes. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
Remove mousse from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with shaved chocolate.

2 comments:

Jaime said...

not a bittersweet chocolate fan, but could see myself trying this with a semi sweet chocolate :)

Joy Through Cooking said...

Dont worry - they dont TASTE bittersweet, there is enough sugar and cream in them to just give them a nice semisweet flavor :)