Raymond Blanc’s chocolate mousse recipe
I’ve always been a huge fan of chocolate mousse. It’s almost always reliably good if you order it in a restaurant, and it’s a simple yet satisfying dessert to make at home. This recipe is by celeb chef Raymond Blanc, and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. This makes enough for four people.
You will need
- The whites of seven eggs
- 170g good-quality dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
- 40g caster sugar
Step 1
As with all recipes, I like to start by prepping the ingredients. In this case, that means weighing out the sugar and chocolate, breaking the chocolate into chunks and separating the egg whites from the yolks. I’m using Green and Blacks chocolate, as the recipe did call for good-quality chocolate!
Step 2
Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over boiling water, making sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
Step 3
Whisk the egg whites with the lemon juice until it forms soft peaks. My good old food mixer did this for me beautifully.
Step 4
Add the caster sugar and continue whisking until the egg white forms stiff peaks. I let the food mixer continue whisking while I slowly poured in the caster sugar to get an even mix.
Step 5
When the egg whites are ready and the chocolate has melted, quickly mix in about a quarter of the egg whites into the hot melted chocolate. You have to do this quickly or it will congeal into a lump of chocolate, which is difficult to work with.
Step 6
Fold in the rest of the egg whites, a bit at a time; I used a metal spoon for this, making gentle folding movements so that the air remains in the mixture.
Step 7
When all the egg whites are folded in, you will have a silky smooth chocolate mixture that can be carefully spooned into your bowls of choice. I’m using these lovely Royal Worcester teacups, which are part of an heirloom set given to us as a wedding present by my grandparents.
Step 8
Cover each mousse with cling film and put them all in the fridge for a couple of hours (or more) to set. Serve with whipped cream if you like, or they work perfectly by themselves!