Have you ever tasted French Chocolate Mousse? I’m talking about real chocolate mousse, not the instant or quick versions that use gelatin or cool whip.
They may make fine cake fillings, but once you’ve had the real thing, there is no substitute for Real Chocolate Mousse.
Trust me when I tell you, once you taste this chocolate mousse, you’ll never be happy with the imitators.
What ingredients do I need to make Real Chocolate Mousse?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Chocolate Mousse. In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
The first step in making this classical French dessert is melting the chocolate. Using a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water will melt the chocolate easily.
Once the chocolate has melted add the butter to the chocolate and fold it into the melted chocolate. Set aside and let the chocolate cool.
Add the egg yolks to the bowl of your mixer and begin to whip them until doubled in size, then begin to slowly pour the sugar in a steady stream into the yolks. Continue to whip for another minute.
Add the Kahlua and coffee to the whipped eggs.
Can I add another liqueur to my Chocolate Mousse?
You sure can! Some of my other favorite liqueurs to add to chocolate are:
- Peppermint Liqueur
- Chambord
- Frangelico
- Gran Mariner or Cointreau
**You can also add your favorite extract instead of using liqueurs
Using a double boiler method whip the mixture over a pot of simmering water until it thickens. **This will also cook the egg yolks.
Transfer the mixture to your stand mixer bowl and whip until it cools (2-3 minutes).
When the sabayon has cooled fold the chocolate into the sabayon. Completely incorporate the chocolate into the sabayon.
**Do this by hand, don’t use an electric mixer.
Slowly whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks.
What’s the secret to making Whipped Cream?
The mistake that everyone makes when whipping cream is doing it too quickly. The secret to whipped cream that will last for days is doing it slowly.
Start out at a low setting and gradually turn up the speed of the mixer over 10 minutes. Don’t over whip the cream or you’ll get butter!
Chef Dennis Tip:
I prefer using heavy whipping cream vs. whipping cream. It holds its shape longer and produces a creamier result. Most heavy cream in grocery stores is 36% but if you can find 40% cream go for it.
Gently fold the chocolate mixture into the whipped cream.
After you’ve folded the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, you’re done.
The chocolate will firm up the colder it gets. It’s best to place the Chocolate Mousse into the serving dishes before it fully sets up.
**The chocolate mousse can be rewhipped if necessary.
The chocolate mousse is perfect by itself, or served with berries. But you can also use the mousse to make other desserts:
- Chocolate mousse pie (pie shell or springform pan)
- Second layer on a cheesecake
- Used between layers of a cake
Recipe FAQ’s
Pudding is usually made with milk and cooked. It’s thickened with cornstarch which activates when heated with the milk. Mousse is not cooked and is thickened by adding whipped heavy cream to the mixture. As the melted chocolate cools, it thickens the mousse and gives you that rich silky texture which is due to the cooked egg sabayon, which is folded into the mousse. Pudding is semisolid and dense, while chocolate mousse is lighter and much richer.
If you want to make the mousse look lighter and airier after being refrigerated, simply re-whip the mousse. that will fluff it up a bit and make it easier to serve and more visually appealing.
Traditionally mousse is made with dark chocolate to give it that rich taste that only dark chocolate can give. You can, of course, use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate to make the mousse. Just don’t use baking chips! Baking chips will work, but they have ingredients added to keep them solid. Use the best bar chocolate you can find.
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Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 13 oz semisweet chocolate finely cut (milk or bittersweet chocolate can be used)
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter softened (3 oz)
- ½ cup sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- ¼ cup strong black coffee or espresso
- ¼ cup Kahlua **If you can't use alcohol, substitute with black coffee or espresso
- 3 cups heavy cream
Instructions
Chocolate
- Place the chocolate in a stainless steel bowl, over a pot of simmering water, stir with a rubber spatula as the chocolate melts, if the pan starts to get too hot, remove it from the heat.
- Continue to stir the chocolate until it has melted completely, then remove from the heat.
- Cut the butter into 8 pieces and mix it into the melted chocolate until it has been completely absorbed by the chocolate.
