Dark Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis

Alas, I have neglected my dear blog!  I have been cooking, but mostly sad variations of unphotogenic curries.  This semester has proved incredibly busy, but it's funny what a little Valentine's Day romance can motivate me to do :)

This dessert is shockingly simple- all of 5 ingredients for the mousse AND coulis.   I promise I would have made something more labor-intensive if Valentine's day didn't fall on a Tuesday, but seriously this looks pretty impressive considering!





Chocolate Mousse:

• 4 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 4 eggs, seperated

1. Melt the chocolate slowly in a double boiler, over simmering water.
2. Remove from heat and beat egg yolks into chocolate with electric mixer.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat egg whites to a stiff peak.
4. Stir a large spoonful of egg whites into chocolate mixture to loosen.
5. Then gently fold remaining egg whites into chocolate.
6. Pour into serving glasses and chill in refrigerator until set, 4 to 5 hours.
7. Will keep up to four days in refrigerator.**

Notes:

• This recipe is super simple to scale, simply use 1 egg and 1 oz of chocolate for each serving.
• I recommend using pasteurized eggs, if unavailable, do not serve to young children, pregnant women, or those with weak immune systems due to the eggs.
• **If you are not serving it the same day, I would recommend adding ~1/2 tsp cream of tartar to the egg whites in order to keep them from separating, which can occur if not eaten soon.
• To ensure success achieving stiff peaks I would recommend using a clean, glass bowl, room temperature egg whites, and ensure that NO egg yolk sneaks in!

Yields 4 servings.

Raspberry Coulis

• 1 pint Raspberries
• 1 1/2 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 Tbs lemon juice

Combine raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small saucepan.  Cook on medium until raspberries are broken down and sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat, blend, and strain through chinois or a mesh sieve to eliminate seeds.  Chill then serve.


Note:

• Frozen raspberries can be used.

Yields 1 cup

If you really wanna get fancy add homemade whipped cream and shaved chocolate :)  Enjoy!

The heart on the plate I painted on with left over raspberry chocolate ganache- simply cut a shape in wax paper, and place on the plate.  Using a new, high-quality paintbrush use the melted ganache as paint and fill in the stencil!