The Mousse was really good and easy to make. It tasted like nothing I have ever tasted. I was proud when I made this delicious dessert with my mom. All of my family members loved it. Making this dessert will surely make you smile. – Robbie, age 10
Confession. I have a picky eater. Tonight, he had an apple for dinner. One. Apple. In my defense, there was an entire bowl of dinner in front of him. However, it just was not full of mac & cheese. My picky eater is 10 years old and has been picky for about 8 of those years. As a toddler he ate like a champ, but somewhere along the way he decided that chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, and french fries (just the skinny kind) was the life for him.
So, blow me over with a feather when he became my most enthusiastic food sampling buddy at the International Food and Wine Festival on our trip to Disney. Seriously, this kid ate an escargot croissant (that’s snail) and Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie). Whoa. The next thing I know, this kid is bringing home a French Cookbook from the school library asking if we could make something.
Um, yes!
Fully embracing this new adventure I had him peruse the book and tell me which recipe he wanted to make. It should really come as no surprise that a dessert was chosen because even the pickiest of eaters love dessert. We set aside a Sunday morning and got our cooking on. Here’s how to make this delectable Mousse au Chocolat:
First, I like to cook “mise en place,” which is fancy French for preparing and gathering all the ingredients before you start. Now, the recipe calls for 3/4 cup cream…not 1/4 cup. Please, don’t try to read recipes pre-coffee if you are a coffee person. As a consequence, you’ll end up a 1/2 cup short of the ingredient you need and not realize it until all is said and done.
At this point, eggs will need to be separated. Just like bickering siblings. I’m old fashioned and just like to slop the yolk from shell to shell while the egg white falls into a bowl, but try getting a 10 year old boy to do this. I dare you. Instead, get a clean pop/water bottle and you can use it to suck the yolk out of the whites and transfer to other bowl. It’s so easy, a kid can do it!
Next, fill a larger sauce pan with water and set a smaller sauce pan inside of it. Or, if you’re fancy, use a double boiler. I’m not fancy so we have the two pan method. Then, put the chocolate in the pan with milk. Melt and mix. (I’m not exactly sure how important it is to put the milk in before the chocolate melts. Like I said, I was pre-coffee and realized I forgot the milk and dumped it in after the chocolate was melted.)
In a bowl beat together your egg yolks and sugar until it is pale yellow and creamy.
Stir your sugary yolks into the melted chocolate. Set aside.
Now, this is the tricky part. Beat the egg whites with dash of salt until stiff peaks form. I still have yet to master this and I think I could have let the beater go a little longer.
Next, you need to fold your egg whites into the chocolate without “unstiffening” them. I’d rather fold all my and your fitted sheets! At least I’m good at that. Folding stiff egg whites…not so much. Well, we did our best.
In yet another bowl beat the cream until thick but don’t turn it into butter. Carefully, fold it into the barely stiff chocolate and egg mixture. Ugh.
Finally, it’s time to chill. You can throw the whole bowl into the fridge for 4 hours. However, you can be an overachiever like us and transfer the chocolate slop mousse into individual dessert dishes before chilling.
Four hours later…
Top your dessert with some whipped cream and throw a cherry on top. I was also thinking maybe vanilla wafers would be a good garnish but, sadly, there was none in the cupboard. If you are not all about toppings, then enjoy this dessert in all it’s chocolate glory. It’s pretty rich and very delish.
Here’s the recipe from The Young Chef’s French Cookbook…
[ultimate-recipe id=”19505″ template=”default”]
Make sure you never miss out on a parenting or community-related blog post: sign up to receive CRMB posts in your inbox. While you’re at it, join our VIP List to ensure you’re one of the first to know about upcoming Cedar Rapids Moms Blog events and promotions!!