Chocolate Mousse

The other night, my friend Kendall and I decided to have a "50 Shades of Chicken" Dinner Party, using a recipe from the 50 Shades of Chicken cookbook I gave her for Christmas (it was actually delicious and I'll post that recipe another time). In the spirit of romance, I decided to test drive a dessert I'd never done before and something that Christian Grey would have just loved to feed what's-her-face in the non food oriented version of the book. We served it with a little mini brownie sundae that our friend Bambi made, so it was a chocolate lover's dream! It was so easy and good that I made it again for my charity cooking group meeting this week, and wanted to share it with you all. It can be made in advance and easily transported off site. In addition, there are so many fun ways you can serve it- by itself in a bowl or teacup, with fruit, with fresh whipped cream (always my choice), with a little cookie on the side, the list goes on. If I was going to jazz it up even further (like for a date that I was trying to impress), I'd probably serve it with raspberries, a Chambord-laced whipped cream (Chambord is a raspberry liquer- add 1-2tsp to whipped cream), and a little glass of Chambord on the side. You know, to get them nice and liquored up. Just kidding.

Ingredients:
1 cup whipping/heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 shot of espresso or strong coffee
1 pinch of salt
4 tbs sugar
1 6 oz good semisweet chocolate bar, chopped (I used Ghiradelli)
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
-Whip 1/2 cup of the cream in a bowl. You can use an electric mixer or a whisk. I use a whisk because if you get any fat on the electric beaters then the egg whites won't beat, and IMO using a whisk+elbow grease is easier than cleaning the electric mixer as well as you have to in order to make sure there is no cream anywhere on the beaters. Whipping the cream takes about 5-7 minutes of beating with a whisk so it's not that bad but your arm will be tired. Set the whipped cream aside for a few.

-In the top of a double boiler or glass or metal bowl (glass is risky but that's what I use and it's usually fine), whisk together the 4 egg yolks, 2 tbs of the sugar, 1 pinch of salt, and the shot of room temp coffee (make sure it's not hot or it will cook the egg. If you are fresh brewing, but the shot in an ice water bath for 5 min and it will be cool).

-Cook this coffee/egg mixture over a pot of simmering water for about 10 minutes, whisking the entire time (again, so the egg doesn't scramble but instead cooks smoothly), until it reaches a temp of about 160 degrees. The mixture should be really light in color and should have nearly doubled in size. It will look foamy and creamy.

-When the mixture reaches 160 degrees, remove it from the heat and whisk in the chopped chocolate until it is melted and blended in. Continue to whisk occasionally until it is at room temp. Set aside.

-In an electric mixer (you don't want to whisk these by hand), beat the egg whites until they are foamy and form peaks. Beat in the remaining tbs of sugar.

-Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 2 batches, gently. You don't want to beat the air out of the whites but get them mixed in.
-Fold in the whipped cream until it is just barely blended in.
-Pour or spoon mousse into individual ramekins, teacups, clear plastic cups, demitasse cups, or whatever you want to serve it in. You can make as few as 4 servings, or as many as 12 depending on how much you pour in. Note: it is pretty rich so you don't need a whole big bowl for each guest.

-Chill for at least 1-2 hours.
-Before serving, whip another 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. This time, add 1 tbs of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla to it. Put a dollop on each dish of mousse before serving and enjoy!