The full story of my history, then subsequent search, and attempt to recreate, my Aunt Buzz’s long lost blender chocolate mousse is here, if you’re interested.
If you’re not, let’s just say that I was in the mood for a bit of decadent dessert deliciousness, and enough time had elapsed (ermmm, about a year) from my last attempt for me to once again approach the blender with chocolate chips, hot liquid, and eggs.
I also had a new recipe.
Giada de Laurentiis made a mousse on the TeeVee with instant espresso and served it with an orange and mascarpone whipped cream that looked pretty darned good to me, and we were having folk over, and surely they’d forgotten that last time, right?
Only thing was, I had enough other stuff to do that I wasn’t feeling the need to make the mascarpone whipped cream when I could, ermmm, and did, buy a very nice aerosol can of REAL cream whipped with REAL sugar – poke around the dairy case a bit, it’s there.
So, mascarpone whipped cream was out, but I do like orange with my chocolate, hmmm…
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 cup whole milk
•3 tbsp sugar
•Grated zest of 1/2 orange
•1/4 tsp instant espresso powder
•1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
•3 large egg whites
Combine the milk, sugar, orange zest, and espresso powder in a small saucepan over moderate heat until the sugar is dissolved and the milk is hot, but not boiling – if it does boil a bit, just pull the pan off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes (do not ask me how I know this’ll work).
Pop your chips into the blender, pour the warm milk mixture over, and blend for a few seconds to combine.
With the blender running, pour the egg whites in and continue running (on high, if your blender has speeds) until well combined and the mixture takes on a lighter color.
Pour the mousse into serving glasses, cover with plastic wrap, and stash in the fridge for at least three hours to allow them to firm up.
Nice mousse, and simple, too. Learning from my last attempt, I made two separate batches to complete my needed ten servings and everything came out perfectly – Don had two for dessert, and Rich has been enjoying the leftovers as an after-work snack.
If you’d like to try Giada’s recipe with the mascarpone, here’s the link.