Chocolate Mousse Tart and Basic Mousse Recipe

I wanted something chocolatey and indulgent to take to a birthday party when the host asked everyone to bring a plate. This mousse tart fits the bill perfectly. It’s decadently rich with dark chocolate, cream and eggs. So this means it can be cut into small wedges to serve a large crowd… you might think. This entirely depends of course on how many hard-core chocolate lovers are at the party!

At home I would serve this dessert with something tart-ish such as blueberry or blackberry coulis to balance the sweetness… or just pile it high with ice cream.

There are a few of steps to follow: make the pie shell, melt the chocolate, whip the eggs whites, whip the cream. But if you prepare each step in advance it’s relatively straight forward and things should proceed smoothly.

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Read my tips

INGREDIENTS

Pastry

125 grams butter, softened to room temp
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
1¼ cups plain flour
3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder

Filling

300 grams dark chocolate, chopped
100 ml Kahlua
3 large egg yolk
3 large egg whites
300 ml cream
¼ cup icing sugar
1 Tbsp dark cocoa powder for dusting

EQUIPMENT: Lightly grease a 26cm loose-based tart tin.

METHOD

Pastry

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

Mix the butter and sugar together, add the egg and mix a little. Add the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Lightly mix then tip onto the bench and squash together, lightly knead, then pat into a round.

Chill for 15 minutes, then roll out between two sheets of baking paper into a circle slightly larger than your tin. Remove the top layer of baking paper and invert into the tin. Press in and trim the edges. Chill for 15 minutes.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly crisp. Cool in the tin.

Filling

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water or melt in the microwave at 50% power for 1-2 mins, stir until smooth.

Separate the eggs.

Whisk the egg yolks with the Kahlua then whisk into the melted chocolate, off the heat.

Beat the egg whites to medium peaks.

Whip the cream to soft peaks, adding the icing sugar.

Fold the egg whites and whipped cream mix into the chocolate and egg yolk mixture.

Pour into the cooled pie pastry and dust with cocoa to serve.

Tips

Usually I don’t worry about filling the pastry case with beans or rice to blind bake… I simply prick with a fork and bake. This works okay.

Use any sweet cooked pie shell, either your favourite recipe or the recipe above. For more details see the method here. In addition be sure to add a good quality cocoa powder for this dish.

I used the microwave to melt the chocolate and this worked well, just use 1 or 2 bursts of 30 secs and stir until fully melted.

Whip the egg whites firstly, then fold into the melted chocolate, then use the same bowl to whip the cream… no need to wash out in between. Just ensure the bowl is clean and cold to begin with.

I used a mix of Whittaker’s dark chocolate and Nestlé cooking chocolate- just what I had on hand, but I’m sure any dark chocolate such as Lindt or Energy would work well.

Basic Chocolate Mousse Recipe

This basic recipe makes a lighter chocolate mousse, without the large quantity of chocolate needed to create a firmer filling for the above pie. This mousse will pile into a glass easily and mix well with berries or fruit to make a light and delicious parfait-style mousse dessert.

It’s a basic standby to have on hand if you need a quick sweet fix after a meal.

Quantity for 1 person