Dark Chocolate Mousse

Recently, I attempted my first chocolate mousse recipe from scratch.  I must admit, it was easier than I thought it was going to be.  I looked around for several recipes including one that replaced the cream and eggs with avocado, but I decided for my first mousse I would keep it classic.

I decided to follow Bobby Flay's recipe which only had four ingredients in it: 6oz dark chocolate, 14oz heavy cream, three egg whites and 1oz sugar.  The recipe was very straight forward.  Start with some high quality chocolate (preferably > 70% cacao):

To melt the chocolate, Bobby suggests using a double boiler, but Ina Garten said on Barefoot Contessa that you can always just put chocolate in the microwave for 20 seconds, take it out, stir, put back in microwave for 20 seconds and repeat.  When it is almost melted (but still has a few chunks) just take it out, stir and the rest of the chocolate will melt naturally (to avoid burning it).  Next, whip the cream until stiff peaks and set aside.

Third, whip the egg whites and slowly add in sugar until stiff peaks. Mix the melted chocolate with the egg whites all at once.  Once everything is mixed, start to slowly fold in the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture.  Separate mixture into four ramekins (or wine glasses) and place in fridge to set up for at least 1 hour.  When ready to serve, top with a few pieces of fruit and some coco powder. Hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did!  This will definitely be a repeat dessert.