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Chocolate Desserts Recipes Vegetarian

Mocha Mousse

Mocha Mousse

As you will all know, there are certain dishes, be they savoury or sweet, that stick in one’s mind in an almost belligerent manner. Such treats, though delicious in the first instance, often subject one to interminable temptation, thus reducing men to insatiable wretches. The only thing able to cure such flagrant desire is what caused it in the first place, or something very much like it. In my case Mocha Mousse is the culprit – it is simply too good.

Since I rarely like to make the same dessert twice I had to think of a way to alter the recipe, but still maintain what I loved about it in the first place; it’s texture and lightness. Happily, this was easily achievable since coffee is both easy to incorporate into such a thing and combines so well with chocolate that I’ve often, and rather strangely, mistaken them for long lost brothers. Indeed, this mousse works so well that I think it is perhaps better than my previous rendition!

I see so many mousse recipes on the internet, yet a large proportion of them cause me to experience severe convulsions and to froth at the mouth, not because these recipes are irresistible, but because they aren’t actually mousse. By this I mean that they aren’t light and don’t contain little bubbles – a characteristic which every mousse must possess. In my opinion, if you aren’t going to fold beaten egg whites into your mousse, then there probably isn’t any point in making it at all. Oh and it also doesn’t require anything heavy like double cream – it needs to be lighter than air.

Mocha MousseMocha Mousse

When making this mousse please ensure that your chocolate contains cocoa solids of absolutely no less that 55%, though 70% would be more suitable. If one starts using chocolate with less than 55% cocoa solids the mousse could start getting a little heavy. Remember, it wants to be kept as light as possible, a fact I’m sure you won’t quickly forget after the previous paragraph. I only used two tablespoons of caster sugar in my egg whites because I like my chocolate desserts to be bitter, particularly if they contain coffee. However, if one has a bit of a sweet tooth one may, of course, add a little more sugar – three tablespoons should do it. Whatever your tastes, I hope you enjoy this rather simple, yet decadent and indulgent dessert.

Mocha Mousse

Makes 4 large pots or 6-10 smaller pots

Ingredients:

• 200g dark chocolate

• 100ml strong instant coffee

• 4 eggs

• 2 tbsp caster sugar

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate together with the coffee either in a microwave or in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Beat the egg yolks into the chocolate one by one.

2. Transfer the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and beat until they form soft peaks. Add the sugar and continue to beat until the point at which they begin to form harder, stiffer peaks – be careful not to over beat. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in three parts.

3. When fully incorporated transfer the mixture into vessels of one’s own choice, bung them in the fridge and serve after an hour or so.

Cost: Unfortunately, since my last mousse post, my chicken’s eggs have become nigh on un-useable, so this set me back a little more than 70p. Still, at the moment our local grocers are selling 6 medium eggs for £1, which means that these fabulous desserts remained low in price at a mere £1.50.

328 replies on “Mocha Mousse”

This looks divine! I can almost taste it… yum! I have no talent in making good food/dessert (although I have a talent for eating), I’ll ask my friend to try making one of these. Thanks for sharing and for the tips! 🙂

These sound absolutely divine! I’ve never made chocolate mousse as I assumed it would be really tricky. However, this recipe has me itching to give it a go, and give it a go I shall! Thank you for yet another superb recipe. Amy x

I’m rather desperate for some choccie today (comfort eating my way through a stint of nights) – this is like showing red to a bull, I’m finding it extremely hard not to go make it right now! I’m loving your seagull cup too Frug my man 😀

Hahaha, well a box of crap that yields such a cute cup are pretty awesome to me. Did you see my FB page? I made these mousses immediately after posting here, such was the power of your post ;0)

Oh my goodness, this recipe looks TOO good! I made chocolate mousse a few months ago, using your previous recipe for them and they were delicious. These look just as scrumptious as your other ones. A perfect treat to counteract the stress of moving house!

There seems to be a couple left over in the top photo. Can I have one, please. They look excellent. My moose efforts (including folding in the beaten whites) have been a bit stodgy and not worth posting about. I must try harder.
Best,
Conor

This reminds me a bit of the chocolat pot du creme (pardon my horrible french – spanish is more my style) that I experienced several years ago enjoying the tastes and sounds with my cousin in East Nashville. I’ve always wanted to attempt re-creating it at home. Think I will be adding this tasty recipe bit to my shopping list…

That looks delicious! I am definitely going to try this tomorrow. S’been so long since I had chocolate mousse! Just a question… would it be bad if I increased the sugar amount? I prefer things extra sweet.

You are really hitting a weak spot for me. I was really trying to be good and stick to healthy eating but this post is causing me to cave in. Such light fluffy mousse and so rich and creamy. Take care, BAM

This is exactly the kind of chocolate mousse recipe I love! I’m always disappointed to see heavy cream in the ingredients list. But I have a question: When a recipe calls for me to melt chocolate and coffee (or some other type of liquid) together, it always seems like the chocolate seizes and becomes very stiff. Is there a a trick to melting chocolate and water without making it seize?

Exactly – it isn’t necessary and actually makes it worse! Well, it isn’t the end of the world if it does seize, because adding the whites makes up for it. However, because the coffee is hot it shouldn’t really seize. The best way to avoid it is probably not to use a microwave… relatively good quality chocolate also helps I think.

Okay, I will be brave and try again. I just spent a ridiculous amount of money on some Valrhona chocolate so I’m really excited to try out a chocolate mousse recipe. Thanks 🙂

Lovely, lovely, love it!! My tummy just rumbling a complaint.. the first time since reading blog posts all morning, so what does that tell ya’:D Your photos are stunning, especially that close up with the spoon.. and the light airy chocolate bubbles!! I’ve pinned it on my recipes to try and can’t wait!! I’m on the look out for the best chocolate!! xx

Looks yummy! Nothing like chocolate and adorable dishware to put a smile on your face :).

