Mousse au Chocolat, is just WOW!

You've got to hand it to the French. Not only do they have one of the most salivating cuisines, they have a way of making the most down to earth delicacies sound like the most wonderful things on earth. Its almost as if they are doing you a favor by letting you enjoy the food of the french. I daresay, the entire french cuisine owes a great part of its almost mythic status to the way the dishes are named.

When you say Chocolate Mousse, you get images of a delicious, chocolaty-creamy dessert. But when you say 'Mousse au Chocolat', you experience a classic french dessert that has all the alluring sensuality of the food associated with romance the world over, chocolate whipped up to make a delicacy with a texture 'lighter than air' and the smoothness of cashmere.

"Mousse" is the French word for "foam", while "Chocolat" is of course French for "chocolate". Consequently, "Mousse au chocolat" translates as "foamy chocolate", and is one of a number of foamy desserts (many of which are fruit based).

It never ceases to amaze me that the simplest things are usually the best. Chocolate Mousse is an extremely simple mixture of whipped cream, whipped egg yolks, and melted chocolate, yet it's a classic french dessert loved all over the world. The classic chocolate mousse does not have any cream. The traditional french version actually involves a bit of work, but there are a lot of recipes out there that turn out a light and creamy dessert with very little effort like this one. You can even find egg-free versions, though I don't particularly care for them.

In a traditional recipe for 'Mousse au Chocolat', you make a 'pate a bombe', which is created when you add a cooked sugar syrup to egg yolks while they're mixing, and a basic merengue, and adding the lot of them to melted chocolate. You can save a lot of that work making a good chocolate mousse with the recipe provided. You'll never even notice the time you've spent in your kitchen!

As for me, I like my flavors to be particularly intense. The recipe after the turn does exactly that - create a classic 'Mousse au Chocolat' that is intensely heavenly.

Recipe : Intense Mousse au Chocolat
Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
Cooking Time: 5 Minutes
Servings : 6

You need:
Dark Chocolate(70% chocolate) - 7 ounces (200 g)
Butter - 2 ounces (60 g)
Eggs - 2
Icing Sugar - 1.4 ounces (40 g)

You do this:
1. Break up the chocolate into small pieces and then melt it into gooeyness, using just enough heat to gently melt the chocolate. Keep stirring the chocolate with a wooden spoon as it is melting.
2. Slowly mix in the butter, stirring it in with the wooden spoon as it melts. Then dump the egg yolks of the 2 eggs, again stirring them in.
3. Separately, whip up the egg whites into a froth. Then gradually put in the icing sugar to the whipped egg whites, stirring the sugar in as you add it.
4. Slowly add the egg whites and sugar mixture to the chocolate and butter mixture, gently folding the egg white into the chocolate, using the wooden spoon.
5. Once the sugared egg white mixture has been mixed in fully, spoon the mixture into attractive glasses. Place the glasses in a refrigerator for at least an hour before serving, to allow the chocolate to cool.

You can serve the mousse as it is, but the real magic of the taste can be felt only when it is cooled.


Notes:
This recipe is for serious chocolate lovers. The taste is a very intense, dark chocolate variant which is enjoyed by some but will be found too strong by others. My tastes veer towards the more intense flavors.

For tips on avoiding common problems with Mousse au Chocolat, you can read the Guidelines to Making Chocolate Mousse.

Chocolate mousse or Mousse au Chocolat would make an easy and delicious dessert any day, night...whatever. Whenever possible, try scooping up the chocolate mousse with fresh pieces of fruits like apple, banana etc. Believe it or not, it tastes even better.