La Mousse au Chocolat, a lovely French sin !

The Mousse au Chocolat is one of the preferred French desserts: kids and adults adore it… If you go to France, it would be easy to eat one everywhere, in our traditional « café », in a brasserie, or in a restaurant !!!

There are many ways to make it, the only things you’ll always need are chocolate, and eggs (whites and yolks separated). My recipe comes from « Pierrette », my mother and I have never tried another one, because it’s simply delicious. It doesn't take long to make it and, it’s also a yummy light dessert as there is no whipping cream!!!

For the chocolate, use dark chocolate or milk chocolate as you prefer. Of course, the authentic mousse is made with dark chocolate. The best one is the guanaja which contains 70 % cocoa solids and which comes from Valrhona, a famous French brand from the south of France. And you are lucky, because you can find it in your Trader Joe’s. Many chocolates sold at supermarkets typically contain 50 to 60 percent cocoa solids. If you choose chocolate with a higher percentage, your mousse may be slightly denser. The quantity of sugar depends of your taste, and it’s also possible to make mousse au chocolat without sugar! Just try with different kinds of chocolates and use which one you prefer. You can also put a pinch of your preferred alcohol!

For 6 ramekins
½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup of sugar
3 eggs
salt

- In a medium sauce pan, over low heat, melt the chocolate chips with 2 tablespoon of water, mix often with a wood-spoon. Take off of the heat when the chocolate is smooth.
- Add the 3 egg yolks and mix well.
- Beat the 3 egg whites with a pinch of salt until solid peaks form.
- Very gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Pour into ramekins or other dishes.

Refrigerate about three hours and serve chilled. Decorate with dusted cocoa powder, grated chocolate or raspberries, strawberries which complement the chocolate quite well…

With mousse au chocolat, drinking a glass of champagne would be perfect. Also, with a sweet wine and you can prepare some simple cookies to eat with it.