- Set the chocolate aside to cool to room temperature
Sabayon
- Add the egg yolks to the bowl of your mixer and begin to whip them until doubled in size, then begin to slowly pour the sugar in a steady stream into the yolks. Continue to whip for another minute.
- Add the coffee and Kahlua to the egg yolk mixture and place your mixing bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk the yolk mixture until it becomes very thick.
- When the egg yolks have thickened, continue to whip in your stand mixer until the mixture has cooled.
Combining
- When the sabayon has cooled, fold it into the chocolate mixture until well blended.
- Whip the cream in your stand mixer until it holds its shape, then fold it into the chocolate mixture.The secret to making perfect whipped cream is to do it slowly. Start at a low speed and increase the speed over 10 minutes until firm peaks have formed.
- The chocolate mousse will set as it gets colder. Place the mouse in serving dishes berfore it completely chills. The chocolate mousse can be re-whipped if it sets before you put it into serving dishes.
Ken says
Good Evening Chef, This is the first of your recipes that I have tried that has not turned out as I expected. I have clearly done something wrong. I used a high quality 70% dark chocolate and I made my own heavy cream since it is not available in my neck of the woods. Other than that I believe I followed your recipe as described. The result was very heavy and very stiff, so stiff that it would not conform to the shape of the dishes in which it was placed. Do you have any suggestion as to how I could thin the final product out in the future?
Chef Dennis Littley says
Hi Ken
Sorry for the delayed response, I had major surgery and I’ve been in recovery mode. As for it getting too stiff, that happens from using the higher butterfat chocolate. The chocolate causes the mixture to firm up as it tries to go back to its original form. If you used milk chocolate it wouldn’t be as bad Real mousse is going to seem a bit heavier because of how firm it gets, but its decadently rich because of how its made.
If you prefer a lighter less stiff chocolate mousse, use more whipped cream, that will help.
It still will be fairly firm, and you can rewhip it with an electric mixer if you need to fluff it up to serve.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Ken says
Thank you for the response Chef. I wish you a speedy and complete recovery. While waiting to hear from you I remade the recipe using semi sweet chocolate and store bought 35% whipping cream and the result was outstanding.
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m happy to hear you’re second attempt was better. And I’m on the road to recovery, just a few more weeks of rehab and I’ll back to work full time.
Teri says
I will be trying this recipe for my husband who loves chocolate mousse. Do I use salted or unsalted butter?
Chef Dennis Littley says
Unsalted butter.
Cheyenne says
I haven’t tried this yet planning on it, how long does it last for after original refrigeration??
Chef Dennis Littley says
It will last about 7 days and can be rewhipped if it gets too thick.
Monica says
How long to cook the egg yoke mixture over the simmering water. It doesn’t seam to thicken up.
Chef Dennis Littley says
It should only take 5-8 minutes. If it’s not thickening up, you don’t have enough heat under the bowl. There should be about an inch of water in a saucepot with a heatproof bowl sitting on top. The water needs to come to a boil and then simmer while whisking.
Ann says
Hi, I’m serving this to children so I won’t be using alcohol. With using 1/2 cups of coffee, will they taste coffee? I’m hoping for just a chocolate flavor.
Chef Dennis Littley says
they won’t taste the coffee in the recipe, it just adds a depth of flavor to the chocolate. You can use decaf if you like or replace the coffee with hot chocolate.
Ann says
Thank you very much.
Yes, I always add coffee into my chocolate cake and it makes it super chocolatey. I thought it was because after baking it, the flavors meld together and it becomes undetectable. Didn’t know it’s the same idea in a mousse. My nephews do not like the coffee flavor so if all they can taste is chocolate in the mousse, even with the 1/2 cup of coffee in it, then that’s good!
Rick says
A chef friend adds the cream, unbeaten, to the egg mixture, hand whipping. Then folds in the cooled chocolate mixture. I’ve never found a recipe that does not whip the cream first, and that adds the chocolate last. It’s the best mouse I’ve ever had. Any comment?
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’ve never seen that method before Rick, and in theory it should work. My question is are the eggs cooked? Because if he’s using raw eggs that could pose some serious health concerns.
Sam says
Chef,
How can I use this recipe to make a lemon mousse, please?
