Alice's Luscious Chocolate Mousse

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup water or 1/4 cup coffee or 1/4 cup milk or 1/2 cup heavy cream (if you want a creamier, not-too-intense mousse)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brandy or 1 1/2 tablespoons rum or 1 1/2 tablespoons liquor, of choice (optional)
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons sugar

Recipe

• 1 place chocolate and 1/4 cup of water (or liquid of your choice) in a medium microwave-safe bowl.
• 2 melt chocolate in the microwave for 30 sec on high, stir.
• 3 repeat the zapping and stirring until chocolate mixture is smooth and completely melted.
• 4 stir in brandy (or other liquor), if using and set aside.
• 5 in a medium heatproof bowl, whisk eggs with the 3 tb water and sugar until well-blended.
• 6 set bowl in a skillet of barely simmering water, stirring constantly, cook egg mixture until it registers 160°f on instant-read thermometer (remove bowl from the skillet to check temp).
• 7 once the temp has been reached, remove bowl from skillet and beat with an electric mixer at high speed for at least 3-4mins, until eggs have a texture similar to softly whipped cream.
• 8 fold about 1/4 of the egg mixture into the melted chocolate.
• 9 scrape the lightened chocolate mixture into the remaining beaten eggs and fold gently, until evenly incorporated.
• 10 if egg safety is not an issue, omit the heating step- whip the eggs with the sugar (omit the water, as it's added just to prevent eggs from scrambling) and proceed accordingly.
• 11 now you may divide mousse into individual ramekins or glasses, chill for at least 1 hour until set; cover with plastic wrap if you're not serving within a few hours.
• 12 you may also use the mousse as a cake filling- i've done this with success, using a cake ring (or a springform pan).
• 13 if you're using very high percentage chocolate (70% and above), you may want to increase sugar to 4 1/2 tb.