The Shopping Bag Mousse
(Recipe courtesy of xoxo Dorie newsletter)
Recently I volunteered to make chocolate mousse for a dear friend’s Passover dinner. It was a perfect dessert as it required no flour, which is forbidden during the Passover holiday. Normally, I would have use my own recipe which was published here several years ago. However, when I read the ingredients for the mousse in Dorie Greenspan, or as I call her, The Dessert Goddess’ newsletter, I was intrigued. Why? Because it called for skimmed milk and used far fewer eggs than mine did. And also, because Dorie and I are pals and I defer to her when it comes to making any dessert.
But the story goes further. As Dorie explained to her readers that she had discovered the recipe on a grocery bag from Chapon. Not being a chocolate fan per se, this was a new name for me. But research unearthed that Patrice Chapon is a famous artisanal chocolatier in Paris who owns several shops. His current fame comes from recently opening his first Chocolate Mousse bar in Paris (34 Rue Saint Sulpice steps away from the church of the same name) where he offers several different flavors of mousse. What also makes Patrice unique is that he roasts his own chocolate beans using restored machines from the last century.
When I tasted this recipe, I completely agreed with Dorie’s description of the dessert: The shopping-bag recipe turned out a Goldilocks mousse: not too sweet, not too dense, not too rich, just right. Furthermore, the recipe was sublimely simple but with delicious results.
Dorie recommends using the best dark chocolate possible. However, I cheated and used Trader Joe’s 72% chocolate chips as they were already in the cupboard.
She also advises that you carefully select the freshest, organic eggs as they remain raw in this recipe. And, since there will be leftover egg yolks, Dorie suggests making a crème anglaise or a pastry cream for another dessert. I plan to save one yolk for making mayonnaise and then using the rest for an omelet along with several whole eggs.
Dorie has converted the recipe for ingredients available in the US. She was also kind enough to allow me to reprint her recipe verbatim as indicated here in italics for TarteTatinTales.
To decorate the mousse, Dorie suggests using whipped cream or crème anglaise, as well as serving it with cookies or madeleines (so good!), but it also goes with bread — think brioche, challah,”shokupan” (a Japanese milk bread) or even baguette.
When I served it, I used Cabot Creamery whipped cream and topped it with a ring of candied orange rind.
Ingredients:
185 grams (6 1/2 ounces) chocolate finely chopped. (Or use good quality chocolate chips)
100 grams (about 3 1/2 ounces) skim milk
1 large egg yolk
6 large egg whites
37 grams (3 tablespoons) sugar
Cooking Instructions:
1. Put the chocolate in a large bowl (it’s got to hold 6 whipped whites).
2. Bring the milk to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Working with a flexible spatula, gently stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
3. Drop in the egg yolk and beat until thoroughly blended and shiny.
4. Working with a mixer (or by hand, if you’re the type; I went electric), beat the whites and half the sugar until the whites just start to take shape. Keep beating, gradually adding the rest of the sugar, until you’ve got medium peaks.
5. Stir about a third of the whites into the chocolate mixture, just to lighten it, and then spoon the rest of the whites on top of the chocolate. Working with a light hand, fold the whites into the chocolate. Leaving a streak of white here and there is preferable to stirring too much, so go easy.
6. Spoon the mousse into a serving bowl or into individual bowls or coupes, cover closely and chill for at least 6 hours or (best choice) overnight.
7. Covered well, the mousse will keep for about 3 days in the fridge.
Serves: 6
And dear readers, sign up for Dorie’s newsletter at https://doriegreenspan.substack.com as a free or paid subscriber. And don’t forget to check out her most recent cookbook: Dorie’s Anytime Cakes. Decadent, delicious, and relatively easy to make recipes you’ll want to add to your repertoire of sweets. Your friends and family will thank you too!