Recipe: Yummy Chocolate Mousse

Back in the Seventies, chocolate mousse was everyone's favourite dessert. Then, like beef stroganoff, it went out of fashion. But what goes around comes around and now it's back, bigger than ever. All the celebrity chefs have a take on it - George Colombaris, for example, makes his mousse with olive oil while Heston Blumenthal uses only two ingredients: chocolate and water!

My own chocolate mousse is an adaptation of a recipe from 'The Terrace Times Cookbook' and I've been making it for yonks. The secret is the marshmallows.

As you can see in the photo, I serve my mousse in vintage tea cups. I'd like to say I thought of this myself but actually I stole it from Shannon Bennett on MasterChef. But it's a great way to show off your tea cups or demitasses, particularly if, like me, you have a collection!

Ingredients:

(inspired by the 'Terrace Times Paddington Cookbook')

• About 180 to 200 grams best quality dark cooking chocolate (broken into pieces)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (less if you like)
• 3/4 cup full cream milk
• 22 white marshmallows
• 1 and a half teaspoons instant coffee
• 2 cups whipped cream (approx.) You can always serve any leftover cream as an accompaniment.

Method:

Melt the first five ingredients in a double boiler (but NOT the cream). 

Stir continuously and ensure the marshmallows are fully melted - otherwise the mixture will be grainy.

Allow to cool. (Continue stirring regularly while cooling to avoid graininess.)

Gently fold in whipped cream until you are happy with the colour and texture.

Spoon the mix carefully into tea cups. Chill in the refrigerator to set. 

I decorated with grated white chocolate and fresh raspberries. This is also great served with vanilla bean ice-cream to break through the richness of the mousse.

Serves six approx. depending on size of the cups and how high you fill them. If you have some mousse left over, all the better for a midnight feast!

Deborah O'Brien

23 July 2016