Basic Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Chocolate mousse is all about ingredients and prep. There are only three ingredients, so they should be fresh and high-quality. Have your bowl and whisk for the egg whites immaculately clean and your cream very cold. If you’ve done these things, you’ll end up with a rich and perfectly whipped mousse that can kick the ass of any chocolate pudding.
To see this recipe with illustrated steps, check out The Basics: How to Make Chocolate Mousse.
- 5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup very cold heavy cream
- 3 large egg whites (no traces of yolk), at room temperature
- Sweetened whipped cream, for serving (optional)
- Fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Place chocolate and 1/4 cup of the heavy cream in a large heatproof bowl. (Place remaining cream back in the refrigerator until ready to use.) Nest the bowl over the saucepan, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula, until smooth and combined with the cream. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly.
- Place egg whites in a second large bowl and whisk vigorously until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes (make sure the bowl and whisk have no trace of oil or fat, or the whites will not whip properly); set aside. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
- Clean and dry the whisk (or your beaters if you’re using an electric mixer). Place the remaining 3/4 cup heavy cream in a third large bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. (Alternatively, you can use an electric mixer.)
- Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the whipped cream into the melted chocolate, then gently stir in the rest (try not to deflate the whipped cream). Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate-cream mixture just until there are no longer large blobs of whipped cream or egg white (do not overmix).
- Spoon the mousse or pipe it from a pastry bag into serving cups and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with additional sweetened or flavored whipped cream if desired.
I don't usually use egg whites, I use like 2tbs of butter (I'm not a measurer haha) , and melt that with the cream and chocolate. Also, the texture comes out smoother (like with whipped cream) if you use a bowl that been in the freezer for a while.
If I wanted to make this completely non-dairy, what would be a better substitute for the cream? Almond milk or coconut milk or something else?
You have three options : 1.Take the risk -- This is a traditional recipe and uses raw eggs, just like Caesar dressing. 2.Purchase pasteurized eggs that have been heated to 160F to kill Salmonella bacteria. 3.Modify the recipe to use an egg substitute like gelatin or even avacado. I've had this type of mousse before. It's really nice and I'm still around but your mileage may vary.
So you don't worry about salmonella?