Salted Butter Caramel Chocolate Mousse

I know. This recipe has the word,  ¨naughty¨written all over it. But you know, life is meant to be enjoyed and every now and then you deserve what the Spanish call a ¨capricho¨. A capricho is something you do or you get in order to spoil yourself because you know you deserve it. A special treat, if you will. Caprichos are infrequent because an overload decreases their value. Mousse is a capricho for me!

I had been battling bronchitis for several days and I had lost my taste buds. Did that ever remind me of the pleasure a good meal or flavour can give. When they came back, I was more than keen to make this recipe, but a little hesitant too. Why? Because I once tried making mousse and it tasted good but had the consitency of soup. It looked like crap. It turned me off of making mousse again but it was not the fault of the recipe. I had not taken the eggs very seriously.

But you might say that I saw the light when I read Julia Child´s advice about eggs.

It behooves us to choose eggs carefully and to treat them right.

Other than being slightly startled by the use of the word ¨behoove¨(a word I rather like but I usually associate with Jane Austen) I began to consider my mistake in my runny crappy mousse. I had not whipped the eggs to the proper consistency. The key was in the whipping and folding them in gently. And I have to say I am so glad for the internet because when I have doubts about how to do something, I can easily research it and watch a video on youtube. So before starting the recipe, I checked online for some advice and got the results I wanted. Thick, gorgeous and delicious mousse!

 

This recipe is the recipe chosen for this week by the cooking group that I joined called, Cookthebookfridays which is working its way through David Lebovitz´s My Paris Kitchen . What I can tell you is that the recipe is simple and will knock anybody´s socks off!

The recipe is one that I can share with you because it has been posted online before by epicurious.com .

YIELD

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

1. • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
   • 3 tablespoons salted butter, cubed
   • 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream
   • 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
   • 4 large eggs, separated
   • Rounded 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt, preferably fleur de sel

PREPARATION 1. Spread the sugar evenly over the bottom of a wide saucepan. Heat the sugar over medium heat. As it begins to liquefy at the edges, use a heatproof spatula to very gently drag the liquefied sugar toward the center. Watch carefully, as once the edges start to darken, the sugar is in danger of burning. Continue to cook, stirring very gently, until all the sugar is melted and begins to caramelize. 2. When the caramel is a deep amber color and starts to smoke, wait for a moment for it to smell just slightly burnt, then remove it from the heat and quickly whisk the butter, stirring until melted. Gradually whisk in the cream and stir until the little bits of caramel are completely melted. (A few can be stubborn, so be patient. You can strain the mixture if they simply refuse to budge.) 3. Once smooth, add the chocolate, stirring gently until it’s melted and smooth. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Once it’s no longer warm, whisk in the egg yolks. (Want to know what stiff eggs should look like? Check here) 4. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff. Fold one-third of the whipped whites into the chocolate mixture, sprinkling in the flaky salt. Fold in the remaining beaten egg whites just until no streaks of white remain. Divide the mousse into serving glasses, or transfer it to a decorative serving bowl, and chill for at least 8 hours. While it might be tempting to serve this with whipped cream, I prefer to serve it pure, straight up with just a spoon.

 

 

There you have it guys. A ¨capricho¨ that is well worth enjoying now and then!  And it is a perfect dessert that your guests won´t believe you made yourself!

Enjoy! xxxx Natascha