Picture this: sitting down to enjoy a beautifully prepared Italian dinner served al fresco after a day full of Roman history and culture. After the luxuriously paced meal, dessert arrives. It’s a classic, yet is so simple: chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate and a kiss of vanilla. While we can’t transport you to the Italian villa for this magical dinner, we do have the next best thing. Our friends at Casale Del Gallo, our home base for the Female Foodie Rome tour, have graciously shared their recipe for this exact chocolate mousse.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Chocolate mousse is the ideal minimalist chocolate dessert. Made with just a few key ingredients, this decadent sweet treat is the ultimate chocolate lover’s post-meal fix. Our favorite part about this recipe besides that it’s adapted from Casale Del Gallo and is absolutely delicious? This chocolate mousse is surprisingly easy. Like 3 ingredients, only a few dishes, make-on-a-Tuesday kind of easy. Low effort, high reward–yes, please.
Ingredients Needed
- Eggs–You’ll need six. Straight from the fridge is totally fine, no fussy “room temperature” eggs needed here.
- Dark chocolate–250 grams or just shy of 9 ounces. Anything you like to eat will work. We love a deep, dark chocolate with at least 55% cocoa but closer to 70%. The higher the cocoa percentage, the less sweet the mousse will be as all the sweetness in the mousse is coming solely from the chocolate.
- Vanilla extract–Not technically necessary but we love the way it smoothes out the strong, rich chocolate flavor.
Recipe Tips
While it’s true this chocolate mousse is super easy, we do have a few tips/best practices for success.
- Separate the yolks and whites while the eggs are cold. The yolk is more likely to stay intact and not break when the egg is cold, which makes it much easier to keep those egg whites yolk-free before whipping.
- The whites won’t whip up correctly if they have even a drip of egg yolk in them. To save yourself from having to throw out a whole bowl of egg whites due to one errant drop of yolk, separate each white from the yolk into a smaller bowl first, then add to the larger mixing bowl once you’re certain no yolk made it in.
- Low and slow is the way to go with melting chocolate. Chocolate burns fairly easily and is pretty useless if it does. Melt the chocolate over low heat and stir often to encourage even melting and prevent hot spots.
How to Make Easy Chocolate Mousse
When we said this recipe was destined for a Tuesday, we weren’t kidding. Start by separating the egg yolks and whites, being extra careful not to break any of the yolks in the process. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Melt the dark chocolate (remember: low and slow), whisk in the yolks and vanilla, fold in the whites. Separate out into small cups and chill. Honestly, waiting for the mousse to fully chill may be the most difficult part.
More Mouth-Watering Chocolate Recipes
Easy Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 250 grams dark chocolate plus more for garnish
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites, placing the yolks in a small bowl and the whites in a large bowl fitted for a stand mixer or hand mixer. Whip the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form and set aside.
- In a medium or large saucepan, melt the chocolate over low heat, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk the egg yolks into the chocolate quickly until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk again. Using a spatula, gently fold in the whipped egg whites in two or three batches, being careful not to overmix.
- Divide the chocolate mousse into 6 small cups and refrigerate for 2 hours. If desired, use a sharp knife or vegetable peeler to grate chocolate shavings over mousse before serving. Store in the refrigerator.
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