Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Frozen Chocolate Mousse with a Chocolate Cookie Crust

If you want to impress your friends, make this dessert.  It's a bit time consuming but it's all cleaned up by the time you entertain.  My inspiration came from a spring-form pan I found that is 3" tall and 6 1/2" in diameter.  I basically made my chocolate mousse recipe, with a few changes, and froze it.
For the Cookie Crust, in a food processor, add 12 Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cookies.  Add 1 Tbl Sugar and 1 Tbl melted UnSalted Butter.  Grind until you have find crumbs.  Lay a piece of plastic wrap in the pan to ensure your mousse won't stick.  It should hang over the sides.  Add a generous layer of crumbs in the bottom of a spring-form pan and gently tap using a flat bottomed glass or a round meat tenderizer.  Place in freezer.
The mousse recipe is made in 3 basic steps.  Organize how you will use 2 pots and 3 bowls, as you need 2 double boilers.
To a bowl that will fit into a pot to create a double boiler, add 6 oz Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate, 6 oz UnSalted Butter and 1/4 Cup Water.  Fill pot with 2" water and heat over medium heat.  Place the bowl in the pot.   Melt the mixture while stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat and allow to return to room temperature.
Separate 4 Large Eggs, the whites into a mixing bowl and the yolks into a bowl that will fit over a pot of water.  In the second bowl, over 2 " simmering water, use a hand mixer to beat 4 Egg Yolks with 1/3 Cup + 2 Tbl Sugar and 4 Tbl Frangelico.  This will take about 15 minutes.  It should be fairly thick, almost like runny mayonnaise.  Remove from the heat and place the yolk mixture bowl in an ice bath in order to cool the bowl and therefore yolk mixture.  Continue beating the mixture until is is cool to the touch.  This may take about 15 minutes.
Fold the Chocolate Mixture into the Yolk Mixture.
Beat Egg Whites until frothy.  Continue beating until they begin to hold their shape. Add 1 Tbl Sugar and beat until shiny and add 1 tsp Vanilla.
Fold 1/3 of the whites into the chocolate mixture.  Do this 2 more times.  Add this on top of the cookie crust.  It should fill the pan to the top.  Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.  To serve, whip 1 Cup Heavy Cream with 1 Tbl Sugar until the peaks hold.
Remove the ring from the frozen dessert and discard the plastic wrap.  Cut the frozen dessert with a sharp knife and place on a plate.  Add a dollop of whipped cream.  Either sprinkle with leftover cookie crumbs or chocolate shavings and serve at once.

1 comment:

Chef Penny Novak said...

Chocolate Mousse is my specialty so I will have to try this recipe. The only problem is; Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cookies are my all-time favorite cookie in the world, but they will never make it into the crust as my mouth will most certainly get in the way!