Mousse au chocolat

Compliments of Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat.

So, as we moved into our new apartment, I kept finding hidden treasures that I forgot I had. Under my stack of piano books I found French Women Don't Get Fat. Totally forgot I had this book. I bought it before I went to France, just for some research on the French. I started perusing through the book when I re-remembered (?) that there were recipes in it! I love French food and would enjoy about 90% of the recipes in this book; however, Brenan would

probably only enjoy about 15% of it...Thus I decided on mousse au chocolat. Can't go wrong

with a simple chocolate dessert (sidenote: if Brenan knew about all the raw eggs in this, he probably wouldn't have eaten it. It took me a few bites to forget about the eggs and enjoy it).

It was nearly as easy as it seemed for something that I had never made before. My trouble was with the chocolate...I don't have a double broiler, so I had to improvise. Secondary problem was that for some reason the sugar didn't fully dissolve into the chocolate, then w

hen the yolks were added it got stiff and cold. This proved somewhat difficult when you're trying to fold it in with the egg whites. All-in-all, it turned out and tasted great!

I put the mousse in champagne glasses to make it more fancy (and because my large mixing bowls are not here).

A well set mousse. We didn't refrigerate it over-night, but 4 hours seemed to be long enough.

Brenan enjoyed it so much, he decided to share it with his shirt.

Mousse au chocolat

serves 6 people (1/2 cup per person)

Ingredients

4 oz dark chocolate

1 Tablespoon sugar

3 egg yolks

5 egg whites

1. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double broiler set over a pan of simmering water on medium heat. I put my chocolate in a glass Pyrex measuring cup and set in in a half-full pot of boiling water. There are other ways to improvise not having a double broiler.
2. Remove the chocolate from the heat and add the sugar. Stir well and add the egg yolks, one at a time.
3. Beat the egg whites until stiff, glossy peaks are formed. Gently fold the whites into the chocolate mixture until well blended. Definitely need a hand blender or a Kitchenaid. There is NO way to hand beat it this stiff.
4. Pour the mousse into a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.