Michelle Darmody: How to make a rich and velvety chocolate orange mousse

French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was famous for depicting life in Paris in the late 1800s, is often credited with inventing the chocolate mousse. 

The rich and velvety texture of mousse is part of its appeal. 

How you combine the ingredients, and the amount of air you can add during the process, is important in creating the wonderful airy smoothness. 

You want a nice light fluffy feel when you spoon into the dessert that belies the rich and intense flavour in your mouth.

I recommend chocolate that is at least 70% cocoa solids, not only for the taste, but also because chocolate with a low cocoa content tends to cease much more when melted. 

The darker chocolate will give a good strong flavour when diluted with the other ingredients. 

French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who was famous for depicting life in Paris in the late 1800s, is often credited with inventing the chocolate mousse. 

His version was known as "mayonnaise de chocolat".

While raw eggs are used in quite a lot of foods they are not advisable for pregnant women and babies so it is best to be aware of who you are serving the mousse to. 

With the alcohol content it is not for little ones anyway, so if you would like a version for younger family members, or people who would prefer it without the alcohol, you can use orange juice in place of the liqueur.

Chocolate Orange Mousse

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

If you would like a version for younger family members, or people who would prefer it without the alcohol, you can use orange juice in place of the liqueur.

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 240ml cream (extra for decorating)

• 6 eggs

• 80g golden caster sugar

• 60mls Grand Marnier liqueur (or orange juice)

• Zest 1 orange

• 1½ tbsp cocoa powder

• Pinch fine sea salt

• 240g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

Method

1. Whip the cream to soft peaks and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

2. Separate your eggs and set the whites aside.

3. Beat the sugar into your yolks until completely combined. Stir the Grand Marnier, zest and cocoa powder into the egg yolk mixture until smooth.

4. Melt the chocolate pieces over a saucepan of simmering water or in a microwave.

5. Whisk the egg whites and the salt into stiff peaks.

6. Add the cream to the egg yolk mixture until combined.

7. Fold in the stiff egg whites until they too are combined.

8. Spoon the mousse into 8 small jars or ramekin dishes and place into the fridge to firm up.

9. Top with some whipped cream just before serving.

Baker's Tips

• When melting chocolate over hot water, it is important not to let the bubbling water hit the bottom of the dish the chocolate is in, nor to let steam into the chocolate. 
• This will cause it to seize up and become stiff and unworkable.
• When you are aiming to get stiff peaks you should be able to lift a bowl of egg whites or cream over your head without them spilling out. 
• Soft peaks are when you can see a trail in the cream or egg whites.
• It is important to keep your whisk and bowl clean of any oil or grease when you want to create stiff peaks. 
• To ensure this is the case you can wipe both with some white malt vinegar. 
• Vinegar breaks down fat and cleans the implements allowing the eggs to expand and shine.
• To keep as much of the light air that you whisked into your egg white as possible, and to stop deflation, you will need to fold the egg whites into the mixture, not just stir them in. 
• Folding is a more gentle movement where you move your spatula or spoon in a figure of eight movement from the outside of the bowl into the centre.
• To let all the flavours shine it is good to allow the mousse to warm up a little before serving so it is good to remove them from the fridge about a half an hour before serving them.

3 delicious variations

Espresso mousse

Replace the Grand Marnier liqueur with 60mls of very strong espresso and omit the orange zest. 

You can top the mousse with some chocolate covered espresso beans if you like.

Almond chocolate mousse

Replace the Grand Marnier liqueur with 60mls of Amaretto. 

Leave out the orange zest if you wish. 

It is nice to top the mousse with some toasted slivered almonds.

Raspberry chocolate mousse

For this version I stir in a handful of white chocolate chips and a handful of fresh raspberries towards the end of making the mousse. 

You can leave in the Grand Marnier and orange zest as it is a nice combination with the raspberries.