Saturday 27 October 2007

Chocolate Mousse, really?

This is how this one goes -
Friends move into lovely large house. They know they will tire of unpacking over the weekend. So, they have us over for lunch on Sunday. Any chance I get, I like to make dessert and thus, I volunteered (the least I could do)! Now, as much as I thought I would prepare stuff well in advance, I was down to the wire as usual. And then I remembered, no worries - time to try out the Nigella Lawson Chocolate Mousse. Nigella Lawson recently published a book, Nigella Express, that focuses on quick meals. Am sure the book has the recipe but I saw one of her 'express' cooking shows and was fascinated with the chocolate mousse. Think Nigella Lawson is the UK version of Rachel Ray? Anyway, forget silly comparisons and other random thoughts. Back to the point. Chocolate Mousse was made and it was surprisingly like the real thing!


Ingredients
150g Marshmallows
50g Unsalted Butter
250g Dark Chocolate (70% cocoa solids)*
60ml Hot Water
284ml Double Cream
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Fresh Raspberries as needed. Ideal when using the dark chocolate!

* If you don't like Dark Chocolate, use regular cooking chocolate or mix the dark chocolate with some cooking/milk chocolate. This makes the taste less intense, easier for kids to have.

**Also, this recipe makes 6 large servings or 12 moderate to small servings (smaller servings are better when using rich dark chocolate, as the large serving can get too heavy after a nice meal). Mind you, we took a whole hour but we finished of the 'large' serving of mousse!

Method
Cut each marshmallow in half and drop the pieces in a heavy saucepan. Add the butter. Chop the chocolate into smallish pieces and into the pan. Add the hot water and put the pan on the heat, stirring occasionally until everything is smooth and melted. Remove from the heat. Whip the cream with vanilla extract until thick, then fold into the chocolate mixture until totally absorbed and smooth again. Pour into 6 small ramekins or glasses, and cover with cling-film. Put into the fridge to set, this will take at least 3 hours. Be careful as you transfer them to the fridge - klutzy me, I tipped a couple of the glass bowls as can be seen in the picture! :) Once set, top with raspberries just before serving. The raspberries taste lovely with dark chocolate.

7 comments:

Jules said...

Your chocolate mousse and raspberries looks delicious. I'll certainly have to give this a try.

Anonymous said...

Great, a chocolate mousse without raw eggs! Will definitely try this one!

MPG said...

Those look lovely! If I make them I'd have to find marshmallow substitute...and Nigella rocks! She has a new show on Food TV by the same name & it's been pretty good.

M'nMs said...

Jules - thanks, the combo wroks especially well when using dark chocolate.
Linda - raw eggs and I have not worked too well till now - thus, my excitement at making mousse without eggs. Hope the result is as you expect!
Mango Power Girl - True, I have belatedly found out that Marshmallows aren't vegetarian! I did not know Nigella's Express TV show is running in the US too. I miss food tv!

Kajal@aapplemint said...

Mousse is my fav. Its the easiest and classiest thing u can take over to a friends with no fuss at all. And u'll still look like a star and everyone will love it and think u slogged for hrs trying to make it. These look gorgeous.

M'nMs said...

Kate - Guess I should try the real thing one of these days!

Finla said...

Wow delicious Mousse.
And with the resberries they just look super delicious