Granny’s Mousse Au Chocolat

In most of my earliest childhood photos, my face is covered in chocolate. And while my table manners have somewhat improved, my love of chocolate remains unspoiled. My favourite dessert out there is my French grandmother’s chocolate mousse.

Chocolate mousse is rarely the best in restaurants. It’s kind of a pain to make in large batches, and when I do find it, it’s invariably disappointing. Too creamy, too complicated, too sweet; and certainly not enough chocolate! There have been a couple of exceptions, but overall, that’s been my experience. And maybe it has been yours too? 

This family recipe is beyond simple: 4 ingredients, a little finesse and some love. 

Makes enough for 4 

Ingredients: 

• 125g of chocolate 
• 50g of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 30g of butter

Melt the butter and chocolate in a bain-marie. Meanwhile, split the egg yolks from the egg whites. Beat the egg whites until firm. Once the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and add the yolks one by one, then the sugar. Now gently fold in your firm egg whites into the chocolate mixture, take your time and don’t over mix. Let your chocolate mousse rest in the freezer for 20-minutes, then into the fridge overnight or for a few hours. Voilà!

My notes: 

• You can double this recipe, but I wouldn’t do a larger volume than that.
• The trick here is to make sure you have fresh high quality eggs and high quality cooking chocolate.
• Before mixing in your egg whites, your chocolate mixture might look a little lumpy. That’s ok! 
• I use a spatula or a fork to incorporate the egg whites. I can’t overstress how important it is not to over-mix. It’s ok if you see small specks of egg white in the mousse when you put it to rest.