CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

Here is the recipe for the winning chocolate mousse recipe. I love that it is dairy free and no sugar is added. It is absolutely delicious, creamy and decadent, no one will believe you that there is no cream or sugar in it. The honey roasted hazelnuts are the perfect accompaniment as they add an amazing crunch and break through the richness of the mousse. I have a constant supply of these nuts in my fridge as they make any dessert extra special and also make a lovely homemade gift, in a jar with a pretty ribbon.

This is definitely one of my favourite desserts, I hope it will be one of yours too.

Ingredients:

Dark Chocolate Mousse

Serves 6 (generously)

250g dark choc (I use 70%)

60g butter

6 eggs, separated

Pinch of salt

Roughly chop the chocolate or break it into small pieces. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of slow simmering water. Make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bowl and the steam doesn’t get into the chocolate.

Remove from the heat and beat in the egg yolks until well combined.

Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt in a large dry bowl, to stiff peaks. Spoon about 1/3 of the stiff egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten and loosen it slightly. This will make folding in the rest of the egg whites much easier. Then fold the rest of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a large serving bowl or into individual serving cups, glasses or ramekins. Cover with glad wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. It’s also lovely to spoon it into a piping bag, leave the bag in the fridge to set and then pipe it into small serving bowls.

I often make this the day before we have guests, then there is less to prepare on the day.

Serve sprinkled with honey roasted hazelnuts and fresh berries ( I love using raspberries).

Honey Roasted Hazelnuts

Ingredients:

2 tsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp honey

1 cup hazelnuts

Pinch salt

Pour the coconut oil, honey, hazelnuts and pinch of salt into a non-stick frying pan, over medium heat. Swirl often to coat the nuts in the coconut oil and honey and to prevent them from burning. Once the honey has turned golden and the nuts look and smell roasted, they are ready.

Pour the nuts and molten hot honey onto a non stick baking sheet or tinfoil. Leave it to cool completely and please be careful because it will be very hot at this stage.

Once the nuts are cool and crunchy, you can transfer them to a chopping board and chop them roughly.

I like to store them in an airtight jar in the fridge as this makes them extra crisp and crunchy.