I’ve been waiting to make this recipe since getting the book Around My French Table. I’ve even been a bit surprised that we haven’t tackled it before. But it was a good choice for a busy week, particularly when I was going to have people over for dinner.
I have to say, this wasn’t my very best effort. I expected the recipe to be an easy one, and it is – but not so sure about my results (not that it wasn’t delicious). I’ve made mousse before, so wasn’t too concerned. With only 4 ingredients, how hard can it be??
Since Dorie’s story goes that this recipe came from the back of a bar of chocolate, I can’t imagine that I’ll get in too much trouble by providing you the ingredients here: 3.5 oz of bittersweet chocolate, 3 eggs, pinch of salt and 1.5 t sugar. I thought – wow, so simple, and really not that bad for you (if you subscribe to the idea of dark chocolate being a super-food).
The first step is to melt the chocolate. I always just use the microwave.
Once the chocolate was melted, the eggs get divided, and then it’s only a few minutes to having the completed mousse. I was quite proud of my melted chocolate – not too hot. but don’t know if that’s where I went wrong. Also, the room-temperature eggs were significantly more difficult to separate – good thing I had some extras!
The yolks get mixed into the chocolate. Then that mixture is lightened by the whipped egg whites (to which the salt and sugar have been added). My chocolate really seized up when I added the egg yolks, that made it difficult to fold in the whites.
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It seemed that the mixture really reduced when I folded the whites in. It wasn’t as fluffy as I’d hoped. I may have over-whipped the egg whites, but I think it was really the thickness of the chocolate mixture. Once this was complete, the mixture was spooned into individual serving dishes.
I made mine a bit ahead, so put the dishes in the refrigerator. I was worried that there wasn’t much mousse for each person.
Not the best photo, but you can see – presented with just a bit of whipped cream on top. The consensus was that it was delicious. A very decadent shot of chocolate. I still think it could have been a bit lighter, but it was a great ending to a simple meal.
dulceshome 
Looks perfect! I can’t wait to enjoy ours — with a little bit of white cream too. Have a great w/e!
I had that problem with my first batch too. It wasnt fluffy after it set in the fridge, so I made it again and if you let your yolks sit out for about five mins and let your cjocolate cool a bit, then it works out pretty good! 🙂
Oh btw, did you see that we are doing a FFWD christmas card exchange? details are on my chocolate mousse post this week!
Candy, your Chocolate Mousse still looks wonderful in the nice glasses with some whipped cream on top – I am sure that it was delicious – chocolate can be a tad temperamental at times.
Have a good week!
Bummer. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, the chocolate just decides not to play along. Better luck next time.
Hi Candy. I tried switching my web site several months ago but then I had trouble importing photos to wordpress. It was all very frustrating. I abandoned the switch. I hope you are having better luck! The mousse came together nicely for me but it really wasn’t my thing. I prefer mousse with whipped cream. My husband loved it though!
Thanks for the kind words. Actually, the trick for me is using Google Chrome as my browser. Safari also works. I can just drag and drop. A bit tricky to get sizing right, but I’m not as dedicated as I ought to be. Wish I had more time!
Sent from my iPhone
Chocolate mousse from scratch can be tricky to make..no doubt about that! Your chocolate mousse looks like it came out great- it didn’t make very much, did it?!!
Your mousse looks good at this end. I think the consensus was the mousse wasn’t the traditionally light textured mousse we are used to.
Hi Candy! This mousse is a bit temperamental but it sure tastes delicious !!!
Chocolate is very finicky! After I added my first room temperature egg yolk, I whisked it quite hard and then added the next yolk…after the third yolk it had lightened up. But to tell you the truth, you never know!
Your chocolate mousse looks perfectly wonderful!! Have a great weekend!!
Agreed. Not as photogenic as her other recipes, but interestingly tasty.
Mine did not turn out as fluffy and light as I expected, but not too bad. I don’t think
you could take too much of this mousse, it is so rich.
This one made my head hurt – but it looks like yours came out wonderfully 🙂
Have a great weekend.
It looks like your mousse came out fine despite the troubles. I think I let my chocolate cool a little too long before adding the egg white, but that first amount of egg white that can be stirred in lightened it up so I could fold in the rest. Glad that your guests enjoyed this. I agree it’s a good recipe for a busy week, pretty easy to pull together. Have a great week.
We used the same chocolate. 🙂 Your mousse looks really good and I think whipped cream would be perfect with this.
I really like the colour of your mousse!
Mine just would not work!
I think you are a harsh critic, Candy. Your mousse looks delicious and it seems that your guests agreed. The bitter chocolate really made a beautiful, dark, rich dessert. I haven’t made this yet so will be careful to not overwhip the eggs whites. I am heavy-handed so I am glad for the heads-up. Still, it appears that you turned out a perfect product.
We found the servings to be quite small too. Small but delicious!