4-minute Chocolate Mousse

This incredibly decadent, luxurious 4-minute chocolate mousse recipe comes to us from Gordon Ramsay (to whom I lovingly refer as Angry Chef). You have to try this! It's worth every single minute of effort.

_{WARNING: THE FOLLOWING RECIPE IS EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE}

"But Scooch," you say, "Restaurant-quality chocolate mousse in four minutes?! Sound too good to be true?" Yeah, I thought so too.

So I decided to take this recipe to task - could it possibly be done in four minutes without the use of a microwave? I had to find out.

Then, of course, I realized I'd have to stop and take pictures and make notes along the way; I really wouldn't be the best judge of the passage of time here. So I enlisted my trusty assistant (who was also able to help me translate the Britishisms) to help out so that we could get a better idea of the time.

It went VERY fast. I'm sure that after a couple stabs at this recipe, four minutes would be no problem at all.

Also, have I mentioned yet how DEADLY DELICIOUS this is? I could eat about two spoonfuls before I was down for the count.

This is going to be a new staple in our household. Keep the ingredients on hand!

_{YOU'LL ALWAYS BE FOUR MINUTES or so FROM ABSOLUTE DECADENCE!!}

Step 1: Ingredients

Here's the recipe in its original British, and then followed with an American translation.  

Brits, etc. use:

• 100 g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids) broken up into pieces
• 300ml double cream
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 large egg white
• chocolate shavings, to garnish
• 2 tbsp Amaretto or other liqueur, orAmaretto Syrup(optional)

Yanks, etc. use:

• 4oz bar of high-quality dark chocolate (I used Ghiradelli). You'll use 7 of the 8 squares, and the 8th square you can shave for garnish (or munch on to keep your cravings at a minimum while whipping this up)
• 10oz heavy whipping cream (I was lucky enough to find a very charming British grocery in SF where we had a whale of a time picking up yummy snacks and double cream!)
• 1/4 cup extra-fine granulated sugar (not powdered sugar!), or just grind up regular granulated sugar in a food processor or coffee grinder. Caster sugar is just really fine sugar. DO NOT USE POWDERED SUGAR
• 1 large egg white
• chocolate shavings, to garnish
• 2 tbsp Amaretto,Amaretto Syrup, or other liqueur (optional)

Tools

---

• Hand-held electric mixer
• Bowl inside another bowl filled with ice water
• Scaleto measure ingredients (opt)

_{Scoochmaroo is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.}

UPDATE

As suggested by many a viewer, if you are not able to acquire pasteurized eggs, or are concerned about having an egg white in the recipe, try substituting in meringue powder!

From user HollyMeeker:

• 2 teaspoonsWilton Meringue Powder
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1/4 cup super fine sugar (Use the recipe's suggestion to make the granulated sugar fine.)

In a large bowl, combine meringue powder, water and 1/4 cup minus 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Whip at high speed for 5 minutes. (A stand mixer makes this whole process much easier.)

Gradually add the rest of sugar and continue whipping at high speed for 5 minutes until meringue is stiff and dry. Makes the the equivalent of one egg white.

Use according to your recipe. Meringue powder can be used to replace egg whites in your recipe if egg white is beaten with sugar before adding to ingredients.

Just a note: Chefs say that using a copper bowl to beat egg whites will make them higher and lighter.

Thanks, Holly!

Step 2: Cream + Chocolate

It's difficult to chronicle the order of events. Angry Chef recommends this step before the next, but I prefer them in reverse order. I'll let you make up your own mind about it.

• Break the chocolate into small pieces and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, heat half of the cream until it begins to boil

Note: this happens faster if you preheat the saucepan before adding the cream

• Turn off the heat, add the chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
• Pour the mixture into a bowl set over a large bowl of iced water and add the rest of the cream and Amaretto, if using.
• Using a hand-held electric whisk, beat the mixture to soft peaks. Remove the bowl from the iced water.

Step 3: Egg White + Sugar

• Separate egg white into a bowl
• Whisk the egg white with a hand-held electric beater until stiff peak.
• Add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and continue whisking to a soft meringue.

Step 4: Fold Together and Devour

• Carefully fold the meringue through the chocolate mixture, then spoon or pipe into chilled serving glasses.
• Top with chocolate shavings or cookies or mint sprigs!
• Try not to eat the whole thing at once or you may require a trip to hospital

With enough practice (and believe me, once you try this, you'll be more than willing to Try, Try Again!), I'm sure you can pare this process down to four minutes. But for the first time, maybe cut yourself a break and allow at least 10!

This is even better after chilling! _NOM

Comments

[YellowBlu Co.]

This was fun to make and VERY delicious! I wasn't able to make it in 4 minutes though. It took me about half an hour! But it was well worth the wait. I took the picture on my laptop, so you can see a part of my laptop. Everyone loves it! Here are the pictures:

[HollyHarken]

