Chocolate Mousse

Just the thought of chocolate anything makes me smile, but the ultimate dessert to me is chocolate mousse!  Back in the 1960s when I first started learning to cook (I'm still learning, by the way), chocolate mousse was something I made often and served to many.  Then I moved on to other things, but always loved this dessert best!

In the "old" days, this mousse was made with stiff egg whites, but since we now know not to eat uncooked eggs, I used Knox Gelatin as the stiffener for the chocolate and cream mixture.

In the top of a double boiler, place 3 oz. espresso roast coffee or other strong brew, 1 T of rum, grand marnier, or Kahlua, 4 T unsalted butter, a pinch of salt, and 1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I really love dark chocolate so I used 1 c of semi-sweet pieces and 1/2 c of bittersweet chocolate pieces.  Doesn't take long to melt all these.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

When the chocolate mixture is cool, put 1 t of Knox unflavored gelatin into 1/4 c heavy whipping cream and let it "bloom" which means it forms a bit of solid.  Takes about 10 minutes.  Then over a low burner or low flame, heat the cream/gelatin mixture just until the gelatin is melted.  Then stir it into the chocolate mixture.

Whip 1 1/2c heavy whipping cream until medium stiff peaks form.  Take a quarter of the whipped cream and stir it into the chocolate mixture.  Now, fold in half of what is left until it's incorporated, then fold in the rest.  What is folding?  Softer than stirring, use an over/under turn with your spatula.  Start going from one side of the bowl or pan to the other, then go halfway to from the side to the center.  At the end you still might have a few white streaks, but don't worry about them -- they'll disappear during the setting.

Put your mousse in serving dishes.  Makes good servings for 8 people.  Or you can put it all in one lovely serving dish.  Chill for at least a few hours.  Topped with real whipped cream -- I don't wanna hear no whooshing from the can!!