Chocolate Mousse with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

After dinner tonight (peanut-sauce and yogurt marinated pork loin, capellini pasta with sesame oil, soy sauce, chili paste and peanut sauce, and roasted asparagus for me; capellini pasta with butter and olive oil, peas and garlic bread for Mike), I decided to make a special dessert. I had made macaroons with chocolate drizzle for my mom for mother's day/her birthday. But I was left with all of these chocolate chips. So I decided, what better way to get rid of some more of the eggs than to make a chocolate mousse. I was missing an instant-read thermometer, but using my intuition, and my handy-dandy blender, I made a quick and easy (45 minutes including prep, cook and fridge time) mousse for dessert.

Chocolate Mousse with Olive Oil and Sea Salt (Pregnancy Safe, apparently)

Ingredients:

2 eggs, thoroughly beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
6 ounces good-quality semi-sweet dark chocolate
3 tablespoons freshly brewed strong decaffeinated coffee (optional)
1/4 cup finishing-quality olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
Tiny pinch fine salt
Sea salt or grey lavender salt, to serve
Lightly sweetened whipped cream, to serve

Method:

1. Whisk the milk and eggs together, beating for at least a minute. Put in a small, heavy saucepan over low heat. Put a thermometer into the milk mixture and carefully heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 160°F. Take off the heat. (since I didn't have a thermometer, I allowed the mixture to sit on high heat for about 2-3 minutes)

2. In another small, heavy saucepan, put the chocolate over low heat. (Break up the chocolate into shards, if not using small baking pieces.) Heat slowly, stirring frequently, until the chocolate is completely melted. Take off the heat and stir in the coffee, if using, and the olive oil.

3. Add the milk and egg mixture to a blender or food processor, along with the maple syrup, vanilla, and a pinch of fine salt. Blend to combine blend the combine eggs, milk, olive oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt.

4. With the food processor or blender running (I just stopped the blender and added a bit at a time), slowly pour in the chocolate and coffee mixture and blend until well combined. The final mix will be frothy and smooth.

5. Fill four 6-ounce dishes or eight to ten smaller ramekins and put in the refrigerator to chill. Depending on the size and depth of the dish this mousse will take from a half hour to three hours to set.

6. Serve with whipped cream and just a pinch of rough salt. (I only had some fine sea salt; worked just fine in my opinion)

I'll provide an updated list of remaining ingredients later.