Bouchon’s Chocolate Mousse

This is our third recipe for chocolate mousse, and a fair question would be, why? Well, let us explain. Our first Chocolate Mousse recipe is probably the easiest mousse recipe you’ll find. It makes a pretty tasty mousse, but it has two drawbacks: one, it doesn’t hold well, meaning you need to eat it soon after making (okay, maybe that’s not a real drawback), and two, it contains raw eggs, which might concern some people. The second Dark Chocolate Mousse recipe …

doesn’t have the raw eggs, and is very stable, but it’s more trouble to make. Significantly more, as you need to make a custard with egg yolks, plus a Swiss meringue with the egg whites. It’s a great chocolate mousse for those times when you’re unsure if raw eggs are appropriate. That leads us to this chocolate mousse recipe, which is sort of a hybrid of the two. Yes, it does have raw eggs, but it’s also pretty stable, meaning it’ll last for a few days. Plus, for those who want to try out recipes from Thomas Keller, this one comes right from his Bouchon cookbook (not to be confused with the Bouchon Bakery cookbook), although we use a different chocolate than recommended.

Ingredient discussion:

Your chocolate mousse will be only as good as the chocolate you use. We like and use Valrhona 70% cacao chocolate that we buy in large (11-pound) bars, and we think it’s very good; however, if you have another favorite, go for it. We also like to use eggs from truly pastured hens; you know, hens that get out and scratch and peck and do chicken stuff. We figure that the better they’re cared for, the better the eggs. Finally, we really prefer to use organic heavy cream, mainly because it’s just cream. Nothing else.

Tip: We just learned this very recently and thought we’d pass it along. Use a serrated (bread slicing) knife for chopping chocolate. Nothing could be easier.

Procedure in detail:

Melt chocolate. The original recipe has you melting the chocolate in a double boiler. You can do that if you want, but we find that a microwave can be your best friend when it comes to melting chocolate. Simply place the bowl of chocolate, butter, and hot water in the ‘wave and hit it up in 15-second bursts. Between each, take the bowl out and give the chocolate a good stirring. After a minute or so, you should have nice smooth, shiny, melted chocolate. Now, set it aside to cool.

Whip cream. While the chocolate is cooling, place the heavy cream in the (chilled, if possible) bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the (also chilled) whisk attachment. Starting on low, gradually increase the speed of the mixer to full blast and whip the cream into stiff peaks. Don’t over-whip or you’ll have butter. Transfer the whipped cream to another bowl and refrigerate. Clean the mixer bowl and whisk attachment thoroughly, as you’ll be using it to whip egg whites in a minute.

Stir in yolks. Check the temperature of the chocolate. It should be warm, just above body temperature. A great way to test it is to take a small spoon, scoop up a bit and place it on your lip. If it feels just barely warm, that’s perfect. Of course, now you have a dab of chocolate on your lip. Darn. You’ll have to figure out something. Once the chocolate is the right temperature, add the egg yolks and stir in completely.

Whip egg whites. Place the egg whites in the cleaner-than-clean mixer bowl and attach the whisk attachment to the mixer. Starting on low, gradually increase the speed to about medium. As the egg whites start to hold their shape, slowly rain in the sugar and continue increasing the speed of the mixer. Stop when the whites are still shiny and hold soft peak, meaning the peaks just slump over slightly when you lift out the whisk attachment.

Fold in some cream. Take the cream from the refrigerator and stir about 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. If you want, and we always do so, feel free to practice your folding technique; just don’t get too worried if much of the whipped cream collapses as you fold it into the chocolate.

Fold in egg whites. Add about 1/2 the egg whites and fold in. Now you should see the egg whites holding their own and making the chocolate mixture lighter. Keep folding until the egg whites are almost completely folded in, then add the second 1/2 of the egg whites and fold those in the same way.

Fold in cream. If you wish, you can fold in the remaining whipped cream in two additions, but it’s not really necessary. Just add all the whipped cream and fold away. Keep folding until no white streaks remain. You have achieved moussedom!

Portion and refrigerate. If you’re going to eat your mousse just like this, you can portion it into serving dishes and refrigerate. If you’re feeling really fancy, you can even use a piping bag fitted with a fancy tip to fill the serving dishes. Whatever you do, realize that the mouse should be refrigerated for about 8 hours to firm completely before serving.

While we had plans for a dessert made from this mousse, we did try it just as it is. Very rich, light, and filled with chocolate flavor. Not very sweet, which we like — too many desserts are way, way too sweet, making them hard to eat more than a couple of spoonfuls. Not this one; we think you could eat a lot of this mousse. We also think it would be great frozen, sort of like a semifreddo, well, exactly like a semifreddo, and perfect for summer. No, we made something else with the mousse and you’ll just have to wait and see. Five stars.