Chocolate Mousse

This chocolate mousse recipe is rich and decadent: the perfect easy dessert for a special occasion! Here’s how to make it.

Looking for a decadent treat? Try this chocolate mousse recipe: rich, smooth, and surprisingly easy to whip up at home! It takes just 15 minutes of hands on time, then chill until it’s dense and chocolaty. We both have nostalgic memories of ordering this dessert as a kid, but it’s not until now that we’ve mastered a homemade recipe. Here are all our tricks!

Ingredients in this chocolate mousse recipe

Chocolate mousse may sound fancy, but it’s a simple concept that’s easy to whip up at home. This makes it the perfect “magic bullet” recipe to impress guests or a special someone. The best part about it? There’s no baking required, making it virtually impossible to screw up. Here’s what you’ll need for this classic chocolate mousse recipe:

• Semisweet chocolate chips: 55% semisweet chocolate has great flavor and simple chocolate chips will do: nothing fancy! Bittersweet chocolate also works for a darker flavor, but you’ll need to offset with more powdered sugar.
• Whipping cream
• Eggs
• Powdered sugar

How to make chocolate mousse

Making chocolate mousse is a simple process that requires no baking at all. It takes about 15 minutes to put together, and then at least 2 hours to chill. Here’s how to make chocolate mousse:

• Melt chocolate and cream: In a small saucepan, heat the whipping cream until it is hot to the touch but not quite simmering (175°F). Pour the heated cream over the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate melts and is smooth.
• Whip the egg whites: Attach the balloon whisk attachment to an electric mixer. Whip the egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 1 to 2 minutes. Then turn the mixer to high speed and beat until stiff peaks form, about another 1 minute.
• Add the sugar, egg yolks and chocolate: Turn speed to low, and add the sugar and egg yolks; beat until combined. Pour in the melted chocolate and fold it in with a spatula until the mixture is smooth. 
• Refrigerate: Spoon the mousse into small glasses. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, until set.

Best chocolate to use

The best chocolate for chocolate mousse? Simple chocolate chips! We found chocolate chips melted easily here. Do you need to use fancy chocolate to make chocolate mousse? No! We tested this recipe first with bittersweet baking chocolate wafers. This resulted in a grainy texture when melted with the cream.

This chocolate mousse recipe uses semi-sweet chocolate (around 55% cacao). You can swap in bittersweet chocolate if you prefer a darker chocolate flavor: but you may want to increase the powdered sugar by a tablespoon or two. We’re big dark chocolate fans, but here we found semi-sweet chocolate had the best flavor. Bittersweet chocolate at 75% cacao tasted much too bitter.

Is it safe to eat raw eggs?

This chocolate mousse recipe contains raw eggs, like most classic mousse recipes. The eggs add volume and richness to the mousse. In general, there is a very low risk of any one egg containing salmonella (the CDC estimates 1 in every 20,000 eggs is contaminated).

Chocolate mousse with raw eggs may not be suitable for people with a weakened immune system, like children, elderly, and pregnant women. For these eaters, make chocolate mousse without the eggs (recipe below).

Variation: chocolate mousse without eggs

Chocolate mousse with eggs has the best rich flavor and creamy, smooth texture. However, chocolate mousse without eggs works too! The texture is more like chocolate whipped cream, and it becomes denser once it’s set. However, it still tastes great. In a taste test, we preferred the mousse with eggs, but our 6 year old preferred the mousse without eggs.

Here’s how to make chocolate mousse without eggs (or go to Easy Chocolate Mousse):

• Use less chocolate and more whipping cream. For 4 servings, use 4 ounces chocolate and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whipping cream.
• Melt the chocolate with ½ cup cream. In a small saucepan, heat the whipping cream until it is hot to the touch but not quite simmering (175°F). Pour the heated cream over the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate melts and is smooth.
• Whip the remaining cream: Attach a balloon whisk to a stand mixer. Add 2/3 cup whipping cream and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk on medium speed until firm peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the melted chocolate into the whipped cream and whisk on medium speed until just combined.
• Refrigerate: Pour into glasses and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or 4 hours for a more set texture.

How to serve it

Once you’ve made your chocolate mousse, you can serve it up plain with no topping. But to take it over the top, add a dollop of homemade whipped cream! You’ve already got the whipping cream on hand, so why not! Here’s how to make homemade whipped cream:

• Place whipping cream and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use ½ cup heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar.
• Whip on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Use the balloon whisk attachment.

Add a few dollops and sprinkle with shaved chocolate. Dessert is served.

More chocolate desserts

We love chocolate mousse because it’s so easy to make, and perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s Day or date night. Here are a few more fun chocolate desserts:

• Try decadent Chocolate Lava Cake
• Go for Flourless Chocolate Cake or simple Chocolate Mug Cake for two
• Mix up Chocolate Covered Strawberries
• Make a pan of Amazing Flourless Brownies

01

Chocolate Lava Cake

02

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

03

The Ultimate Mug Cake

04

Flourless Chocolate Cake

This chocolate mousse recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

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