This three-ingredient chocolate mousse is made in five minutes using a simple technique to turn melted chocolate into a fluffy mousse. It’s a recipe by Heston Blumenthal and is pretty genius. make sure you use the best chocolate you can here as this is the main ingredient. I have included an adaptation of this recipe which adds depth of flavour.
I havehadthis recipe at the back of my mind since first pinning it onto my ‘recipes I like‘ board on Pinterest a few months ago. It claims to be ‘thebest chocolate mousse of your life in under 5 minutes so Iimmediatelyknew I would have to try it.Apart from water (which cannot be considered an ingredient), theoriginalrecipe has only sugar and chocolate in it.
To makesomethingdelicious out of only 2ingredientsis a pretty challenging feat.
With this, it’s all aboutthemethod, so last week I got my molecular gastronomy on and gave this recipe a whirl.
I followed it down totheexact ingredient,includingthe Valrhona Guanaja which Ihappenedto both love and have on hand. At the end of the process, I added a good glug (about 30ml) of brandy because I felt it needed it, but you could leave this out.
*Verdict:
I thoroughly enjoyed the process of making this interesting recipe, and the flavour of the chocolate is lovely and intense. I did however missthecreamymouth feelof a chocolate mousse made with cream, butter and eggs, so for me, this is not the best recipe ever. If I ever made it again, I would experiment with folding whipped cream into the mix as the chocolate starts to thickenand consider including chopped preserved oranges, orange zest or ginger to add flavour.
** I have made this mousse a few times and played around with improving the flavour and texture. This is my latest version and I love it. I have used Earl Grey Tea instead of water which brings in a little more depth and of course the subtlebergamot flavour. The whipped cream adds the necessary creamy mouthfeel which I think the original version lacks, and the liqueur adds that lovely boozy touch which can only improve a chocolate mousse.
5-minute chocolate mousse with Earl Grey tea.
270g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) – broken into pieces
250ml (I cup) strongly brewed Earl Grey tea
4 Tbsp sugar
300ml whipped cream to serve
1/2 cup roughly chopped roasted hazelnuts to serve.
1 – 2 Tbsp orange liqueur/brandy – optional
Brew just over a cup of Ear Grey tea and allow to steep for 5 minutes.
Place the tea, chocolate and sugar into a double boiler and gently heat until the sugar is dissolved.
Remove from the heat and place the bowl with the chocolate mixture directly on top of a bigger bowl of ice.
Using the whisk attachment of a hand handheld mixer,whisk the chocolate mixture on medium speed continuously until it starts to thicken. This will take between 3 – 5 minutes. As it starts thickening, fold through half the cream, ¾ of the nuts and liqueur. Scoop the mix into either individual serving dishes or one larger dish. Place in the fridge to further firm up.
Decorate with the remaining whipped cream and remaining nuts.
2Tbspof brandy or any other liqueur of your choiceoptional
Instructions
Melt the chocolate, sugar and water together in a double boiler or a bowl placed over a pot of boiling water.
Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and then place another, smaller bowl on top of this and keep to one side.
When the chocolate has melted, empty this into the bowl standing on top of the ice (I simply placed the bowl I had melted the chocolate in directly onto the ice).
Using an electric hand-held mixer, start beating the mixture until it thickens. As it cools it starts to thicken. This takes about 3 - 5 minutes, so be patient.
Once it starts to thicken it very quickly goes very hard, so I suggest spooning it into your serving dishes while it is still fairly soft. If you find the chocolate is grainy, you can heat it over the double bowler again and repeat the process until it is the texture that you like.
I added the brandy towards the end of the mixing.
It can be served immediately.
Notes
To make give this mousse a delicious mouthfeel, stir through some whipped cream at the end before it gets too firm/
Author: Sam Linsell
I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.
Mousse is a light and airy dessert made with eggs, sugar, heavy cream, and flavoring. All mousses have four basic components: aerated egg yolks, whipped egg whites, whipped cream, and a flavoring base.
Using gelatin in the mousse will help it hold its shape. Virtually any cake sponge baked in a flat sheet can be used (or, alternatively, a flourless meringue-based cookie).
To take a step back, mousses generally comprise four components – the base, the egg foam, a setting agent and whipped cream. Bases are the flavour element to the mousse and can be fruit purees, custards or ganache.
Mousse is one of the most rich and decadent desserts and is often made with chocolate. Either whipped cream or beaten egg whites (sometimes both!) are folded into a mixture of melted chocolate, egg yolks, and sugar, then chilled.
The whipped cream and egg whites also provide fat and protein, which give the mousse its rich and smooth mouthfeel. Additionally, the use of high-quality chocolate can contribute to the creaminess of the mousse, as the cocoa butter in the chocolate can help to create a smooth and silky texture.
Mousse is the stuff of dessert dreams: incredibly light and also ridiculously rich. At its most basic, mousse is made by folding aerators into a base. These aerators can be whipped cream, meringue (egg whites + sugar), pâte à bombe (whole eggs and/or egg yolks + sugar), or a combination.
If your chocolate becomes grainy when you add the whipped egg whites or cream, it has cooled too much and hardened into small grains. Ideally, your chocolate should be between 35-40ºC before you incorporate the cooler ingredients. If using cream, it's possible that you over whipped it - aim for 'barely soft peaks'.
For an even thicker mousse, livestrong.com suggests adding in ½ tablespoon of cornstarch and ½ tablespoon of cold milk until reaching your desired consistency. Remove from heat and cool slightly before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
Try adding a small amount of cornstarch to a little water, and add it to the mousse a little at a time and see how it thickens the texture. You can also beat some egg yolks in a separate bowl over low heat until they increase in volume and slowly add them to the mousse mixture.
The mousse base is going to be one of two things: a custard (like crème anglaise) or a pate a bombe, which is egg yolks and/or whole eggs whipped with hot sugar syrup. I prefer a pate a bombe because it creates a richer, creamier mousse.
A mousse may be sweet or savoury. Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, choco vanilla etc. Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream, or both, and flavored with one or more of chocolate, coffee, caramel, puréed fruits, or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla.
Traditionally, pudding gets its thick consistency from being cooked (which activates the cornstarch), while mousse is not cooked. Texture: Because these two creamy desserts use different methods of thickening, the texture also varies. Pudding is semisolid and more dense, while mousse has a lighter, airier texture.
While it uses only a few ingredients, chocolate, eggs, butter, vanilla, and heavy cream, its chocolate flavor is rich and its texture is silky smooth and airy, almost foamy. And foamy is an apt description as "mousse" is French for 'froth' or 'foam'.
A bavarian, also known as bavarian cream or bavaroise, is made of three basic elements: custard sauce (flavored as desired), gelatin, and whipped cream. That's all there is to it. Gelatin is softened in cold liquid, stirred into the hot custard sauce until dissolved, and chilled until almost set.
Mousse is set apart from other look-alike desserts by its texture, which is light and airy. This is achieved with whipped egg whites, which hold trapped air bubbles and have lots of volume. (Just like when making meringue.) Mousse can also be made by beating heavy cream to create air-filled whipped cream.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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