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Chocolate Mousse
Genevieve Ko
879 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
879
20 minutes, plus overnight chilling
Published Dec. 13, 2023
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Prepare the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch metal cake pan, line the bottom and sides with foil or parchment paper, and grease again.
In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt until evenly combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles sand. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the crumbs look like very coarse sand, scraping the bowl as needed. (Or, use your fingertips or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients, then stir in the egg yolk with a fork.) Dump the crumbly dough into the pan, spread in an even layer and press firmly across the bottom.
Bake until visibly dry, about 20 minutes. When you press the top gently, it shouldn’t indent. Cool completely in the pan on a rack.
Prepare the filling: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Heat the cream and salt in a large saucepan over medium, stirring occasionally, just until the cream bubbles at the edges. Turn off the heat and add the chocolate. Stir gently until smooth.
Add the eggs and stir until evenly blended, then stir in the condensed milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into the cooled crust.
Bake until just set, 20 to 25 minutes. The very center should have the barest wiggle when you shake the pan.
Cool completely in the pan. When ready to serve, use the sides of the foil or parchment to slide the whole slab onto a large cutting board. Cut into squares or bars, wiping the knife between cuts for clean edges. Top with flaky salt, candied orange, candied ginger, pistachios or raspberries, or a combination.
This is in answer to Su. I'm a chocolatier and I'm certain this would work with 60-70% chocolate. That's what I plan to use. I would not go above that--85% chocolate would introduce too many solids and your mixture would not work. It could potentially become too stiff.
How would a glass 9x13 dish change the process? Is it still feasible, do any specific adjustments need to be made?
My home-ec teacher Mom usually recommended reducing the oven temp to account for the heat retention of the glass. Maybe reduce the initial oven tem for the crust to 325 and watch it earlier than the recommended time.
This is nice - made it in a 9x13 glass dish but it took 20 minutes longer to cook than the recipe said. If the chocolate is too hot when you add the eggs, they'll curdle. So cooled-off chocolate perhaps equals a longer cooking time. The final product definitely needs to cool off fully to taste delicious, tried it while still hot and was concerned it wasn't good, but once it cooled off, it was pretty tasty.
If anyone accidentally adds the whole can of condensed milk like I did, just add another egg. Came out beautifully!
It's only cheap chocolate chips that have the stabilizer (like soy lecithin). I use Ghirardelli chips for this kind of baking all the time.
I love the look of the crinkled sides of a tart pan. Is there any reason I can't make this with sides in a tart pan so I can take it out for a fabulous presentation? I was thinking of strawberry slices arranged on top just before serving. Thoughts?
If anyone has tried this with a good dark chocolate (at least 70%, ideally 85%), could they speak to how the texture came out? I'm intrigued by this filling, but just don't care at all for semi-sweet chocolate. Thanks!
I just made it in a 9-inch lightly buttered tart pan and it worked beautifully. I reduced the crust and filling ingredients by 1/3, pressed the crust into the bottom and sides of the pan, and followed the baking times recommended for both crust and filling.
Made exactly as written, worked perfectly, tasted wonderful. Nice crust was a good contrast with smooth chocolate filling. The tart cut easily, stayed shiny and with nice slices. Traveled to a neighbors, in the rain, and still looked beautiful. Not cloying or too rich.
If you can find it, use the Côte d’Or brand of Pâtissière Noir chocolate. I have found it to have a very rich flavor and the best ever. I discover it making the NYT Brownie Walnut Cookies recipe. They were an instant hit.
As she explains in the article about the recipe, the sugar in canned condensed milk is inverted. It does not crystallize. I don't think it's possible to achieve the same result with a homemade combination of milk and sugar, no matter how much you reduce it. You need to use citric acid or cream of tartar to invert sugar.
I would be careful with chocolate chips as they contain a stabilizer that helps them keep their shape when baked. Not impossible, but also not preferred.
I followed the recipe to the gram and bake time, and it turned out great.
I beat the 3 eggs separately before adding. Less stirring and it seemed to help with the risk of the eggs curdling. Super good tart, hit of the dinner party tonight. I served the slices with toasted, chopped pistachios and sliced candied ginger in separate dishes and let guests choose their garnish.
I swapped out the AP flour and instead used almond flour for a gf treat.
Excellent. Use rectangular tart pan!
This is a growing family favourite! I often freeze half of it and it has held up well even up to two weeks. Rarely lasts that long...
This tasted excellent but did everyone else find it was very thin? ie the crust, once baked was about 5-6mm in depth and the chocolate on top was maybe 7-8mm at most. I thought it was going to be larger but maybe I just got that wrong. Also one time I got a lovely glossy finish and the second time it was duller - a few things changed in between the two (first one had more eggs and semi-sweet chocolate chips vs second time less egg and milk-chcocolate chips)?
Made as written and turned out great. Used Whole Food dark chocolate chips, which worked well. I refrigerated overnight and then pulled out about an hour before traveling to a dinner party. I left it in the pan and then made cuts in the top to decorate the sections, then I cut more deeply to separate when I pulled it out onto the serving plate. Looked and tasted great and was a big hit.
Great mix of creamy and crunchy but recommend taking salt down to 1/2 tsp.
I made this tonight in a 10” tart pan. Used all the crust and about 3/4 of the filling. Appreciated the comments about bubbles,, which I popped. Came out shiny and smooth. I candied some orange slices, toasted some pistachios, ground up freeze dried strawberries, cut up crystallized ginger and poured some flaky salt in separate little bowls and offered a garnish adventure to my supper club. A giant hit.
Made as the recipe stated. So decadent and creamy. Topped ours with chopped walnuts, salted peanuts, crushed candy cane and pink sea salt. The Himalayan pink sea salt was the best. We will freeze them and hope they stay delicious.
I halved this recipe and it was still great. Made it in an 8 x 8 pan. As for the eggs, I used 2 in place of the 3 called for and the whole yolk specified. Easy one to cut in half and still spectacular
Fantastic! Cooked this for Christmas this year in lieu of Nanaimo bars and it went over very well. Simple recipe was very easy to execute literally. Froze about half the pan to save for later. A week later, post freezing it was as good as ever. Salt flakes were a nice addition but the candied fruits were unnecessary and put it over the top on the sweet side.
Our favorite dessert on Christmas. I love the ability to change the toppings. It pleases everyone.
I made this with 60% chocolate -- it was a delicious hit. I put slivers of candied ginger on top and it created a great balance between the sharp ginger and lush chocolate. The texture was great, and held together well, even though I didn't remember to use parchment paper to make a sling for removing from the pan!
I am usually a succesful baker. I followed the instructions carefully. the top of my tart is all bubbly and uneven :( I will try to cover it with toppings but I am sad as I made it for a party. Anyone else have this happen? I am wondering about the egg curdling issue that @Rachel mentioned.
Sorry that sounds a bit braggy! Just meant I’m not a novice, and I was careful, so I am sad. I expect it’s something to do with the egg and tenperature,
This was easy to make and my family was totally impressed. It is super rich and creamy. I would like to try different toppings next time.
This thing is delicious. I did half semi-sweet and half dark chocolate Ghirardelli chips. Just give your chocolate time to cool before adding the eggs or they will curdle.
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