New York Times recipe: bittersweet chocolate mousse with fleur de sel

Yes, you can have an elegant dessert ready in 10 minutes, no mixer needed. This recipe forgoes the cream, eggs and hand mixers required by many mousses, prioritising chocolate and chocolate alone. Melted chocolate is set in an ice bath, hand-whisked, and finished with fleur de sel for a final tally of two ingredients — three, if you count the ice.

Bittersweet chocolate mousse with fleur de sel

Recipe Melissa Clark

This is an intense, creamy two-ingredient chocolate mousse adapted from the molecular gastronomist Hervr This. The nearly instant recipe contains no cream or eggs, so a complex chocolate can shine. The mousse serves four, and it can be doubled. But even if you’re serving two, don’t be tempted to halve it.

Ingredients:

285g bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, more as needed (see tip)

Fleur de sel (available from select speciality markets), or salt flakes, to taste

Preparation:

Step 1 Create an ice bath in a large bowl using ice and a little cold water. Nestle a smaller bowl in ice bath.

Step 2 Place chocolate and 1 cup water in a small pot and heat over medium. Whisk until mixture is melted and smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Step 3 Immediately pour melted chocolate into the bowl in the ice bath. Vigorously whisk chocolate mixture by hand until thick, 3 to 5 minutes. The chocolate should be fluffy and form a mound when dolloped with the whisk (it should generally have the texture and appearance of mousse). If the mixture does not thicken, add a bit more chopped chocolate and remelt over the heat. Spoon into serving bowls and garnish with fleur de sel or salt flakes.

TIP: For a lighter mousse, use 265g of bittersweet chocolate or just add more water.

Serves 4

Total time: 10 minutes

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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