How to make it: the most delicious chocolate mousse

There are many ways to make chocolate mousse. This basic method always works, provided you follow the rules carefully. Use good-quality dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa (at least 70%). And always fold the whipped egg whites into the mousse carefully to achieve an ultimately light and airy result.

How to make the most delicious chocolate mousse

• Separate the eggs over two bowls into whites and yolks. The eggs should be at room temperature.
• Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt them over low heat au bain-marie (in a bowl over a pan with a layer of boiling water; the bowl must not touch the water), stirring continuously. Stir until you have a smooth, liquid mixture.
• Remove the bowl from the heat. Stir the egg yolks in thoroughly, one at a time, and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
• Using a whisk, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff in a grease-free bowl. You can also use a food processor with a whisk attachment. Add the sugar as soon as the egg whites begin to thicken. The egg whites are ready when they form beautiful stiff peaks and you can turn the bowl upside down without the beaten egg whites falling out.
• Carefully fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Do not stir or beat, but ‘fold’ (move the mixture from the outside towards the centre with a spatula while turning the bowl). Add this mixture to the bowl with the remaining egg whites and fold until you no longer see any white streaks.
• Divide the mousse among four glasses and let it set in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Before serving, sprinkle with cocoa powder and chopped pistachios.

Tips

To whip egg whites until stiff, the bowl you use must be completely grease-free. You can do this by rubbing the bowl clean with a wedge of lemon.

Prevent the melted chocolate from becoming grainy: do not heat it too quickly or at too high a temperature while melting, keep stirring, and the smaller the chocolate pieces, the lower the risk of splitting.

Seventy percent cocoa means that 70 percent of the weight consists of cocoa and cocoa butter, with the remainder being sugar. Pastry chefs work with special melting chocolate (couverture chocolate from, for example, Callebaut or Valrhona), available from wholesalers. This is chocolate with a high cocoa and cocoa butter content that flows easily after melting.

Wine tip: El Candado Pedro Ximenez Valdespino

This is the perfect moment to enjoy a glass of sherry again! The Pedro Ximenez sherry is made from 100% Pedro Ximenez grapes, which are dried in the sun for 2 weeks, after which the wine matures for at least 10 years in a unique solera system. Put simply, this is a stack of barrels filled with wine, with the barrels below being topped up with younger wine from the rows above. This ingenious stacking system dates back to 1830, and all types of sherry undergo their maturation in it. The bottom row (the solera) contains the oldest wine. That is also the sherry that ultimately ends up in the bottle.

PX sherries can truly be sweeter than anything you have ever drunk. Like pressed dates—so sweet. You do not simply toss that back, but sip it alongside such a delicious chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate. With this sherry from El Candado, you first have to unlock the little padlock (the translation of el candado)… It is a fun gimmick; the lock prevents the bottle from being emptied too quickly. Because once you have tasted El Candado Pedro Ximenez Valdespino, you will certainly want more! Tip: serve it lightly chilled.

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