Look at that texture!!
Do you want an impressive yet couldn't-be-easier dessert recipe that will make your guests roll their eyes into the back of their heads and moan? OK, I can help you. I actually discovered this on Pioneer Woman's blog and noticed it was naturally dairy-free. Who knew that originally chocolate mousse was dairy-free?!
Side story…
This recipe brought back memories of the Rimsky Korsicoffee House in Portland, Oregon. Rimsky's used to be one of my favorite places to take tourist friends and I almost always would order the chocolate pot de creme there. Once we took a girl visiting from Denmark there and when she went upstairs to the bathroom she let out a blood curdling scream as the classical music played on. Ah, good times! Those of you who have been there understand, and those of you who haven't, well, try to go if it is still around. "Keep Portland Weird!"
OK, let's get started.
Easy Chocolate Mousse
INGREDIENTS
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
12 oz. of really good chocolate, I used Dagoba bars chopped up and measured. It might be fun to try to make it with some of their flavored chocolates, like Lavender
4 eggs, room temperature.
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
8 oz. hot coffee
DIRECTIONS
Are you ready?! Put everything in the blender but the hot coffee and, well, blend. Once the mixture looks smooth, slowly pour in the hot coffee through the small opening at the top of the blender while the blender is still on. Blend for about a minute after you have finished adding the coffee to ensure everything is fully blended. Turn off the blender and do a taste test. If you used over 65% cacao chocolate you might want to add just a wee bit of agave nectar or sugar to taste.
Find any cute little glasses or tea cups to pour the mixture into. This dessert is really rich and decadent, so you don't need large containers of it, a little goes a long way.
Chill. If you are in a hurry, sit them inside of the freezer for about 20 minutes. The consistency will be oh so fluffy! If you let them sit longer in the fridge then the texture will still be nice and smooth, but a bit firmer.
Enjoy! And be sure to tell me what you think after you try it!
Trivia: I found these cute espresso cups with a matching pot in my friend's cupboard when I helped him move. Evidently the last tenant had left them there and my friend didn't want them. I gave them a home and they've become the perfect way to serve this dessert.
Want more? Sign up for updates... It's FREE!
yummy! did you every consider product photography as a career?
You’ve got a great eye girl!
ooohhhh, that looks yummy. You don’t cook the eggs? I guess the hot coffe does that.
thanks…know my girls will love this and easy too!
Gorgeous! This mousse looks heavenly =D.
I think I would want to microwave the mixture for a 60-90 seconds before chilling because of the raw eggs. It doesn’t seem like the hot coffee combined with room temperature eggs would be enough heat for safe eating. It looks delicious and easy to prepare. Definitely a chocolate lovers dessert.
Kathryn-
I can’t guarantee the texture would be the same after microwaving. I personally am not afraid of raw eggs, but I understand if others are. Please let us know how it turns out after you microwave it.
Just for fun, you might find it as interesting as I did to read this post about raw eggs and all of the mixed smartypants comments on Boing Boing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/04/taste-test-raw-eggs.html
I’ve seen rates of salmonella risk listed at both 1:20,000 & 1:30,000. Again, it is up to the individual to decide if this risk is too high for them or relatively low.
Hi,
Looks great! Just wondering, how many did this make?
Made it, and loved it, though my pictures didn’t turn out nearly as good. Post something else dairy-free and we’ll duel again 🙂
http://brooklyncomplex.net/?p=101
Yummmmmm. Just used this for a delightful Xmas day desert. Thank you for posting this.
I’m trying to make this vegan. Does anyone have experience with using flaxseed or chia seeds as an egg replacer in this recipe?
A great vegan recipe for mousse:
1 1/lb tube of extremely soft silken tofu
200g unsweetened dairy free chocolate.
Melt the chocolate, pour into a blender with the tofu. Use honey to sweeten if desired.
DONE!
This looks amazing. I’m so bummed I only have 2 eggs. Off to the store for more. If I don’t drink coffee, will hot water work instead? Hope so!
Diane…you got me thinking…why not try tea? I’m thinking it could be fun to use Earl Grey, or an Orange Spice! ooooh, or mint! Let us all know how it goes!
Carol…I don’t know what to tell you hun, have you ever worked with kuzu or kanten? I have some in my cupboard waiting to be experimented with. I’ve seen them used in veg pudding recipes before, but have never actually tried it myself.
Thanks for a great recipe to start 2010 off with! For those worried about the raw eggs, you can coddle them – submerge them in boiling water for 1 minute, it kills most of the bacteria.
Good, flour-less, gluten free desserts have been so hard to come by. Just in time for me to make something nice for my wife and I to enjoy on Valentine’s Day.
Have you, or any of the other readers, tried making this with a flavored coffee? Hazelnut came immediately to mind, but then started wandering over fields of French vanilla, raspberry, and even a couple of espresso shots.
Scott, I think flavored coffee sounds fun! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Just make sure the flavored roasts are gluten-free. And do let us all know what flavor you decided on!
looks very delicious — i’ll have to give it a try!
