Southern Comfort Chocolate Mousse

Categories: Dessert, Gluten Free, Recipes, West
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Comments: 1 Comment
Published on: October 10, 2011
 

I love dessert, but neither Italian or Chinese cuisine are really big on it.  Italian is about big, simple dishes that should fill you.  Most Italian meals consist of an antipasti course, then a pasta course and finally a meat course… not much room left for a dessert.  The Chinese don’t really do sweet courses, most desserts are savoury.  So it’s fairly rare that I get the chance to do a dessert.  When you are cooking for two anything you buy in the supermarkets will be more than enough to fill you and it’s hard to find the time to make a dessert through the week – when you are already looking to make a quick dinner.

That said, when I do get to make a dessert I try to make the most of it.  So when I need a good dessert, I usually turn to the French.  Apple Torte, Creme Brulee, Choux Pastries, Crepes, Mousse – there’s a lot of choice.  I’m going to keep it simple with a Chocolate Mousse!

Ingredients (Serves 4):

220g Dark Chocolate (70-85% Cocoa Solids) + Extra for shaving

5 Large free range Eggs

125g Caster Sugar

300ml Double Cream

4 Tbsp Southern Comfort

Sea Salt

 

Method:

1.  First, heat a small saucepan with water and bring it to the boil.

2.  Break the Dark Chocolate into equal chunks and place in a glass (or other heatproof) bowl with a pinch of sea salt and suspend over the boiling water – ensuring that it does not touch the water.  Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring occasionally.

3.  Separate the egg yolks and whites into two bowls (bigger one for the whites).  Try to make sure the bowls are dry and that no egg yolk gets in the bowl of whites.

4.  Lightly beat the egg yolks with 75g of the Caster Sugar and the Southern Comfort, until it has all combined.

5.  Beat the egg whites until the soft peak stage.  Add a little salt at the start to help and try to whip in as much air as possible.  Stop once the whites form peaks when you pull out the whisk but they fall over.

6.  Once the chocolate has all melted and allowed to cool for a minute or two, add up to 200ml of lightly whipped cream.  Then stir in the egg yolk mixture. You want a fairly creamy yet slightly heavy mixture.

7.  Next add the chocolate mixture into the egg whites and fold until it has completely mixed.  Don’t stir this mixture as it will “squash” the air bubbles out of the egg whites and make for a very heavy mousse.

8.  Divide the mixture into 4 ramekins and allow to set in the fridge for at least two hours.

9.  Before serving, whip the remaining 100ml of double cream (plus whatever you didn’t mix into the chocolate) with 50g of Caster Sugar.  Spread over the mousse and sprinkle with some dark chocolate shavings.

Tips:

You can add a little acid to the egg whites as you are beating them when they start to foam.  Cream of Tartar or a few drops of Lemon Juice are all you need, that will help stabilise the egg whites so when you stop beating them they don’t return to a liquid.  However if you do it all quickly enough it won’t be required.

I beat the egg whites by hand – it takes longer but it means I know exactly when to stop and I feel I can get more air in the mix than I can by just using a mixing bowl.  If you over beat the egg whites they will start to break down and you will have to start again.

You can beat the egg whites until stiff enough to hold over your head without them falling out, but you don’t need to go that far as you’re not making a meringue.  That is also why I don’t add the Caster Sugar to the egg whites but the egg yolks.  However it doesn’t make a big difference if you want to add the sugar to the whites you can, it will make them glossy.

You can use any liqueur you want… Amaretto and Cointreau are common choices.

You can switch the 200ml of lightly whipped cream for about 100ml of water.  This won’t be as rich.  You can also miss this out altogether but it will make for a very heavy mousse.

Use a peeler on the dark chocolate to get long curly chocolate shavings.



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