Delicate yet rich dessert that goes perfectly for any celebration. This Chocolate Mousse is made from scratch and it’s worth every second you put into it. This smooth and silky homemade chocolate mouse is made by combining homemade whipped cream, melted chocolate, and sweetened egg yolks.
Chocolate Mousse
It’s time that I share my favorite recipe for Chocolate Mousse with you.
I was talking to my friend about a big dinner she was planning and she wanted some dessert suggestions. First thing that came to mind was my chocolate mousse recipe. I went to my site to try and find it for her but quickly realized that as many times as I’ve made it, I never posted the recipe. I believe that there was even a time when I took pictures of it. I can’t go on knowing that this amazing dessert is not shared with my favorite readers, i.e. all of you!
Luckily, I was planning on making a delicious new pie to share this week and part of it is my chocolate mousse. It was perfect timing for me to share chocolate mousse first and you will have to come back for the pie. And trust me, you will want to come back for the pie too. It is so good!
Tips For Making Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate Mousse has been my go-to recipe for many celebrations and holidays. It’s always a crowd-pleaser and I love the fact that it can be prepared ahead of time. It’s so nice when you can get dessert out of the way the night before you have a party planned.
This recipe may seem like a lot of steps and that it might take a long time, but it really is not that complicated and it will take you about 30 minutes to make it. Just remember to take it one part at a time because each one demands your attention.
Use a double boiler to melt your chocolate, if available. Every time I try to take a microwave shortcut while melting my chocolate, it ends in disaster. I end up wasting two bars of baking chocolate and have to start all over. So don’t take that chance and use a double boiler.
If you don’t have a double boiler, set a glass mixing bowl over a pot filled about half way with water. Water should not be touching the bowl on top. Melt chocolate in and butter in the glass bowl once the water starts to simmer.
Make sure to bring the egg yolks mixture to a safe temperate of 160°-165°. Use a thermometer to track the temperature while cooking the eggs. Cook them low and slow and remember to stir constantly so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs.
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Chocolate Mousse
This Chocolate Mousse is made from scratch and it's worth every second you put into it.
Ingredients
- 8 oz bittersweet baking chocolate
- 1/2 cup of water split in two
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- First, make whipped cream and set it in the fridge until ready to use: Using a cold whisk attachment, beat cold heavy cream in the cold bowl of an electric mixer, until soft peaks appear.
- Preheat water in the double boiler over medium heat. Add chocolate, 1/4 cup of water, butter and vanilla extract. Let it start melting and then stir with a silicone covered whisk until all melted and smooth. Take off heat and set aside.
In a small, heavy sauce pot, over medium-low (to low) heat, whisk egg yolks, 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar together. Cook stirring slowly but constantly, until the mixture reaches 160° (F). This could take up to 10 minutes but don't walk away or you will cook your eggs. Take off heat.
- Stir egg mixture into chocolate mixture until all combined and smooth.
- Place some ice into a large mixing bowl. Set the sauce pot in the ice bath. Let chocolate cool, while slowly stirring, for 5-7 minutes.
- Fold whipped cream into cooled chocolate mixture until all smooth. Take you time folding with a spatula, you don't want to whip or it will flatten.
- At this time, you can divide chocolate mousse among dessert cups and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.
Recipe Notes
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on November 23, 2014.
Alexis Mohr
Everything is beautiful! Please clarify the mousse recipe. It says “1 1/4.” Is that 1 1/4 cups? Thank you.
lyuba
Hi Alexis, thank you for letting me know! It is fixed and it is 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream.
I hope you like it!
Baby June
Looks like a great variation! Love the white chocolate curls you added, so pretty 🙂
lyuba
Thank you so much, Baby June 🙂
I hope you will get a chance to try it.
Stephanie
Let me go get a spoon. Pinning
Stephanie
lyuba
Thank you so much, Stephanie! 🙂
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way
It not only looks delicious but I can smell the chocolate and I can taste the rich smoothness in my mouth. Yummmy!!! Great job!
lyuba
I hope you’ll give it a try and taste it for real 😉
Thank you so much, Marisa! Happy Thanksgiving!
