French Dark Chocolate Mousse Recipe

Nothing beats a good French dark chocolate mousse recipe! This smooth and light creamy chocolate mousse combined and topped with tangy raspberries is a chocolate dessert you will dream about. Only a few ingredients are required to make this quick and romantic dessert.

What is better than a luscious dark chocolate mousse recipe? This time, I am sharing with you a classic recipe of French mousse that is adapted from a recipe of the French chef Cyril Lignac.

This mousse is light, but creamy enough to satisfy picky mousse lovers. It is sweet, but not too sweet; this is due to a combination of the sweet chocolate with the acidic raspberries. This causes a good balance in taste.

Jump to:

• What is a mousse?
• What is the difference between mousse and pudding?
• What ingredients are used in French dark chocolate mousse recipe?
• What is the best chocolate to use for a chocolate mousse recipe?
• How to melt chocolate
• How to prevent chocolate from seizing
• What to serve with a chocolate mousse
• Is it safe to eat raw eggs in a chocolate mousse?
• How to make French dark chocolate mousse – step by step recipe
• Expert tips
• More delicious Valentine’s Day recipes you’ll love
• French Dark Chocolate Mousse Recipe

What is a mousse?

Mousse (translated from French “foam”) is a food with incorporated air bubbles that give a light and airy texture to the dish. A mousse is classified into sweet and savory.

Sweet mousse is mostly made of whipped cream, mounted egg whites, or both, and flavored with caramel, chocolate, fruit puree. The airy texture of a savory mousse is due to whipped egg whites, and it is made of meat, fish, cheese, vegetables.

What is the difference between mousse and pudding?

Mousse is made by folding whisked egg whites and/or whipped cream into a flavored base. Incorporated air bubbles give a light and fluffy texture to the mousse.

Pudding is made of milk and sugar base that are cooked with cornstarch to get a thicker, dense consistency.

What ingredients are used in French dark chocolate mousse recipe?

This Chocolate Mousse recipe is made of just a few ingredients: chocolate, eggs, icing sugar and whipping cream. The recipe is fully customizable regarding the chocolate you like: use dark, milk or white chocolate.

You might argue that a “classic” French chocolate mousse is made of chocolate and eggs without adding a cream, and you would be correct. Chocolate mousse with added whipped cream (which lightens the mousse), is also served in France.

As an example, recipes of chocolate mousses created by French chefs such as Philippe Conticini, Gaston Lenôtre, Christophe Michalak, Christophe Felder contain whipping cream.

What is the best chocolate to use for a chocolate mousse recipe?

It is important to use the top-quality chocolate – 70% cocoa Scharffen Berger dark chocolate * or Valrhona dark chocolate *. The darker the chocolate, the more intense chocolate flavor and less sweetness you will get.

You can easily replace half of dark chocolate with milk chocolate. If you prefer milk or white chocolate, please, go for it! Your mousse will turn out lovely as well.

How to melt chocolate

There are three methods to melt chocolate:

1. Double boiler method (or hot water bath). Break chocolate into small pieces and place into a glass or metal bowl that is placed on top of a saucepan half full with simmering water. Allow chocolate to melt, stirring constantly.
2. Microwave method. Place pieces of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at medium power (50%) for 30 seconds. Remove and stir. Repeat this step each 30 seconds with stirring in between until small lumps remain. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir to complete melting.
3. Direct heat method is usually used to melt chocolate that is added to a batter. Heat chocolate over very low heat, stirring constantly. Remove it from heat with small lumps remaining and stir.

How to prevent chocolate from seizing

In rare cases, when chocolate melts, it becomes a dry and rough mass instead of a smooth and shiny mixture. Is there any way to prevent this issue?

• Use clean and dry bowls and metal utensils since chocolate seizes once it comes into contact with water.
• Melt chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water, but not boiling. Do not cover the saucepan with a lid to avoid any condensation of water on the inside of the lid and bowl.

What to serve with a chocolate mousse

• Serve the chocolate mousse in martini or champagne glasses, in ramekins * or espresso mugs, or make chocolate dessert cups.
• Pipe the whipped cream on top of the dessert and sprinkle with chocolate chips, shavings or duo chocolate curls *.
• Top the mousse with a homemade meringue and toast it with a blow torch *.
• Alternate layers of your favorite cookie crumbs and chocolate mousse. Sprinkle top of the mousse with cookies.
• Dust the mousse with cocoa powder * and decorate with meringues and pink sugar pearls *.
• Peel kiwis, cut them into small cubes and arrange on top of the chocolate mousse.
• Serve the mousse with with cat tongue cookies or ladyfingers *.
• Sprinkle the dessert with toasted chopped nuts, for example, pistachios or salted almonds.

Is it safe to eat raw eggs in a chocolate mousse?

Chocolate Mousse is made with raw eggs. It is well known that eating raw eggs can cause salmonella food poisoning. It seems that this concern is mostly prevalent in the USA and Canada, while raw eggs are widely used in Europe to make the famous Italian dessert Tiramisu. In order to eliminate your concern about eating raw eggs, use pasteurized eggs for this recipe. However, consuming raw eggs are not advisable for pregnant women and babies.

How to make French dark chocolate mousse – step by step recipe

Separate egg whites from egg yolks. In a chilled bowl, whip cold whipping cream with icing sugar until soft peaks (photo 1). In a separate clean bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are firmly mounted and put aside (photo 2). 

Break chocolate into small pieces and melt with butter in a double boiler at a low simmer, stirring occasionally. Once chocolate is almost melted (with small lumps left), mix with a rubber spatula *, pour into another bowl and continue to stir while cooling (photo 3). Add egg yolks one by one to the melted chocolate while mixing (photo 4).

Stir the whipped cream in the chocolate/egg yolks mixture (photo 5). Gently fold egg whites into to the main mixture with the spatula, but do not stir (photo 6).

Arrange half of raspberries in the bottom of three serving glasses and divide the mousse between them (photo 7). Cover glasses with a plastic film * and refrigerate for at least two hours, preferably overnight. Decorate top of the mousse with the remaining fresh raspberries, chocolate shavings and gold sugar pearls * before serving (photo 8).

Expert tips

1. Separate egg whites and egg yolks when they are cold. Then put them aside for them to come to room temperature. It is extremely important to use eggs, especially egg yolks, at room temperature to prevent chocolate from seizing.
2. Whip whipping cream and beat egg whites BEFORE melting chocolate to be ready to incorporate these ingredients into the chocolate mixture without waiting.
3. Use a top-quality 70% cocoa dark chocolate: Scharffen Berger dark chocolate *, Valrhona dark chocolate *, or Lindt Excellence dark chocolate.
4. Replace dark chocolate with milk or white chocolate, or switch half of dark chocolate with half of milk chocolate.
5. Allow the melted chocolate to cool before adding egg yolks.
6. Add a pinch of ground cinnamon while folding in egg whites if you prefer.
7. To make chocolate shavings, scrape along the flat side of a chocolate bar, using a small knife or a vegetable peeler *. 
8. To store, refrigerate the mousse for up to 3 days.

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The recipe was adapted from https://gourmand.viepratique.fr/. It was originally published on March 27, 2019. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.