I’ve just made these tonight for our gluten-free/vegetarian friends. We are serving them tomorrow night, but as far as I can taste, they will be fantastic. I put them in 4 martini glasses, and they look beautiful. Thanks for the recipe!
This looks LURVELY, but I’m really not into coffee. (I know, I know…my husband is ashamed of me.) Any thoughts on what I could use to replace the coffee?
I am so happy to have foud a desert that looks apealing and by the comments aparently tastes wonderful. I have been all over Gods menu trying to eat better, cook better trying and being naughty also. I’ve been programed for crap a long time like 65 years. And when I’m good I’m really really good and when i’m bad it I go really wron and justify it. That’s bad———-so I think the more stuff I learn to make the better I’ll do. Thank God for GO-RAW The place in Las Vegas I’ve been eating. Carrot,and Avacardo soup YUMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !!!
Yummy looking dessert. Should give a try….
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Viva-Magazine-Your-Premium-Womens-Natural-Health- Magazine/262734921452?ref=ts
Hey JoAnne…
Earlier in the comments we all mused about using tea! I’m curious to see how that turns out. Mint…orange spice…could be fun!
Andrea…you are such a good example! It is NEVER too late! 🙂
how do you make it
is there anything else one might use in place of the coffee (hate coffee)
i definitely tried it, and finally blogged about it! thanks for sharing.
http://www.puresunday.com/blog/?p=54
So I have made this twice now and both times was scrumptious. I did this the second time today and made some minor changes… I replaced the coffee with hot almond milk as my husband doesn’t like coffee and chocolate together. I also made it a bit lighter and more “mousse-y” by separating the egg whites out, and blending the chocolate, egg yolk, salt, and vanilla together – and added a splash of almond milk (extra moisture needed to properly blend since I removed the whites) – about 2 Tbsp of the almond milk. I then blended the hot almond milk into it just like you would the coffee – then while that was cooling in my mixing bowl I whipped the egg whites in my KitchenAid until they were hugely fluffy, then folded them into the chocolate mixture. Then let it set as normal.. MUCH lighter texture – I think either way would be yummy to serve. Anyway 🙂 just wanted to let you know about the substitution and changes I was trying. Love this recipe though
It didn’t set up right… any ideas why?? I used a different brand of chocolate but that’s all I did differently… I’m so sad… I basically had very rich chocolate milk. While very tasty… not quite what I was going for.
I’ve been using this recipe for a while now and LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The only modification I made was to eliminate the use of sugar by using unsweetened chocolate (like Ghardelli) and then sweeten the mousse with raw honey or coconut syrup!
I just made this for my friends….holy cow! I used ~70% cocoa and it was so freaking good but so freaking rich! Next time I’ll cut the serving size in half because no one was able to finish it (so 8 servings instead of 4). I added raspberries to the top as it was setting. Next time I might fold some berries right in there (blueberries maybe?!). I also topped with whipped cream which was totally unnecessary but totally delicious!
Also-I used an immersion blender and it worked really well.
Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Made this last night for my husband & 2 friends, they were all so crazy about it! Thank you 🙂
My mousse didn’t set, I have been over the recipe & can’t figure out what I have done wrong. I used milk chocolate not dark but that would be the only difference.
Shelley, even after you put it in the refrigerator? I would try again with dark chocolate. Let me know how it turns out. (Although milk chocolate sounds divine!)
Love this recipe. My friend made it last week as one of our friends is gluten free, and I immediately stole the recipe. It went great with cream and strawberries. After reading the posts here I may try tea next time. thanks for a great recipe
Maree….I love it that the non-gf “ladies who lunch” loved this recipe! 🙂 Feel free to steal any of my recipes! Thank you sooo much for taking the time to tell me how much you enjoyed it. And if you do use tea…let us know how it turns out. Keep on lunching! xo
Many thanks for a fantastic, gluten-free dessert! I needed an easy “everything-is-already-in-my-house” and elegant dessert to take to friends tonight and this fit the bill… and far exceeded my hopes for it! How very fantastic and again, many thanks!
I used Honey Chamomile tea… it was yummy… I did the freezer option, as I couldn’t wait to try it! Can’t wait to try it again and let it set!
Likewise the dessert did not set in the refrigerator. My theory is the eggs have to be heated to be able to bind all the ingredients together in a fluffy consistency. Is the coffee supposed to do the heating? Otherwise I am not sure how a blended mixture of room temp eggs, milk, coffee and vanilla sets in the refrigerator. It looks like a frothy chocolate milk in the ramekins.
Jonathan B,
Yes, the directions call for hot coffee. 🙂 Hope it works next time. Please let me know if this makes the difference.
Just made this for the first time for a dinner party – one of our guests has Celiac disease. It turned out beautifully and received rave reviews!! I followed the directions precisely – I believe the key to the mousse ‘setting up’ is room temperature eggs and very hot coffee. I divided the mousse among 8 ramekins, and once the mousse set, topped it off with a few red raspberries. Lovely & delish!