Patrice
Looks delicious and I plan on making it for Christmas. I was just wondering, I thought you weren’t meant to put water into chocolate if you’re trying to melt it?
lyuba
Thank you, Patrice! I hope everyone enjoys it, it’s been our Christmas dessert many times.
I actually haven’t had problems with water while melting chocolate, or milk or cream. If using microwave, it would cause a problem, but in the sauce pot or a double boiler it is perfectly smooth.
Enjoy!
Patty R
When I’ve made mousse in the past, it is too thin to get that nice look of a piped dessert. Do you let it set in the frig a bit before you pipe it into the dessert dishes?
lyuba
Hmmm, this was actually piped and photographed right away. One thing I can think of is the whipped cream could not have been whipped enough. Whipped cream is what gives mousse it’s form, so may be try whipping it for a few extra seconds. But watch it like a hawk 🙂
Another little side step you can take is using ready whipped topping from the store, like COOL Whip in a plastic container.
Patty R
I’ll give the Cool Whip some thought but before I try that I will try whipping my cream longer. Thanks for the reply.
Sonya
Can I substitue white chocolate or Tobelrone chocolate for the chocolate and will the quantities need to change looks yummy 🙂
Tatyana
Hey, how long will this last in a fridge? Cause I’m probably not gonna eat all this at once 🙂
lyuba
Oh gosh, we don’t usually eat it all at once either. (Unless, I make it for a party.) It will last a few days, may be a week. In an air-tight container.
Alex
Your presentation looks lovely! Did you pipe the mousse into the cups before it set up and which tip did you you? Any information would be helpful. It looks lovely!
lyuba
Thank you so much, Alex! I piped mousse right into the serving cups and I used tip 1M. I would recommend that you pipe it right after you make it because if you try to pipe cold mousse, it won’t go as easy. So pipe it and either serve it or cover and refrigerate.
BabyBear
You use raw eggs. I was wondering how you prevent salmonella? Not to turn anyone off raw regs is the proper way to make real mousse . I’m just curious does the heat from the chocolate chips heat it up enough to eat safely?
BabyBear
Never mind I see. This recipe seems to cook them thoroughly. My apologies!
lyuba
Hi there!
If I make something that I know my son will be eating, I usually bring eggs to 160 degrees in a double boiler, like here and tiramisu. I know many who don’t mind the raw egg, I’m just being cautious. I hope you will give it a try!
Thank you.
Leah
Hi Lyuba! I’m new here but am trying out your mousse recipe for my daughters birthday tomorrow!! I am curious, any particular reason why you call for a ‘silicone covered whisk’? Thanks so much and looking forward to trying many of your recipes in the future!! 🙂
lyuba
Hi Leah!
Happy birthday to your daughter!
The only reason I recommend silicone covered whist is for the safety of the pan/pot. Metal whisks tend to scratch and damage pans and pots, so I use and recommend silicone covered ones.
I hope everyone likes it!
lyuba
Oh, I only use silicone covered ones when I whisk something in a cooking pan, in a mixing bowl :). For mixing bowls, I use regular metal ones.
Rachel
Hi there i was just wondering if the 1/4 cup of water that goes into the chocoloate if a little bit of that could be substituted for a liquor
lyuba
Hi Rachel,
Sure. I would do it in the egg mixture. What were you thinking, brandy, cognac? Those would go good with chocolate. Enjoy!!
Theresa
Just made this and it tastes loverly! Wish I had seen the liquor comment sooner; I will add some brandy next time.
lyuba
See, now you have to make it again and soon 🙂
Thank you, I’m so happy you liked it!
Gina D from Texas
I just found this today so haven’t made it yet. I can’t wait!
But …. three thimgs:
1) I’ve always shied away from recipes where you cook eggs for a dish like this because I’m afraid they will scramble. I guess I just need to try it and see what happens. Any helpful tips for first-timers?
