Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry and Peach Coulis and Sea Salt

This may be my longest lapse in posting yet. Thankfully, I have a sweet post to get everyone back at the table. I have a recipe for chocolate mousse that I made back in February or March. It was sweet, creamy, rich and dense, and after a day in the fridge it developed this great, complex flavor that made it that much more irresistible. However, while the dense-ness of the dessert was nice in the fall, I needed something a little lighter as we entered deep summer in DC. The tweaks I've made are small, but they result in a nice, smooth consistency and a fluffiness that feels as though you are eating a cloud spiked with chocolate. As for the coulis, it was my first time doing anything of that sort. It came out great, but I need a squirt bottle before my plating looks more like art than someone just spooning some syrup onto a plate.

Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry and Peach Coulis

Ingredients:

2 eggs, whites and yolks separated

3/4 C milk

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1/4 C olive oil

3 T dark-roast coffee

1 T maple syrup
1 t vanilla extract

Method:
Separate the yolks and the whites. Whisk the egg yolks and the milk together, then pour into a sauce pan over medium heat, mixing in order to prevent the milk from scalding. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then add to the yolk-milk mixture. Heat until it reaches 160 degrees, then remove from heat. Pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove any bit of egg that may have formed from the heat in order to create a smoother consistency.

Melt the chocolate in a separate sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent the chocolate from burning. When melted, take off the heat, stir in the coffee, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and the olive oil.

Add the milk and egg mixture to a blender or food processor. Slowly, pour in the chocolate mixture until well combined, and frothy. Pour the mixture into your serving glasses or a large glass bowl (I used my 4-cup pyrex bowl) and refrigerate. Depending on the size of the containers it will take anywhere from 30 minutes (2 ounce serving glasses) to 3 hours (my 4-cup pyrex bowl) to set.

Serve with the coulis drizzled on the plate, a pinch of salt on the mousse, and a dollop of whipped cream.

The blobs on either side of the plates are the unstrained raspberry coulis and peach coulis.

For the coulis:

(I didn't measure anything out so here are some approximations.)

Ingredients:
1 handful of raspberries or one peach, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 t brown sugar
1 t lemon juice

Method:
Allow to steep in a small bowl in the refrigerator for one hour. Mash with the back of a fork, then strain using a fine mesh sieve (straining is optional, though I like the results). Reserve the pulp or seeds (still tastes good and some people like it). Use the strained coulis to garnish.

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.