Do I swap out the chocolate for lemon curd? Will it work the same way or do I need to do something different?
I’m going to try making your chocolate mousse for one cake, but I’m hoping to make a lemon mousse to fill a separate cake.
Thank you for the excellent recipes and guidance. Your tiramisu recipe is my “go-to”. Everyone in my house loves it.
Chef Dennis Littley says
there is more to it than just swapping out the chocolate for lemon curd. I will add lemon mousse on my list of things to make, but since I haven’t tested a recipe I can’t really help with you the changes you need to make
Parker says
Do you have suggestions for how to add texture to the mousse? To jazz it up? I’m having a “mousse-off” with a friend at a holiday party and I want to add a “wow” factor.
Chef Dennis Littley says
This mousse will blow everyone away as is. As for texture, any type of chocolate chip or any other crunchy item will take away from the smoothness and mouthfeel of the mousse. I would just serve it with homemade whipped cream and watch everyone swoon as they taste it.
The only other option would be to make a mousse pie, with a chocolate graham crust and add a light layer of chocolate ganache to the top.
Adele says
Outstanding chocolate mousse!! Rich, smooth and the perfect ending to great meal.
Next time I would love to make a white chocolate mousse with a cranberry sauce. Would the recipe stay the same when substituting white chocolate for the dark chocolate? Do I need to change the amount of white chocolate?
TC says
Absolutely my favorite mousse recipe I have found. There’s simply no comparison to the versions that only use whipped cream, powdered gelatin, or heaven forbitd, cool whip (*shudder*) for the “mousse”. The sabayon is really key. I made this for my girlfriend on our first date. 4 course dinner topped with this? Yeah, I won the evening 🙂
Going to try to adapt into a peanut butter version and incorporate into a pie for her birthday next.
Chef Dennis Littley says
I’m very happy to hear that you enjoyed my chocolate mousse and it helped you win the evening!! I hope you find more recipes to try on my site. Thanks for the idea on the peanut butter mousse, I’ll put that on my list.
If your GF likes tiramisu I have the best recipe for that.
TC says
I did that for our second date 🙂 It was absolutely divine. I think I’ve earned “keeper” status pretty early by proving the best food comes from my kitchen and my heart, not any restaurant at any price. I also do windows.
Ann says
Will this mousse hold up at room temperature for a wedding cake?
Chef Dennis Littley says
It does hold up well, but this is something you would want to test ahead of time. I would think it would need to be refrigerated until the last minute
TC says
I’m going to use the base recipe for a punkin mousse at Thanksgiving. I’m hoping the pumpkin puree won’t weigh the whipped cream down too much, but pumpkin pie mousse on a golden Oreo crust? THAT is something to be thankful for!
Chef Dennis Littley says
let me know how it turns out
Dawn L Reed says
My husband has (had) throat cancer and is relearning to swallow. He asked for pudding and I wanted to go the extra mile and make a mousse. He hasn’t eaten in 6 months so really sweet is not his thing. This mousse was decadent! a bit labor intense but so good. He loved it and so did I. Thank you for the recipe! I will definitely make this again.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thank you for letting me know your husband enjoyed the chocolate mousse. He might also enjoy my tiramisu cream, you can make it like a pudding and leave out the ladyfingers if you don’t think your husband would have problems with them.
Trout says
I’ve made traditional French style mousse before. I wanted to make again, and had trouble finding a recipe using Sabayon until I found this one. I believe in traditional style cooking whenever possible. It turned out fabulous! My girlfriend thinks I’m the greatest chef ever. Doesn’t hurt I paired it with my traditional mushroom risotto. Learned that one in Italy. A note to beginners about the desired consistency for the Sabayon while hand whipping over the double boiler would be helpful. I know what I’m looking for, but it’s the only fine detail missing in your otherwise flawless explanation.
jennie phoenix says
i imagine chocolate mousse doesn’t have to wait around, it gets gobbled up – but – how long will this last in the fridge? is it really best to make it the day you’ll serve it?
Chef Dennis Littley says
it will hold up 5 days or more. The only problem you run into is it stiffens up. Just rewhip it a little to soften it up and you’re good to go. Too much left, fill a pie shell and freeze it.