Regarding the seizing chocolate and hot liquids discussion, since exposure to water causes chocolate to seize (chocolate is a saturated fatty acid hence it’s hydrophobic) it helps to have liquid that’s not so hot that it’s creating a lot of steam. Just my $0.02

chocolate and coffee makes me sooo weak 🙂 aww and that mug!! i so wish i had a cup full for dessert this afternooN! mhmmm

Definitely agree with you on the whole fluffy scenario and am going to make these as soon as the Pie removes my chocolate moratorium (blogging is so darned fattening!).

Question — what about coffee extract? I just found a bottle of Camp’s and I’m itching to try it in something …

YUM! This looks perfect! I love that you put it in tea cups and mugs. But really, as long as it tastes good who cares what it’s in! I could go for some of this morning. Since there are eggs in this, it could count as breakfast, right?

My goodness, it looks divine and what a dinky little cup to serve it in. I’m with you on the mousse and not creating the same recipe twice…our blogs have a lot to answer for not letting us keep making our favourites ;o)

Can I ask what the risk of eating raw bean egg whites is? This look so good, I’m ready to eat it right this second, but my mom raised the question and now I’m curious. Cheers!

I should’ve replied earlier, as I don’t know if you’ll get back in time, but I plan to make this for my husband and guests tonight. Can I make it several hours ahead of time and just have it refrigerate longer? Or will it lose the consistency?

And, my goodness – I just quickly “translated” the 100 ml of instant coffee into Americanized terms, and that’s quite a lot! I bought a small jar (2 oz) of instant espresso. Hopefully that will be sufficient! Though it seems a LOT more than I expected to use…

Update: I used not even an ounce, since I saw that you called for instant COFFEE rather than espresso. It tastes delicious! I also didn’t want my guests up all night long, cursing my name, from all the caffeine 🙂 Can’t wait to share it tonight.

See… it’s recipes like this that put my 99% carb free diet in jeopardy! Although there is very minimal sugar, and dark chocolate is technically a vegetable, right?

thanks for liking my recent post on my India Journal blog and even more for bringing me here. I love anything about food and it looks just delicious here! Look forward to exploring further! 🙂
Namaste from Rishikesh where I eat superb food every time I am here for a few months each year!! 😀

Ooooo this would go so well on top of my fridge cheesecake to make a chocolate mousse cheesecake. Decadent and delicious. Will give it a try soon.

This mousse looks fantastic, but what I really love about your site are the photos. I’m trying to improve my own food photography skills, and I like looking at your photos for inspiration! I love how you use various, eclectic dishes and things.

This looks divine! I haven’t made chocolate mousse for years which is a shame as it uses so few ingredients and what it does use are inexpensive. Wonderful photographs too, tempting me even more to make it soon.

thank you for stopping by the blog…And your blog is making me so hungry right now that I am going to the fridge…This Mocha Mousse looks delicious and im not even a coffee drinker..

Thanks,

Luciana

I simply cannot wait to make this. There are many deserts I love I can’t make here in Delhi since I don’t have access to a proper oven, but being able to use the microwave and the fridge makes this temptation very easy to prepare. Thanks for the recipe!

Im so giving this recipe a go ! how stiff does the egg whites have to be?
does it have to be stiff like meringue egg whites?

As someone who has only barely leveled up in baking above from the box brownies, these look like something I can do! Thank you so much, they look fantastic!

This might be a dumb question, but should the coffee be in a liquid form, or dry powder? (I ask because I’m used to seeing “ml” for liquid measurements and the photos only show powder.)

Thank you for perusing my site, being new it gives me some encouragement! I love your ethos, being frugal myself!
The recipes look delicious, cannot wait to check out some more of your recipes 🙂

Oh, dear. Just when I thought I was safe- an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS chocolate mousse recipe. Among other things- thank you for YOUR visit, and we’re all drooling this end!

I just made this yesterday and it is really decadent!!! Of course easy too. Thanks a ton for sharing this. However I felt that mine turned out a bit heavier than I expected it to be. I used 64% cacao or may be I didn’t beat the egg whites enough. But overall it was amazing and I will show it off at the next party

I always have such trouble with chocolate mousse. Mine often come out too dense. So now I have a fear of making mousse because I hate when it goes wrong. I feel so disappointed in myself! Maybe, though, I should try these and see if I can sort it out once and for all.

Hey There Frugalfeeding,

I made this recipe last night and I am eating some as I type. It is REALLY good! It’s soft and pillowy! But one thing I noticed (since this isn’t the first time I have made mousse with eggs) is that I can sense a small hint of graininess. I think it might be from the chocolate I used. Now where I live, which is in the United States, you don’t have access to a lot of good chocolate. And if they do have good chocolate it cost 3-4 times more than ‘normal’. Now sometimes it’s totally worth it to buy the expensive. But when this mousse is just for me and I want to be frugal what do you suggest. I know we live in completely different countries, but is there a brand that you find makes the best mousse for you?

I look forward to your response! 🙂

Yes, sounds like it could be the chocolate. I really don’t know what to suggest as I buy brans from a specific UK supermarket – ALDI. I’m not sure if you have that there. I doubt it. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

Hi Liza. I’m not at all a expert when it comes to egg replacements. But you really need something similar at least, something very structured that has a lot of air; because it doesn’t use cream. You could make a double cream mousse, but it’s not quite as good in texture.

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