Smooch, I just wanted to let you know that I made a double batch of this fabulous chocolate mousse so that I could make a mousse pie. In the past I had been using a commercial mousse mix and dream whip. Now that I know how to make this fabulous mousse thanks to you, I decided to use your recipe. First I made and baked a chocolate graham cracker crust and let it cool. Then I made my superfine sugar with my food processor. I weighed out my chocolate chips using a bag of 60% cacao chips that I bought at Aldi during the Chrismas baking season. I measured out my cream and got every thing ready so that I could proceed. Then I made my egg whites using meringue powder instead of actual egg whites. I got it all whipped up before I started my mousse making. Next I got out one of my bigger bowls and put about a tablespoon of salt in it. Put a bunch of ice cubes in the bowl, added water and stirred to dissolve the salt. Adding salt makes the water temperature go below freezing. (I think I'll use this method to make my whipping cream the next time I make it.) I then placed the big bowl in my sink and used a 3 quart Farberware bowl to mix the cream in. Then I mixed half of the whipping cream with some very strong rum that I have from Austria. This is 160 proof rum (serious stuff) so it is to be used sparingly. I only used 2 tablespoons and it was just right. Any more would have been over powering. NO I DO NOT KNOW WHERE THE AVERAGE PERSON CAN BUY THIS RUM. My uncle gets it for me through the PX down in the DC area. The bottle is over 20 years old that is how little I use it. I only use it to make mousse and Chrismas cookies. I got the cream whipped a bit and then started adding in the chocolate/cream mix as the beaters were running. I really could have used another set of hands for this task! I did it this way in hopes of avoiding lumps of chocolate. I still ended up with a few, but over all it worked out very well. I got the cream whipped and then added a bit of the meringue to lighten it. Then I poured the cream mix into my big stand mixer bowl and used the whisk attachment to fold it all together by hand. I’m thinking I need to invent a handle for the whisk attachment to make this process easier. It is very hard to hold it in my hand. I didn’t want to use the mixer to fold the ingredients together as I was worried that it would have deflated. I filled the pie crust and then let everything sit in the refrigerator over night. This morning I took the cold leftover mousse and piped shells onto the pie. Here’s a photo of the finished dessert. I’m sure that I’ll have to serve small slices so that we don’t all keel over from a heart attack from the richness of this dessert.

[eulaliaaaa!]

I just made some for dessert tonight, and it was amazing! Everyone liked it! Here are the pictures:

[scoochmaroo]

Awesome!!!

[HollyHarken]

Smoochmaroo, OMG this is a killer dessert! I made it last night after emailing you to ask how much it makes. Since I'm going to a friend's house and I don't know how many extra kids there will be I doubled the recipe. I had thought about using milk chocolate, but it would never have had the fantastic flavor that dark chocolate gives this dessert. The next time I make it I will put the cream in a much deeper bowl. I was smart enough to put the ice bowl in the sink so that I wouldn't have to deal with water spilling everywhere. The mousse splattered everywhere as I mixed it until it started to thicken. Maybe I shouldn't start on high speed. Many lessons were learned making this for the first time. I will make it again that is for certain, assuming that my friends don't drop dead of a heart attack after eating this for dessert tonight. I can think of so many different flavorings to add. If I have any leftover I'm going to try freezing it to see if I can make a mousse ice cream. As I was stirring the chocolate into the hot cream I realized that this would make a great ice cream base. Just add in the sugar and some vanilla to the cream instead of the egg whites and put into an icecream maker after you've cooled the cream in the ice water bath. After I got the mousse made I pulled out my fancy cake decorating gun so that the heat from my hands wouldn't melt the cream in a pastry bag. I piped the dessert into plastic wine glasses. Each serving is just under 4 ounces and I ended up with 10 & 1/2 glasses. I've come to realize that I should have allowed the mousse to chill overnight and then piped the dessert into the glasses so that it would have held the piping shape better. Live and learn. I'm including some photos since I know you'll want to see what my efforts looked like. I see that I should have put a small cookie in the bottom of the glass to keep the mousse from sinking into the stem.

[scoochmaroo]

Oh Holly! Thank you so much for the time you took to document your efforts. I know your trials will be helpful to everyone who tried this recipe. Your desserts look amazing! Let me know how further adventures go!

[ElizabethL4]

so i made this just now but i t came out very milky and grainy.... what can i do to fix this???

[kjdavid8]

Same problem. It looks like it's supposed to have the texture of pudding. I followed the instructions and measurements to the T. Why did it turn out like chocolate soup?

[Swansong]

That looks good :) I've got a recipe a friend gave me that she got from her grandmother. I'll have to compare them!

[LivingH1]

This was an easy recipe to make. i was searching for something to use up my whipping cream. Perfect texture, simple ingredients and not long to make. I will definitely make it again. Its a keeper.

Thx scoochmaroo

[jacopez]

hi, i was just wondering approx how many people this serves? it sounds like a great recipe, can't wait to try it out!!

[skoamdaskondiajos]

i would say around four...

[ThamarBerber]

Are you sure it is egg whites, and not egg yolks???
Mine turned into milk.
I tried to get it some mass for an hour, but no use.
A complete disaster.

[skoamdaskondiajos]

it has to be whites, and you have to put the mixer to the highest speed so it gets enough air to become meringue... if you add yolks it wont work

[SageS2]

This was the WORST recipe I EVER TRIED!

[katrina.devereux.3]

Hi could you please tell me why it goes grainy :(

[clare.mcharris]

Surprised you have NOT reduced the sugar in this recipe to a BARE minimum SUGAR is the new Bad Kid on The Block whereas Good Quality Chocolate and Cream is AOK

[shrutig1]

That was the quickest, most successful way of making a delicious mousse! I was scrambling for a fresh new idea for dessert to take to a friend's and came across your recipe. I made it with Kahlua and then filled puff pastry shells with it, topped with whipped cream. The whipped cream added enough sweetness to the dark chocolate/Kahlua flavor to balance it out; the flaky, crispness of the pastry shell added another dimension of texture! Small bites of intense goodness! Thanks!

[nmvb]

would it be possible to use cocoa powder instead of chocolate pieces?

[melodyf]

how many people does this recipe serve ?