I’ve always loved chocolate, who doesn’t? But I LOVE the dark stuff, just a little bit of insanely tasty chocolate. I’ve never been one for milk chocolate or overly sweet bars but a small taste of dark chocolate is irresistible. I’ve always got a few types at home hidden away somewhere to satisfy that craving.
At one point, a few years ago, I almost changed what I was doing career-wise to become a chocolatier at the thought of tempering chocolate all day, filling moulds and flavouring ganaches. In the end I decided against it but as you can probably guess it fuelled an already ridiculous passion for chocolate. It’s also one of those things that I like playing around with in the kitchen because it’s not easy - it’s more of a challenge; it can be super tricky, it can burn easily, it can split but there’s something about that that I love. Luckily this recipe isn’t like that, it’s actually really easy, it’s just got quite a few steps to it. Follow the steps and it’s worth the effort. Trust me. This is a great dessert to have ready for a barbecue or big event as you can do this the day before just have it ready to serve from the fridge. You could do it in individual pots but I really like serving it as a blob of hole-y mousse on a plate. Mmmmm.
The honeycomb is also really easy and actually really quick! (I say it’s quick but you have to leave it for about an hour before it’s ready to use as it takes time to cool) It’s also really cool when you add the bicarbonate of soda as it froths and bubbles. Definitely get the children to watch but be careful as it’s super hot!
Ingredients -
Chocolate Mousse -
- 110g Dark Chocolate (at least 75%), broken into small pieces
- 40g Butter
- 3 Eggs Yolks
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 75ml Water
- 100ml Double Cream
- 90g Egg Whites (2 large or 3 small eggs)
- Sea salt to serve (I use Maldon)
Honeycomb -
- Butter, for greasing
- 200g Caster Sugar
- 5 tbsp Golden Syrup
- 2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
Method -
Chocolate Mousse -
- Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and then set aside, stirring occasionally
- Dissolve the sugar in the water in a heavy based saucepan over a low heat, when dissolved increase the heat and bring the syrup to the boil.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl until pale and creamy
- Boil the syrup until it reaches 120 degrees C on a sugar thermometer
- With the whisk on fast slowly trickle the hot syrup onto the beaten egg yolks
- Keep whisking until the mixture is thick, smooth and has increased in volume
- Whisk until the bowl no longer feels hot and then set aside, this is called a Pate à Bombe
- Whip the cream to soft peaks in a separate bowl
- Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks in another bowl
- Fold the chocolate mixture into the pate à bomb (sugar syrup and egg yolk mix), then fold in the whipped cream and lastly the whisked egg whites
- Transfer into a container for the fridge, it’s best left for a few hours in the fridge before serving
Honeycomb -
- Grease a 20cm tin with the butter
- Put the caster sugar and syrup into a heavy bottomed pan and dissolve on a low heat
- When dissolved increase the heat and bubble until you have an amber coloured liquid
- Quickly turn off the heat, add the bicarbonate of soda and beat with a wooden spoon until the bicarb has been fully incorporated and the mixture is bubbling
- Transfer the mixture into the tin and leave to cool before using (this will probably take 1 - 1 1/2 hours)
When you come to serve simply put a spoonful of mousse on a plate and then add crushed honeycomb and sea salt!
Both of these can be kept for a while and so it's a really good one to prepare hours before and will certainly impress your guests
Enjoy
x
