The Instant, No Egg, No Set, Chocolate Mousse

Rarely do I stumble across a recipe so exciting that I rush out a few hours later for supplies and spend the very next morning cooking in the kitchen. I may or may not have let out a little yelp of excitement when I first came across this via the very domestic goddess herself- Nigella Lawson.

I think what excited me most, besides the idea of an instant chocolate mousse is that this recipe requires no raw eggs! For anyone who's never made a mousse before, one of the key ingredients is raw egg yolks. Which means this version is perfectly safe to satisfy the pregnant women of this world. I only wish I had known about this when I was pregnant with my own kids. There's been a few times too many when I've found myself gazing longingly at the mousses in the cake display fridge. As much as I would have loved to give in, I just couldn't bring myself to possibly exposing my unborn child to salmonella or listeria or whatever else the FDA were paranoid over.

Besides being an egg-less mousse, this version also requires minimal setting time and prep time. The result, a rich, airy, decadent dessert that you could whip up in a manner of minutes. Perfect!

 

 

 

Instant Chocolate Mousse 

150g mini marshmallow

50g butter

250g dark chocolate

60ml hot water

300ml heavy whipping cream

1tsp vanilla extract

1. Place marshmallows, butter, chocolate, and water in heavy saucepan over medium heat.

2. Melt contents, stirring occasionally until all combined. Remove and cool.

3. Whip cream with vanilla extract until thick. Fold into cooled chocolate mixture until all combined. Save a few dollops of whipped cream to use for garnish. 

4. Arrange into 4 glasses or ramekins. Garnish with whipped cream and grated chocolate. Chill until ready to eat. 

* Mixture may liquify when combined. Chill to set.

CHOCOLATE PAIRINGS

For anyone feeling adventurous, I put together a few ideas for spicing up this classic chocolate mousse. My personal favourite is chili chocolate. You could easily add a dash of cayenne pepper while heating up the chocolate marshmallow mixture. Or if you like to keep things simple, a sprinkle of sea salt over a classic chocolate mousse is always nice.