Classic chocolate mousse with egg whites and cream, no gelatine
A French classic, perfect for a candlelit dinner: dark chocolate melted with butter, yolks beaten with sugar, whipped whites and whipped cream, all folded together gently. No gelatine, no baking: the structure comes from the chocolate setting in the fridge. Half an hour of work, three hours of chilling, six portions in glasses.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Chocolate 10 min
- Whipping and folding 20 min
- Setting in the fridge 180 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMelt the chocolate with the butter
Break up the chocolate, put it in a bowl with the butter and set over a pot of barely trembling water; the bowl must not touch the water. Stir until melted, remove and cool 5 minutes, to lukewarm. Hot chocolate scrambles the yolks and makes the whipped whites collapse.
Ingredients: 200 g dark chocolate, 60–70 % · 50 g butter · 3 pcs eggs · 40 g sugar · 200 ml whipping cream, 30 % · 1 pinch salt
TipChocolate at 60–70 % gives a mousse that is bold but not bitter. Milk chocolate turns out too sweet and too soft, as it has less of the cocoa butter that sets.
Over steam, not in water, then lukewarmBeat the yolks with the sugar
Separate the eggs; whites into a clean, dry bowl. Beat the yolks with half the sugar 3 minutes, until pale and thick. Stir in the lukewarm chocolate until smooth and glossy.
TipThis mousse contains raw eggs. Buy fresh eggs from a trusted source, keep the dessert refrigerated and eat within 2 days. For children, pregnant women and older people, make the egg-free version in the tips below.
Pale, thick yolks, then the chocolateWhip the whites and the cream
Whip the whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, add the rest of the sugar and whip another half minute, until glossy and stiff but not dry. In a second bowl whip the cold cream to soft peaks: it should hold its shape but slide off the whisk.
Whites stiff and glossy, cream softFold gently
Stir a third of the whites briskly into the chocolate to loosen it. Add the remaining whites and the cream with a spatula, folding from the bottom up, only until the streaks vanish. Every extra stir knocks out air, and air is the whole mousse.
TipA few white streaks at the end are fine; they disappear as you spoon it out. A perfectly uniform mixture means you folded too long.
Bottom to top, until the streaks vanishPortion and chill
Spoon the mousse into 6 glasses or cups. Cover with film and refrigerate 3 hours, ideally overnight. It sets from the chocolate, so straight from the fridge it is firm; after 10 minutes at room temperature, creamy.
Three hours in the fridgeServe
Whip the topping cream stiff, spoon onto each mousse, sprinkle with grated chocolate, add a raspberry. The mousse keeps 2 days in the fridge.
Ingredients: 100 ml whipping cream, 30 % · 20 g dark chocolate · 6 pcs raspberries
Cream, shavings, a raspberry
Before you start
Without raw eggs
Leave out the eggs: melt 200 g chocolate with 50 g butter and 100 ml hot cream, cool to lukewarm and fold in 300 ml cream whipped soft. Milder, creamier, safe for everyone.
With orange or coffee
Orange zest and a spoon of orange liqueur in the chocolate, or a teaspoon of instant coffee dissolved in a spoon of hot water. Classic partners for dark chocolate.
The mousse is dense and grainy
The chocolate was too hot or too cold when folded and seized into lumps. Lukewarm, about 35 °C: a finger dipped in should feel barely warm.
