Chocolate Mousse

My parents went out to a dinner event the other night. When they got home, my dad was raving about the mousse served at the dinner. Now, mousse is a dessert I've been thinking of making.. just not so soon. However, with the dinner fresh in my parents' minds, I figured if I made the mousse now, I'll be able to glean some comparison with the professionally made mousse.

I came across this post in David Lebovitz's blog and decided to purchase some pasteurised eggs. The mousse had great texture. Only thing was, it was really way too sweet for me. Definitely cut down on the sugar if you intend to attempt this recipe.

This recipe is adapted from here and serves 3.

Ingredients:
43 grams semisweet chocolate ; chopped
43 grams Unsalted butter ; cut into small pieces
1/12 cup dark-brewed coffee
1 large eggs ; separated
43 grams sugar
1/2 tablespoons dark rum
1/4 tablespoon Water
1/4 pinch salt
1/4 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Heat a saucepan 1/3 full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.

3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)

3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla. Beat until stiff.

5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don''t overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.

6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.

Storage: The mousse au chocolat can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.