Chocolate mousse

Smooth, delicate, and with an intense flavor of its main ingredient, this chocolate mousse that I'm sharing with you today has become one of my signature recipes. When I want to surprise the kids at home or I'm looking a quick and very impressive dessert On the day I have guests, it's a great recipe to win them over.

Like all mousses, one of its secrets is the aeration, which is achieved by whipping the egg whites. It's best to beat them at low speed, especially at the beginning, while the chocolate melts, and this way we'll have both parts of the mousse ready at the same time.

Additionally, I suggest decorate your mousse of chocolate with some strawberries, adding some sprinkles or mini chocolate chips, mimicking a bit of soil around it. That way, when you present the dessert at the table, everyone will have a flowerpot as delicious as it is eye-catching.

Shall we go with the recipe?

Ingredients

For the mousse

• 100 g of dark chocolate
• 40 g of butter
• 25 g of sugar
• 120 g egg whites (about 4 whites)
• 1 egg yolk

For decoration

• 5 strawberries that look nice
• A little cocoa powder or small chocolate chips (sprinkle-style)

Preparation

Of the chocolate mousse

1. Put the egg whites in the bowl of the KitchenAid mixer and with the whisk start beating them at low speed until they begin to foam.
2. Gradually add the sugar in a slow, steady stream and keep beating until the whites reach stiff peaks, not overly firm. Increase the speed slightly when they’re almost there.
3. While the egg whites are beating, melt the chocolate with the butter in a saucepan over a double boiler, whisking or stirring until smooth and combined. Set aside and let it come to room temperature.
4. Place the yolk in a bowl, add half of the melted chocolate with the butter, and mix with a whisk until fully combined.
5. Add the remaining melted chocolate to the previous mixture and whisk until well combined.
6. Fold about half of the whipped egg whites into the mixture. Do it gently with a silicone spatula, using folding motions from bottom to top.
7. When half of the egg whites are incorporated, add the rest, repeating the same movements until fully incorporated.
8. Put the mousse in the De Buyer pressure gun with the filling nozzle, or in a piping bag with the indicated nozzle.
9. Divide the mousse among 5 small glasses, ramekins, or individual bowls and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Assembly

1. Take the mousses out of the fridge and place a strawberry in the center of each one, pressing it in slightly so that about half of it shows.
2. Sprinkle cocoa powder or chocolate chips around each strawberry.
3. Serve and enjoy every spoonful!

Notes

• If you don't have chips, you can chop part of a chocolate bar into very small pieces or grate it to get shavings.
• You can decorate the mousse any way you like: instead of a strawberry, place a bright red cherry, sprinkle grated white chocolate on top without adding any fruit, or do the same with dark chocolate...
• If you want, you can coat the strawberries with a little white or ruby chocolate. Melt your chosen chocolate and dip each strawberry, holding it by the stem. Set them on a piece of parchment paper and leave them in the fridge for a few minutes, until the chocolate sets. It gives them a bit of crunch that’s delicious. Here you have many more ideas for decorating strawberries.
• To melt the chocolate, you can do it in the microwave, always little by little and in intervals of no more than 20-30 seconds each time. When it is melted, add the butter at room temperature and stir to incorporate it well. You can also use the De Buyer bain-marie saucepan, especially when you want to melt a larger amount of chocolate.