2) Instead of an actual double boiler which I don’t have – can I put a glass bowl over a pot of water?
3) Can you share the name of the chocolate pie you mentioned at the first part of the post?
I subscribed to your blog as well. Looking forward to all your recipes.
lyuba
Hi Gina!
I definitely have a few tips for not getting scrambled eggs and I am still afraid of overcooking my eggs after making the recipe many times 🙂 First of all, make sure to keep slowly stirring the whole time and do not walk away. Give it all your attention until it reaches the temperature. To take extra precaution, you can use a double boiler. It might take a bit longer but less of a chance for scrambled eggs.
With the double boiler, you can definitely substitute
a pot and a glass bowl. If it’s good enough for professional chefs, it’s good enough for us, right 🙂
I believe that it was this pie I was talking about: https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/2014/11/brownie-bottom-chocolate-mousse-pie.html
Best of luck! I hope you like it.
Barbara
This sounds so good! I’ll have to dig out the double boiler. Thank you so much for posting. I look forward to more of your recipes.
Lyuba
Thank you, Barbara. Enjoy!
Rue Manny
Do you add the chocolate to the water when melting it or do you melt it with the steam from the water?
lyuba
Hey there! If using a double boiler, the water goes into the bottom pan and the chocolate goes into the top pan. I hope this helps!
https://www.amazon.com/Double-Boilers/b?ie=UTF8&node=289817
Dina
I see this makes 6 servings, but what is the serving size?
P.J. Murray
This recipe was easy to make ouce the ingredients are ready and waiting. It has great texture and powerful chocolate taste … Not whimpy at all. It piped beautifully and had a great consistecy too boot. I used Guittard 70% chocolate and it smoothly melted with the water and all. Yum and Thank You for the recipe. Pamela
Mary Johnson
How do I make 20 servings? Can I double/triple recipe?
lyuba
Hi Mary! I would definitely triple the recipe for 20 🙂
I hope everyone enjoys them!
Sara
Can I use cooking chocolate? Don’t really know what is bittersweet baking chocolate…
Also any other option for chocolates…brands wise
lyuba
Do you mean Baker’s chocolate or chocolate chips? It’s actually Baker’s chocolate that I use here 🙂 Ghirardelli has baking chocolate and Baker’s. Those are the two brands that come to mind. They both come in bars and are found in the baking isle.
Melinda
I just made your Chocolate Mousse recipe and it is fabulous!! What a rich creamy chocolate flavor!
Thank you very much!
Happy New Year 2019!
lyuba
I’m so happy to hear it, Melinda!
Happy New Year!
linda lilly
hello , i was wandering if i could use semisweet choc olate? if so would i decrease sugar amt? also am i actually adding water in with the chocolate or just in the pan undereath? also is this airy and light or heavy like pudding? and also
when do i strain the mix to make sure i didnt scramble eggs?
lyuba
Hi Linda! Yes, you can substitute semi-sweet as long as you use baking chocolate and not chocolate chips. As far as adding or taking away sugar, that it up to you based on how sweet you like your desserts.
You are melting chocolate over water in a double boiler, so there will be water in the bottom part of the double boiler. Then in the top pot, you will be combining the chocolate and 1/4 cup of water. So really it’s both.
The texture is light and creamy, kind of like a thicker whipped cream.
There is nothing to strain actually. The best way not to cook the eggs but bring them to temperature is to do it low and slow. Slowly stir the whole time as the eggs are heating up. If you would feel better, you can do the eggs in a double boiler as well, just wash it first.
I hope this helps!
John
Thank you for this. For anyone interested, I made this Saturday for Mother’s Day on Sunday. I used Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate (63% Cacao). It was a HIT! It was rich and smooth and SO. VERY. GOOD.
LyubaB
John, I am so glad you liked it!
Karly
This looks so delicious! My problem is that I eat too much. Thanks for sharing!
lyuba
Oh yes, I run into this problem a lot as well 😀 That’s why I make sure someone is here to help me eat it!
Thank you, Karly!