Gastro 101: Chocolate mousse

by Gina Biber
- The Capitol Hill Times - 

Last Saturday I was invited to a dinner party, and it was my job to bring dessert. Even though it’s never a good idea to experiment with a new recipe when cooking for others, my cravings persuaded me otherwise, and I set out to make chocolate mousse.

On my way back from the grocery store, chocolate bar and eggs in hand, I got a call letting me know that the dinner had been canceled. Still, though, my mind was set on eating chocolate mousse that evening, and so I got busy in the kitchen as soon as I arrived home.

Chocolate mouse should be simple to make—it’s only chocolate and eggs, after all—and I suppose that for most people, and for you, it will be; but the key to making it is beating egg whites into a foam, and my hand mixer broke awhile back. After about 45 minutes of stirring the egg whites by hand to achieve stiff peeks, yet with little progress, I surrendered, accepting that I wasn’t going to get the mousse right on the first try, and thankful that the dinner was canceled so that it didn’t need to be public.

I stirred the egg yolks into the melted chocolate, then folded in the pathetic half-foam, half-liquid whites. After waiting the recommended 3 hours of refrigeration, I peeked into the fridge and scooped a spoonful of the mousse into my mouth. It was so good. The mousse was maybe more dense than it should have been, but there was nothing wrong with the taste.

The moral of the story is that this recipe will be flawless either way: If you like chocolate mousse to be light and fluffy, beat the egg whites until they’re as soft as clouds. For those of you who prefer a denser mousse, or don’t have a hand mixer (only me?), relax and only beat the egg whites until they’re halfway foamy.

Gina Biber / The Capitol Hill Times

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients
250 grams Chocolate
6 eggs

Directions 

1. Separate egg yolks from egg whites, placing egg yolks in a large bowl. Set egg yolks aside.

2. In a medium bowl, beat egg white into stiff peeks. Set aside.

3. In a double boiler, melt chocolate.

4. Add chocolate to egg yolks and mix together vigorously.

5. Fold in egg whites, mixing evenly.

6. Pour into serving dish (or individual custard cups) and refrigerate for 3 or more hours. Serve chilled.