Chocolate mousse

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PRESENTATION

Recipe by
Iginio Massari

Chocolate mousse is one of the most classic soft desserts loved by everyone. Its origin is not known exactly, but the only thing that is certain is that it appeared for the first time in French chef Menon’s cookbook Les soupers de la cour in 1755. Chocolate mousse has since conquered the palate of many Italians and others worldwide... is it thanks to the microscopic air bubbles enclosed inside that it is so light and airy? Or is it its sweet, bitter taste that never tires? Probably the combination of the two rendered this mousse so famous. And like all of the most popular recipes, there are many ways to make it, but there are two techniques which are most used, one without eggs and another one which we will provide the recipe for today. Together with Maestro Iginio Massari, we will explain how to make a chocolate mousse starting from a base of custard sauce and adding freshly whipped cream. The result will be an incredible shiny mousse with a velvety, frothy texture. Let your imagination run wild, enjoy the mousse in cups or use it to create a more articulated cake, like our modern cake! And if you love this kind of dessert, try different variants, such as our Avocado Chocolate Mousse!

INGREDIENTS
Ingredients for 2 pounds (900 g) of chocolate mousse
Dark chocolate 70% 1 ⅔ cup (200 g)
Heavy cream 2 ⅓ cups (550 g)
Egg yolks 1 cup (160 g) - (about 10)
Whole milk ¾ cup (100 g)
Acacia honey 1 ½ tbsp (20 g)
Preparation

How to prepare Chocolate mousse

To prepare the chocolate mousse, first chop the dark chocolate 1 and place it a bowl. Move on to the custard sauce. In a non-stick pan, pour the yolks 2, honey 3,

milk 4 and mix. Put over heat and stir continuously with a soft whisk 5. Cooking will take place very quickly, you will have to reach 180° F (82° C). We recommend using a kitchen thermometer, as it is very important to reach the exact temperature. As soon as it is cooked, pour in the chocolate 6

and stir with the whisk 7 until the chocolate is completely melted 8. The cream should be shiny. Now mix the cream with a hand blender until it is smooth and shiny 9.

Whip the cream quickly 10: it should not be stiff, but very soft. Add a little to the chocolate cream 11  and mix with a whisk to unify the density of the chocolate 12.

Gradually add the remaining whipped cream in 2 more parts 13 by stirring vigorously and making rotating movements from bottom to top. The chocolate mousse is now ready 14, you can divide it among the cups and decorate the top 15 or keep it in the fridge until needed.

Storage

Chocolate mousse can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for 5 days. Alternatively, you can freeze it for 1 month.

Tips

To flavor the mousse, you can add orange peel or a vanilla bean infused in the milk used to make the custard sauce.

You can use the chocolate mousse to fill a 9.5-inch (24 cm) diameter cake with 2 layers.