This is going to be a short post. Short but sweet!
You see, it’s the first night of the Rocking Rebel’s Christmas break. Although you would expect him to go rock his little heart out and trash hotel rooms or something, he decided to spend the first night of his well deserved break sleeping on the couch, ‘watching’ Top Gear.
And that’s just no way to start Christmas break! So this post needs to be short and sweet so I can make him a cup of coffee, wake him up and light all kinds of Christmas candles so we can snuggle up on the couch under Christmas themed blankets and watch old Christmas movies while feeding each other spoonfuls of three color chocolate mousse!
So back to the dessert.
It’s gorgeous!
It’s scrumptious!
And it’s just too easy…
The best part? It doesn’t look easy… Which makes it perfect for Christmas!
I just love the little layers of dark, milk and white chocolate mousse and the fact that this dessert is served in small, individual serving glasses.
Although – come to think of it – I think it will be just as beautiful in one big serving dish! You can even make this dessert in a springform pan! Just line the pan with baking parchment or those handy, plastic overhead projector sheets to make sure you can get the mousse out of the pan!
Like the Chocolate Chestnut Mousse Cakes, this dessert is made with Plain Pastry Cream. But that’s really just an easy custard, made with cornstarch, so that shouldn’t pose a problem either.
In fact, there’s really nothing that can go wrong with this recipe. I know I say that a lot (like A LOT), but the thing is: I like things easy. I’m not the kind of girl who likes to torture herself with complicated recipes. I like things easy, pretty and ridiculously tasty!
That’s just how I roll…
The hardest part of this recipe is probably the fact that you’re working with small quantities of ingredients. Because of this, I would advise my trusty readers to use a scale when making this recipe. However, I’ve also added imperial measures for those of you who don’t have a scale…
I like the metric system, though… It’s a European thing, right? I just love the fact that you can put a bowl on a scale and just start adding stuff straight from the container without having to first measure out a certain amount in a measuring cup.
Again: I like things easy.
Anyway, whether you use a scale or a measuring cup, this dessert will rock your world! Just look at those gorgeous little layers of chocolatey goodness!
Perfect for Christmas. Especially with a little sprinkle of silver stars and golden nuggets!
One last little tip: don’t use chocolate chips in this recipe. You see, chocolate chips contain less cocoa butter than regular chocolate bars and because of this, they don’t melt as ‘willingly’ as regular chocolate. Instead of ending up with a gorgeous pool of melted chocolate, you will end up with a grainy, half melted, chocolatey blob.
Not ideal…
Oh, by the way, if you haven’t entered already: you can still enter my Candy Cane Christmas Giveaway! Who knows, you just might be the one who wins the Silver Pandora Candy Cane Dangle Charm!
Enjoy!
- 250ml whipping cream
- 50g granulated sugar
- enough sheet gelatin to set 66ml of liquid
- 35ml (or 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) milk
- 35g (a little over 1 ounce) plain pastry cream
- 4g (or 1¾ teaspoon) cocoa powder
- 35g (a little over 1 ounce) dark, 70% chocolate
- enough sheet gelatin to set 66ml of liquid
- 35ml (or 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) milk
- 35g (a little over 1 ounce) plain pastry cream
- 4g (or 1¾ teaspoon) cocoa powder
- 35g (a little over 1 ounce) milk chocolate
- enough sheet gelatin to set 66ml of liquid
- 35ml (or 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) milk
- 35g (a little over 1 ounce) plain pastry cream
- 45g (1½ ounce) white chocolate
- 250ml (or 1 cup + 2 teaspoons) whipping cream
- 50g (or ¼ cup) granulated sugar
- gold and silver sprinkles
- For this recipe you will need a lot of bowls or wash up every now and then. Start by whipping the cream with the sugar until it holds soft peaks. Set aside for now.
- Make the dark chocolate mousse. Soak the gelatin in cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of milk to a small saucepan. Combine the rest of the milk with the pastry cream and cocoa in a small bowl. Whisk together. In the meantime, melt the chocolate in the microwave or in the bowl of a double boiler (check out 'Basics and Tips: Faking a Double Boiler'). Once the chocolate has melted, whisk it into the pastry cream mixture. Heat the tablespoon of milk in the saucepan to scalding point. Take it off the heat, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin and dissolve the gelatin in the warm milk. Whisk the milk into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in one third of the whipped cream. Set aside until assembly.
- Next, make the milk chocolate mousse. The process is the same. Again, soak the gelatin in cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of milk to a small saucepan. Combine the rest of the milk with the pastry cream and cocoa in a small bowl. Whisk together. In the meantime, melt the chocolate in the microwave or in the bowl of a double boiler. Once the chocolate has melted, whisk it into the pastry cream mixture. Heat the tablespoon of milk in the saucepan to scalding point. Take it off the heat, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin and dissolve the gelatin in the warm milk. Whisk the milk into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in half the whipped cream. Set aside until assembly.
- Finally, make the white chocolate mousse. Again, soak the gelatin in cold water. Add 1 tablespoon of milk to a small saucepan. Combine the rest of the milk with the pastry cream in a small bowl. Whisk together. In the meantime, melt the chocolate in the microwave or in the bowl of a double boiler. Once the chocolate has melted, whisk it into the pastry cream mixture. Heat the tablespoon of milk in the saucepan to scalding point. Take it off the heat, squeeze the excess water out of the gelatin and dissolve the gelatin in the warm milk. Whisk the milk into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream.
- Start assembling the dessert. Carefully pour a layer of dark chocolate mousse into 4 pretty glasses. My dark and milk chocolate mousse layers were about 1-cm (about ½-inch) thick, but base the thickness of your layers on the glasses or bowls you're using. Tap the glasses gently on the countertop to smooth out the mousse layer and place the glasses in the freezer for 5 minutes. Once the mousse layer has set, pour on a thin layer of white chocolate mousse. Again, place in the freezer for 5 minutes to set before pouring on the next (milk chocolate) layer. Repeat the process of pouring and freezing until all of the mousse has been used. After you've poured in the final layer, place the glasses in the fridge to set for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- When you're ready to serve, whip the cream and sugar together until it holds soft peaks. Fit a piping bag with a large star tip and pipe a fluffy cream rose on top of each mousse dessert. Sprinkle over a few gold and silver sprinkles
What a pretty dessert! I love the layers! You have convinced me I need to get a scale.
Thanks Laura, a scale just makes things like this do much easier to make 🙂 I use one for all my baking!