Chocolate Mousse: Elegance with only 5 Ingredients!

Remember Hannah and I and our baking get togethers?  Remember our baking prowess?

 Elegance is not necessarily the word I would use to describe our time in the kitchen.

 

Yeah, so this time we took on mousse.  Specifically, a creme anglais poured over melted chocolate. Oh, a very similar process to the pastry cream we butchered. High hopes?  Maybe not, but regardless if the consistency, we figured heavy cream and chocolate ate bound to taste good.

Truth right there. 

While making this, there were moments if utter confusion and conversations of "ohhh, we should have chilled it first ... whoops, just stir it in anyway" but it turned out splendidly and my instructions won't include all the steps we took.  It really is a simple and straightforward recipe and in our defense, this recipe book is notorious for omitting temperatures and cooking times and telling you to add ingredient not originally in the recipe. The recipe below will include all the information you need to make a successful chocolate mousse you can serve with cake, in trifles, spooned into cupcakes, served in a pie crust, or eaten plain. I've definitely done the last one and can attest to the rich creaminess. It's a wonderful and elegant way to finish a meal.

Chocolate Mousse
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life

32,oz. heavy whipping cream, divided
8 oz. half and half
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz. chocolate chips

Whisk 16 oz. heavy cream for several minutes or until thickened.  (You do not want it to have peaks.  It needs to be still pourable.)  Combine cream and half and half in a medium sized pot.  Heat cream and half and half on low heat.  Add sugar gradually and bring to a boil.  Pour a small amount of cream mixture into egg yolks to temper it and whisk until combined.  Return egg mixture to cream mixture and stir on medium heat until thickened, 4-6 minutes.  Pour over chocolate chips and gently stir until smooth.  Whip remaining heavy cream until it holds doft peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture. Chill for at least four hours.

Want something faster and lighter?  Try this pudding with no added sugar or eggs that is still rich and creamy thanks to a secret ingredient.