If Barry White’s voice could be distilled into dessert form, it would look, and taste, like this. This sumptuous chocolate mousse takes a mere twenty minutes to prepare, pleasures the palette in ways you never knew existed, and allows you to liven up your date night without the expense (and obviousness) of sucking back a few oysters as you recline on a satin chaise lounge.
You can thank me later.
Ingredients:
- 250g block of dark chocolate (works best if you can find some with around 70 per cent cocoa solids – I used Whittaker’s Dark Ghana)- 300mL cream
- 50g caster sugar
- 2 free range egg whites (shopping ethically is hot)
- 2 tbsp flavoured syrup or liqueur (optional) – e.g. Baileys (for the high rollers), Canterbury Cream (for the rest of us)
Method:
1. Measure out 100 grams of the chocolate, break into small pieces and set aside.2. Place some cold water and a few blocks of ice in a large bowl and place a medium sized bowl inside it (keep the inside of this bowl dry – you will put your mixture in here to cool later).
3. In a small saucepan, heat half of the cream until it begins to boil and then turn off the heat.
4. Add the broken chocolate and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
5. Pour this mixture into the bowl surrounded by the iced water and add the rest of the cream and the liqueur or syrup.
6. Use an electric hand held mixer to whisk the chocolate mixture until peaks begin to form (you can do it manually – it just takes a little longer.) Remove the bowl from the iced water and set aside.
7. Now whisk the egg whites until peaks begin to form. Add the caster sugar a tablespoon at a time and continue to whisk into a soft meringue.
8. Fold the meringue mixture into the chocolate and then spoon into serving dishes (wine glasses are a nice touch). Leave these to set in the fridge.
9. If you want to go a little extra fancy, put some tin foil on a tray and then melt some of your remaining chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl set in some hot water. Add a tiny drop of cooking oil to make it slightly runnier and pour into a piping bag (a zip-lock works just as well). Cut a tiny snip off the end and use to pipe decorations onto your tray.
10. Once the mousse has set, decorate with your piped chocolate, grated chocolate, and some sliced almonds for added texture (or “sexture” even – apparently the zinc content in almonds enhances the libido. Rawr ...).
11. Get freaky (stay classy). Enjoy!