Mousse au chocolat a l’orange recipe

As a result of not consuming enough Swiss chocolate during my week in Geneva, I brought a substantial amount home in my suitcase. As a treat for Kristoph I used it to make an orange infused chocolate mousse.

Given this was my first attempt at making mousse, I thought I’d be wise to take my lessons from the masters. 

So I followed one of David Lebovitz’ recipes, who adapted his recipe from Julia Child’s classic: Mastering the Art of French Cooking .

Not desiring a boozy mousse, I left out the rum and instead infused the dark chocolate with an orange syrup which gave the mousse a lovely zesty zing.

I made my mousse in small ceramic ramekins, in the vein hope of promoting portion control in our house. It didn’t work. Feel free to use any size ramekins you have. I’ve included below both the orange syrup recipe as well as the mousse. You’ll have some orange syrup left over. Decant into a small bottle or jar and keep in the fridge to add to soda water, or to mix with cocktails. You can also make the mousse without the orange syrup addition. 

For the mousse keep in mind you’ll need three separate medium sized bowls. Make sure you have them before you start. Here’s the recipes.  

Recipe:

(orange syrup)

Peel of one orange, cut into strips

¾ cup of sugar

2 cups of water

Step One: Boil the water in a pot. Once the water is boiling add the orange peel. Simmer for 20 minutes. 

Step Two: Strain the orange peel, and return the liquid to the boil. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves.

Step Three: Remove from the heat, cool, and decant into a small bottle or jar.

Recipe:

180 grams dark chocolate chopped (at least 70% cocoa solids)

170 grams unsalted butter, cubed

60mL dark-brewed coffee

4 large eggs, separated

170 grams brown sugar

5 table spoons orange syrup

1 tablespoon water

Pinch salt

½ a vanilla pod

Step One: Melt the chocolate by making a double boiler. Ie Fill to 1/3 with water, a medium sized saucepan. Put a bowl on top and melt the chocolate and butter. Add the coffee and stir over a simmering heat until the mixture is smooth. 

Step Two: In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, 2/3 cup of sugar, orange syrup, and water, over the simmering saucepan, until the mixture reaches the consistency of runny mayonnaise.

Step Three: Remove the bowl from the heat and nest it in a bowl of ice water. Beat until cool and thick, then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.

Step Four: In another bowl, beat the egg whites together with the pinch of salt until they are frothy, and continue until they hold their shape. Add a tablespoon of sugar and the seeds of the vanilla pod. Continue to beat until the mixture is thick and shiny.

Step Five: Fold the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture until it is just incorporated. Do not over mix or the mousse will lose all of the volume you have created through beating and whipping.

Step Six: Transfer into a serving bowl, or ramekins and refrigerate until firm (around 4 hours). 

 

Note – if you don’t eat it all after four hours, it will last up to four days.