Your Favorite Kind of Chocolate, Chocolate Mousse

CTRmom's Note:

Easy, elegant, and amazing! There are a lot of mousse recipes out there, but this one is authentic without being difficult to make. And it will tasted exactly like your favorite chocolate, because that is what you use to make it! The first time I made mousse, my family was not impressed with the "dark chocolate" flavor of the semi-sweet chocolate it called for. I thought, "Mousse should taste like the most amazing chocolate you know." So I decided to use our favorite chocolate from then on. (For us, it is Dove.) It would be fun to try this recipe with some of the gourmet chocolate bars that are flooding the stores right now. 75% cocoa solids with orange rind and cacao nibs, anyone?

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream , divided
• 8 ounces good quality chocolate
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave. (In my microwave, I heat for 1 minute on high, then stir the chocolate. If it is mostly melted, I let it sit during the next step and it will finish melting on its own. If it seems like it needs some helping along, I heat for 30 more seconds at a time until it is about 2/3 melted. Then I let it sit and finish melting during this next step.).
2. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the cream in a medium sized pot, on the stove.
3. Cook, whisking constantly, at medium-low heat for 4 or 5 minutes, just until the mixture begins to thicken, but before it starts to simmer. Do not let it boil! The mixture will thicken all at once, so be ready to remove it from the heat immediately.
4. Whisk the melted chocolate and the vanilla into the custard.
5. Strain into a bowl. (This will remove the tough little lumps from the bits of egg white that clung to the yolks after you separated them.) Chill until cooled.
6. When the mixture is cooled, whip the rest of the cream (1 1/2 cups) until stiff peaks form.
7. Stir 1/3 of the whipped cream into the chocolate custard mixture.
8. Fold the chocolate back into the remainder of the whipped cream.
9. Dish up in individual portions and chill at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 days.