MAGICAL MOUSSE AU CHOCOLAT (by Hervé This)

Molecular gastronomy- I think it's something you either love or hate. I don't swear by it, but after all, science and food kind of work hand in hand so there is always something to learn. The theories behind this discipline is quite fascinating actually. Unfortunately however, what's discouraging is that a lot of recipes call for ingredients or equipment that I feel only a chemist in a laboratory would have access to. I mean, where am I supposed to find me some calcium lactate gluconate? So when I came across a phenomenal mousse au chocolat recipe by "the" molecular gastronomy godfather Hervé This that called for just chocolate, water, ice cubes and five minutes I knew I had to give it a try ASAP (for goodness sake, I was having sleepless nights over this recipe- so I had to get it out of the way!)

I started by preparing an ice bath- which I then just kept in the freezer while I tackled the next steps

Get some chocolate- ideally 70% cocoa

Boil some water and melt the chocolate in it

Then transfer the melted chocolate into the ice bath

and start whisking!

and whisking

and whisking...

as you can see, the melted chocolate gets thicker, creamier and mousse like

until you have a perfect most rich and delicious chocolate mousse! the taste was absolutely perfect!

Chocolate Mousse by Hervé This

350 gr dark chocolate (70% cocoa ideally), chopped

270 gr water

Cold water and ice, for ice bath

Prepare your an ice bath by placing a small bowl over a larger one that is filled with ice cubes and cold water- leave to chill in freezer.

Boil the water in a saucepan, remove from heat and throw in the dark chocolate. Stir until all has melted.

Remove the ice bath from the freezer and transfer the melted chocolate to the smaller bowl. Start whisking until you achieve a mousse consistency.

*Most recipes recommend that you whisk manually to have better control over the texture. If you'd rather use an electric whisk, note that over whisking by just a few seconds will result in a texture that is too stiff and grainy. If that happens then simply reheat the chocolate in a microwave for a few seconds and start again until you achieve the perfect mousse like texture.