A simple, quick and incredibly easy Chocolate mousse, which can be adapted for dark, milk, white or caramel chocolate

Serves: 2 Generous servings

Most Mousse recipes seem to rely on egg whites to make them fluffy, which conflicts with a long-held view that raw eggs can be dangerous.

I've uncovered an egg-free method which is simple and results in an incredibly smooth texture, great taste and only relies on a small handful of ingredients

Ingredients

300ml Refrigerated Thickened Cream
150g Callebaut couverture chocolate
Milk (perhaps 50ml, to desired consistency)
5ml Vanilla Bean Paste

For the chocolate, I have had success with a 40 / 60 mix of 54.5% dark chocolate and 33.6% Milk Chocolate. I will continue to experiment with others (white, caramel, very-dark etc)

Compound chocolate should not be used, as the recipe relies on the higher cocoa butter content

Method

Place the chocolate into a mixing bowl (not the whipping bowl, this comes later)

Heat half (75ml) of the cream in a saucepan medium heat until it is "just" bubbling through

Pour the heated cream over the chocolate and combine it. Don't whip it, but ensure it is completely mixed. Scrape the sides so there is minimal residual chocolate

Add the remainder of the (cooled) cream to the mixture and combine it.

Taste it, to ensure the texture is right (should not be grainy). If it is, re-heat the mixture on the stove to properly combine the cream and chocolate (this will extend the next step of refrigeration though)

Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 3 hours

Once properly cooled, transfer the mixture to a whipping bowl (e.g. kitchen stand mixer bowl)

Whip it for a few minutes until the desired consistency is achieved, the aim here is to introduce air bubbles into the mixture.

If the mixture is too thick, add milk to soften it, only adding a small amount of milk at a time

Scrape into serving bowls / cups / etc as desired. It is ready to eat, or should be further refrigerated.