Chocolate Mousse Adventure

Yesterday {April 28th}, I made chocolate mousse for the first time. The inspiration to make came from my husband; he'd brought back some mousse from his dish-washing job and it was so good, I wondered if I could make it. That way, I could save money and have as much as I wanted whenever I wanted it. So after a quick internet search, I found a recipe {because, conveniently, my cookbook didn't have mousse in it at all} and on Sunday we picked up the missing ingredients I didn't already have - which were chocolate chips and whipping cream.

Then yesterday, after nursing the baby twice, cleaning the kitchen and taking a long walk, I plopped the baby in her daddy's arms and started getting ingredients out. My husband seemed to forget why he was originally in the kitchen as he became engrossed with his birthday puzzle while our baby sat in his arms and squealed happily at everything. While making the mousse, I splashed vanilla extract on my nice clean stove and slightly burnt the chocolate, but it seems to have turned out well. I whipped the cream a little extra, left out the coffee flavored liqueur and let it chill for closer to six hours. It has a lovely rich texture and flavor. I love it! And my husband got almost the entire puzzle finished. He just has to finish the sky. {Btw, the picture isn't mine but it looks close to what my mousse looks like, and I've included a picture of soft peaks for the whipping cream.}

Prep: 15 minutes. Cook: 10 minutes. Chill: 2 + hours. Total time: 2 hours and 25 minutes.

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur (such as Kahlua®)

3 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons whipped cream

1.    Melt chocolate chips with coffee-flavored liqueur in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat; stir until smooth, about 5 minutes. Stir a small amount of hot chocolate mixture into egg yolk; return chocolate and egg mixture to pan, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla extract. Cool, stirring several times.

2.    Beat heavy cream in a large bowl until it begins to thicken. Stir in sugar; beat until soft peaks form. Fold whipped cream mixture into cooled chocolate mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. Garnish with whipped cream and raspberries.