Mousseline au Chocolat
†Excerpted from Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright ©1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. as part of the JC100 Celebration.
Makes about 5 cups, serving 6 to 8 people
- A 3-quart porcelain or stainless steel mixing bowl
- A wire whip or electric beater
- 4 egg yolks
- ¾ cup instant sugar (very finely granulated)
- ¼ cup orange liqueur
- A pan of not-quite-simmering water
- A basin of cold water
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until mixture is thick, pale yellow, and falls back upon itself forming a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in the orange liqueur. Then set mixing bowl over the not-quite-simmering water and continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes the mixture is foamy and too hot for your finger. Then beat over cold water for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture is cool and again forms the ribbon. It will have the consistency of mayonnaise.
- 6 ounces or squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
- 4 Tb strong coffee
- 6 ounces or 1 ½ sticks softened unsalted butter
- A small saucepan
- Optional: ¼cup finely diced, glazed orange peel
Melt chocolate with coffee over hot water. Remove from heat and beat in the butter a bit at a time to make a smooth cream. Beat the chocolate into the egg yolks and sugar, then beat in the optional orange peel.
- 4 egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 1 Tb granulated sugar
Beat the egg whites and salt until soft peaks are formed; sprinkle on the sugar and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Stir one-fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest.
Turn into serving dish, dessert cups, or petits pots. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- 2 cups vanilla-flavored crème anglaise (custard sauce), or lightly whipped cream sweetened with powdered sugar
Pass the sauce or whipped cream separately.
VARIATION – MOLDED MOUSSE
Turn the preceding mousse into a lightly oiled, 6-cup ring hold. Cover with oiled, waxed paper. Chill for 3 to 4 hours until well set. Remove paper, dip mold for 1 second in very hot water, and unmold on a chilled serving dish. Fill center of mousse with crème anglaise or lightly whipped cream.
Or use the charlotte Malakoff system, lining a cylindrical mold with ladyfingers dipped in orange liqueur.
“It has such a lovely flavor and texture that it brings tears to your eyes when you taste it. It’s that good.”
~ Julia Child in “The French Chef, Mousse Au Chocolate”
More Julia Child Recipes
Sounds & looks so good. Wish I could have one each day of the week!
Thanks Mary! The coffee flavour is really prominent so its like eating a frozen cafe mocha. 🙂
Laura, your parents are very fortunate to have a cook for a daughter. I would be rapt if one of my sons made this for me. You’ve made a very special effort for this chocolate mousse. I make mine with Toblerone (pretty easy). Now I need to try the Julia Child version.
Hi Trish,
Your version with Toblerone sounds great. I image the little bits of nougat add a nice crunchy/chewy texture. I was quite nervous when it was time to un-mold mine, but it came out beautifully. Much better than I expected 🙂
For me, the hard work really starts when the cooking ends. I’ve signed up for a photography course next week that I hope will help me get more comfortable with my camera.
Thanks so much!
Fabulous mousse! Love the way you did it. When I do my blog post I will direct my readers to your site to enjoy your dessert! Have a great day!
Hi Helene, I can’t wait to see your version of Julia’s recipe. If it’s anything like your rolled omelette, it will be spectacular! Thanks very much for stopping by.
I’m impressed you went the molded route! It turned out great. My girls and I watched Julia make the mousse and molded version the other night so it’s fun to have seen someone make it since. I bet it tasted fabulous!
Thanks Rachel! I watched her too, but then went online to research the charlotte Malakoff method she referred to in the recipe. That’s when I stumbled upon the idea of adding the ‘handles’ to help lift the frozen mousse before un-molding. It gave me a little more confidence before I did the big flip 🙂
Nicely done!!! Just like Julia would have made. Thanks for the link back to my site. Cheers, Tara
I’m always so inspired by your gorgeous photography! Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you have a happy long weekend 🙂
Your moulded mousse looks so pretty! I bet it tasted amazing too 🙂
Thanks Kristen! It really was delicious, and making it as a frozen dessert gave it a fantastic texture. I didn’t dip the ladyfingers in orange liquor as Julia suggested, but we loved the contrasting crunch they added.
Great change to your website, Laura! What theme are you using? Your dishes look like works of modern art.
Thanks Giovanni! I appreciate the feedback. The move to a self-hosted solution was a little scary for me, but I think I have it all sorted out now. This theme is one of the free WordPress themes – Twenty Eleven – but I will probably be upgrading to a premium theme in the near future since I’m still looking for something with a bit more flexibility.
Hope you’ll be enjoying the sunshine this weekend 🙂
Great work you have here those recipes are great 🙂
Thank you Jake! It’s hard to go wrong with one of Julia Child’s recipes 🙂
Great looking and I’d love a bite. I wondered what happened to your like button and then read you self host now… Best wishes! 🙂
Hi Elizabeth,
It’s a bit strange that I can’t put a ‘like’ button on my wordpress.org blog, yet I can still use the ‘like’ button on other blogs. I guess its not a two-way street. Glad you stopped by.
Cheers,
Laura