About the Recipe
You're going to love this: dark chocolate is good for your brain! Yay!
The healthy compounds here are called flavonoids, which are found in many plants including cocoa beans. They've long been known for improving blood flow to the brain and heart, and for fighting inflammation. And if that weren't enough, dark chocolate also contains psychoactive ingredients that regulate emotional states. In other words, a small amount of dark chocolate, up to 1.5 oz per day (more is NOT better), may even boost your mood! But really, haven't we always known that chocolate fixes everything?
Now, by dark chocolate, I mean anything above 70% cocoa. The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the flavonoid content, but the more bitter it tastes, so if you don't fancy just munching on a square or two, then adding it to desserts is a good option. Just be mindful of the whipping cream in this recipe, and don't over-indulge just for the chocolate benefits 😉.
***Shout out to Sweetness and Bite for this amazing recipe!
https://sweetnessandbite.com/
Ingredients
500 ml whipping cream (see notes)
250 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
Preparation
Step 1
Heat half of the cream (250 mls) in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges.
Step 2
Place the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl. When the cream is heated, pour it over the chocolate and add the vanilla or almond extract. Leave to melt for a minute, then stir with a whisk until all of the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and well combined.
Step 3
Whisk in the remaining 250ml of cream. Adding this cold cream helps to cool the mixture down faster.
Step 4
Taste the mixture, and if the chocolate is a little too bitter you can add some caster or icing (confectioner’s) sugar until it’s as sweet as you want it.
Fridge – refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
Freezer – place in the freezer for 1 hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes to make sure it doesn't freeze around the edges.
Chilling overnight in the fridge is the best option and gives the best results, but sometimes we just want mousse in a hurry, so the freezer option is there if you need it.
Whip the chocolate cream with an electric hand mixer just until stiff peaks form. It won’t take very long, be careful not to overwhip it.
Pipe or spoon the mousse into glasses or small bowls. You can serve it immediately for a softer, smoother mousse, or chill for an hour or two for a fluffier mousse.
Store, covered, in the fridge for several days.
RECIPE NOTES:
Chocolate: For best results, use good quality dark chocolate with 50% – 60% cocoa solids (70% or higher for sufficient flavonoid content). Only use chocolate chips if they say they are suitable for melting – chocolate baking chips won’t work here, as they have a coating that stops them from melting smoothly.
Cream – The cream you need for this mousse is known by different names in different countries. Here in NZ, it’s usually called standard cream or whipping cream, in other countries, it may be known as full cream, heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. Double cream is generally too thick for this recipe it contains a lot more fat (although the fat content can vary by country.) Long story short: for best results, choose a pourable cream that is around 35% fat. Make sure that it says on the bottle/carton that it is suitable for whipping.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Over-whipped/grainy – If you over-whip the mousse and it turns grainy, you can save it by reheating it in a saucepan over low heat, stirring with a whisk, until it melts and becomes smooth again. Then re-chill and whip (a bit less than you did last time 😉).
Mixture split when whipped – This is usually because the mousse mixture wasn’t chilled enough. Next time, make sure it’s completely chilled before whipping. To save it, remelt the mousse mixture as described above. It could also be because the fat content in your cream was too high.
Mixture too thin and won’t whip – You likely used a type of cream that was too low in fat, or not suitable for whipping. make sure the cream you use says that it is suitable to whip, and that it has at least 35% fat.