Chocolate Mousse

Looks can be deceiving. See that picture up there? It appears to be a photo of two mugs of a rather bland looking tan substance. That substance is chocolate. Normally, I stay away from chocolate that’s closer to tan than espresso (the color), but since I made this I had to try it. And ya know what? Under that top layer of less-than-stellar-looking (but still delicious-tasting) chocolate, there was a mug full of rich, dark, light, silky chocolate decadence. Better yet, it’s really not that bad for you and it’s totally do-able on a weeknight.

(Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray)

¾ cup heavy cream

2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Cold water

5 egg whites

2 tbsp organic sugar

1. Heat heavy cream and chocolate in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring, until melted and smooth.

2. Fill a large bowl with cold water.

3. Pour the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and carefully place the chocolate-filled bowl into the bowl of cold water. Allow the chocolate mixture to cool to about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk at medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute.

5. As the mixer whisks, add the sugar to the foamy egg whites. Beat until stiff, but moist, 2-3 minutes.

6. Transfer the egg white mixture to a large bowl and pour the cold chocolate mixture into the bowl of the stand mixer.

7. Beat the chocolate mixture at medium speed “until fluffy.” According to the original recipe, fluffiness should occur in 2 minutes. We never achieved fluffiness and gave up after about 5 minutes.

8. Fold a quarter of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture just until it’s a uniform color (i.e. no streaks). Gradually fold the rest of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture.

9. Divide the mousse into cups. (The recipe says to divide it into 8 cups. Our mousse filled 3 ½ cups. This may have been a consequence of unfluffy chocolate, but the lack of chocolate fluffiness may have led to the rich chocolate flavor…so fluff your chocolate at your own risk.)

10. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.